The twin bed in the teenager's pink bedroom shares space with a crib with Winnie-the-Pooh sheets. Pregnancy books are stacked by the changing table.

Caila Bishop is part teenager with a cell phone by her side, and part mother as she gently pats her baby's back when he cries.

Her pregnancy test showed positive the summer between her junior and senior years at Champaign Central High School, shortly before her 17th birthday. She had known her boyfriend, DeShunta Aikens, for some time, but only recently had she started to date him.

"My heart just dropped," Caila said of the moment she saw the results of the three pregnancy tests.

She stayed up all night, writing a letter to her mom, saying she was sorry. She wrote that she would take on the responsibilities of a baby.

And when her mother came home from work that evening, Caila cried as she handed her mom the letter she'd written.

"The words 'I'm pregnant' just flew off the page," said Penne Bishop, her mother, who'd been a teen mom at 18 herself.

This just can't be. Are you sure? she asked.

Not so hush-hush

Years ago, pregnant teens were whispered about. The girls disappeared to live with an aunt or in a maternity home, then returned to hope no one had noticed.

But these days, it's not unusual for pregnant girls to walk the halls of Central, Centennial, Urbana, Danville, Rantoul – and every area high school – and some middle schools.

The stigma's gone, and some friends of these pregnant teens offer hugs of joy and squeals of delight at the news a baby's coming.

"It's not a big deal anymore (in school). It really isn't," said Linda Bolton of the Vermilion County Public Health Department.

And though it's a rumor, it's a consistent rumor, she said, that for some teen boys it's a badge of honor to have fathered a child. She's heard some boys wear extra pins on their letter jackets for the children they've fathered.

In Vermilion County last year, 151 teens gave birth. In Champaign County, 225 teens gave birth in 2005, the most recent statistics available from the state public health department.

In looking at the percentages of the teen births versus all live births, the numbers are going down. In fact, Vermilion County's 14 percent rate is the lowest it's been for three decades.

But no one's celebrating. When at least 300 girls in this area are having babies – the vast majority as single mothers – the professionals in the schools and social agencies worry about the futures of these girls and their babies.

"It's very, very difficult to try to go to middle school or high school and be pregnant," said Bari Rothbaum with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department's teen parenting service.

"For a lot of these girls, the support system isn't really solid – so sometimes we're there to fill that gap," she said. "We work at helping them achieve the goals that they want to achieve. They all want to be good parents. They want to be successful. They want to be able to provide for themselves and their children, so we do our best."

Studies point to the troubles these teens face as single moms. In fact, 66 percent of unmarried mothers in Illinois are high school dropouts. Local, state and national statistics show that unmarried women with children are the largest majority of those living in poverty. Their children are at risk of health and behavioral problems – and also at risk of early pregnancies and not completing their high school educations.

In 2007 in Champaign and Vermilion counties, 3,813 single women with children were living below the poverty line (which is $13,690 for a family of two), compared with 1,935 married couples with children, American Community Survey estimates.

"They grow up fast," said Greta Henry of the Pregnancy Resource Center in Champaign. "They're strong girls, though, many of them. My goodness, the things they have to live through and go through? I'm glad they've chosen life, but it's still hard and that's why we want to help them as much as we can."

Becoming a parent

Caila Bishop and her mother made a list of pros and cons for Caila having the baby.

On the con side: getting up to feed the baby in the middle of the night; not going to college; financial stress; guilt; being connected to DeShunta for the rest of her life; and the effect a baby would have on the whole family.

"I really thought about that one a lot," Caila said. "(My mom) already did her time and had three kids. My brother's young. I didn't want it to affect his teenage years."

On the pro side: Caila's religious beliefs; and loving the baby unconditionally.

"I told her no matter what, I'd be right there 100 percent, either way," Penne said.

At first, Caila decided to have an abortion. She told DeShunta, then changed her mind a few hours later.

"That wasn't what I wanted at all," Caila said.

Once Caila decided to have her baby, she and her mother pored over pregnancy books and talked about every detail. Her mother transformed her into a young parent, Caila said.

Caila worked 20 to 25 hours a week at Panera, and she saved every check. She intended to stay on the honor roll, which she'd made throughout high school.

She'd get home at 11 p.m. from work, with homework to be done. She'd go to Central before school started for tutoring.

Most of her classmates didn't know about the pregnancy until she was well along. Many were shocked.

She felt exhausted and isolated. She focused on the baby, work and school. But she also felt angry; like she had to do everything by herself.

It was an emotional time for the family. Penne and her husband had split up, and Caila's brother was upset. Caila was overwhelmed and depressed, so she began seeing a counselor.

Can make it if they try

High school and middle school girls who get pregnant in Champaign County are put in touch with a program run through the public health department aimed at making sure they get high school diplomas or GEDs.

State money provides social workers, like Bari Rothbaum, who meet one-on-one with the teens and monitor their progress in school.

"We try to make sure they're going; we try to connect them with tutoring if they're having trouble," she said. "We do anything we can to make sure they finish their education."

