16 & Pregnant: Millina on her Own

This season doesn't seem to be covering the early parts of pregnancy at all with the teens - no discussions of how they told their families that they were expecting, no guessing about the sex before they find out, and no words-to-the-wise about morning sickness or fatigue. Of course, it's not like they've been glamorizing the situation, either, as there have been no big groups of friends hanging around, no baby showers, and no helpful fathers. This episode stood out because of how mature Millina needed to be about the situation, having few people in her life that she can trust or rely upon. It seemed that Trevor's mother was overly controlling and ultimately might have made everything worse, but perhaps there's still a bright future ahead.

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16 & Pregnant "Millina" (S05E03): Millina, 17, lives in Michigan, near Detroit. She and her younger brother live with their grandmother because both divorced parents have problems; Her mother is in jail on drug charges, and her dad is flaky and can't afford to care for the kids. [ouch. no wonder she has trust issues!] Millina dropped out of high school, and met her boyfriend, Trevor, at a rave. [no real discussion on why she dropped out.She didn't want to go on birth control because of the side effects, but plans on being safer after the baby is born.

October, 30 weeks: She talks to her mom on the phone from jail. Trevor's mom, Tina, is emotionally unstable, and has seizures and strokes, so Millina is worried about the woman handling the baby alone. She's also judgmental of Millina's mom. [totally believable.]

October, 33 weeks: Trevor plans to come over and help when the baby is born, but thinks they'd be better off at his house. [other than space, he doesn't seem to have reasons he believes that, though.] Millina attends her mother's court hearing, where it gets adjourned for another 30 days.

November, 36 weeks: Trevor is working at a fast food place, and is moving to a large basement with his mother the following week. [2,000 sq ft is an enormous basement!] Tina invites Millina and the baby to live with them as well, but Millina isn't comfortable doing more than occasionally staying the night there. Millina spends time with her dad, and Tina pushes Millina to live with them to keep the baby safe. Before a resolution can be reached, Millina goes into labor, and Kayden James Michael is born December 5th, weighing 7lb, 13 oz.

December, 4 days old: Trevor wants to bring the baby over to his mom's, but Millina isn't ready to go over there yet. [I don't get why Tina couldn't go to Millina's?]

2 weeks old: Millina is alone with Kayden most of the time, and Trevor gets upset that Millina doesn't promptly return Tina's calls. [this Trevor kid is getting weirder.] 

January, 4 weeks old: Millina's mom has another court date, so Millina brings Kayden along so they can meet from afar. She is sentenced to 200 more days in jail instead of in-patient treatment, and Kayden gets sick, presumably from going out in the cold to be in the courthouse. [I hadn't considered this being one of the reasons that babies would be in a courtroom.] Tina is upset that Millina took the baby out like that, but does finally get to see the infant when Trevor stops taking Millina's calls so she brings the baby over there. At least Millina is planning to earn her GED, though!