How did you get the news that you were pregnant? For me, it was not the best series of events. Every moment went exactly the opposite of how you'd prefer to find out, and break the news to others, that you are unexpectedly pregnant.

I became pregnant after a one-night encounter; I was not on birth control at the time because I hadn't had sex in about a year and didn't anticipate that I would.

My son's father later told me that he knew right away that I was pregnant. Looking back on it, I think I too knew something had changed that next day—everything just felt different—but I went about my business and did not think about the possibilities.

A few weeks later, around the time I should have been getting my period, I took a two-week train trip through Eastern Europe. As the plane landed in Prague, I remember feeling extremely nauseous and needing to throw up, and this awful feeling returned on many mornings of my trip. As I rode trains and went from hostel to hostel, I tried not to think about the illness, or my period being late. "It's probably just the stress of travel," I thought. I denied and denied and denied.

As soon as I got back to the States, the morning sickness really kicked in, and I simply could not stop throwing up. I became dehydrated, and was hospitalized in the emergency room. My parents came to visit. While I was stuck on the gurney, still not knowing I was pregnant, the following conversation apparently took place in the hall:

Doctor to my parents: “Congratulations, grandpa and grandma!”
My parents: “WHAT?!?!?”
Doctor: “Your daughter is pregnant!”

My father then came into the room and asked if I had anything to tell him. (I still didn’t know what was going on.) Then the doctor came in and finally told ME, last of all, that I was pregnant. I broke down and cried.

In today’s climate of increased privacy laws, this situation might have led to a lawsuit. But all I could do was take it as the massive screw-up that it was, and try to repair the damage. Right away, my parents began pressuring me as to what to do and how to handle the “situation.” I tried to keep my wits about me and not commit to any decisions just then. I needed time to think everything through.

When I got home from the hospital, the main thing I remember was the extreme green color of the new spring growth. Each leaf on each plant and tree was literally technicolor, acid green. My yard had never looked that green before, or since. Sometimes I wonder if it was the life growing inside me that made me see the world in those colors.