The girls get gas cards to get to and from school, money for caps and gowns and books, if needed.

"We do whatever it takes," Rothbaum said. Similar programs are available for young fathers.

And though the majority of pregnant teens live at home, there's a large group who were kicked out of the home and are living with girl or boy friends – homeless but trying to go to school.

They educate the girls to help them avoid a second pregnancy.

"We do see a lot of girls who do end up getting pregnant again quickly," she said.

Many young mothers don't see marriage as the answer to their problems.

"It seems like a lot of girls are kind of jaded," she said. "A lot of them talk about not getting married – a lot of them want to wait until they're older."

And though most of the girls they see are 16 and 17, she said there are quite a few pregnant 14-year-olds, too.

Taking on responsibility

Caila went into labor about two weeks before her April 1 due date. She delivered a 7-pound, 20-inch boy she named Orlando Maurice.

But after the birth, everything seemed to go wrong. Orlando had fluid in his lungs, so he went to the neonatal unit. Lights and aluminum foil surrounded him because of severe jaundice.

After a week, Caila brought him home. He frequently had colic.

"He had a rough start. We both did," she said. "It was horrible."

Caila says she didn't know babies woke up throughout the night and sometimes wouldn't go back to sleep.

"I just took on the job. It's not even a job. It's just what I'm supposed to do," she said to the baby in her arms as she kissed him.

DeShunta is involved with the baby, too, helping to care for Orlando.

Caila is a hard worker, her mother said. She tries hard to prove she can do it all.

"I'm very proud of her," Penne said. "She's exceeded my expectations on parenting. She wants to do well so badly and be primary caretaker and go to school. It's totally driving her."

Family support

Caila didn't lack love or support at home. She grew up in a household with both her parents. Penne Bishop wanted something different than teen motherhood for her daughters. She talked to both girls about birth control, about goals and college and family planning. She put them on the pill when they were in high school.

"I was not naive to what happens. Kids make poor choices," she said.

But Caila didn't take the pills consistently, thinking she didn't need to be on birth control. Penne blames herself, saying she picked the wrong form of birth control for her daughter.

"As a parent, you think you've done everything," she said. "I spent all these years covering all the bases, helping them make wise choices. It's a reflection of what I missed in parenting. It's a reflection of poor decision-making on Caila's part."

Sometimes intentional

Some teens take birth control pills but, like Caila, aren't careful to take them every day as directed. Unlike Caila, some get pregnant on purpose.

"It's really scary – the number of young girls who come in here for a pregnancy test and leave crying because they're not pregnant," said Bolton of the Vermilion County Public Health Department. "And it's back to the reasons ... there are an awful lot of girls who get pregnant because they want to."

Some girls want a baby so they will feel loved, said Kim Padan, director of the Women's Care Clinic in Danville.

"I think there's such a lack of nurturing in some people's lives – a lack of people they can count on. (Some say) 'I want someone to love me.' It's kind of backward. Or, I've had women say, 'I just want to show people I can do this. I can be a good mom.' And that's sad."

Teen pregnancy is rarely confronted in communities, Bolton said.

"It's this giant elephant just floating through the community and it's got three big letters – S-E-X – on it and nobody wants to hear about it. The parents are uncomfortable talking about it, and a lot of parents think the schools are doing it. But the schools aren't putting a lot of effort into that," she said.

"And the churches – where are our churches on this?" Bolton asked. "They're not jumping up and down to get involved. So where are kids today supposed to get their values and ethics and ability to make decisions?"

Growing up fast

Sometimes Caila misses being a teenager. Her friends text her and tell her what they're doing. At first, it felt as if they were throwing their freedom in her face, but Orlando is worth it.

She misses sitting on her mom's bed and watching TV, napping, going to movies. Or having uninterrupted time to shower and fix her hair. Every T-shirt becomes a burp cloth.

"I'm a whole different person than the person I was when I got pregnant. It's amazing to me," she said.

When she was 16, she was thinking about parties and college, her clothes and hair.

"Life just seems more real now. Not so much this play world where you don't have to worry about anything," she said. "You worry about your kid and who's with him and who's going to watch him."

She also realizes the opportunities she's lost, like going to a four-year college after high school. She sees her sister at the University of Illinois, living in an apartment.

"Those are things I'll probably never be able to do ," she said. "But I like watching her do them. I live them through her."

Caila is living at her mother's and attending Parkland College. Her dreams now are for Orlando.

"(I want him) to stay a kid as long as he can and do good in school," she said. "I definitely want him to go on to college, and grow up to be a good man, with good values."

In the meantime, she gets by with the simple joys of mothering.

"When he laughs in his sleep. When he doesn't want anyone else to touch him but (me)," she said. "When he coos at me. Wakes up in the morning smiling and laughing at me, so excited to see my face. Those are the best things."

Most area high schools have services for pregnant students. The services can range from at-home tutoring if the girls are unable to attend school for medical reasons, to prenatal and parenting classes, to linking pregnant teens and new mothers to community-based programs and services.

Some schools also provide food. For example, at Urbana High, social worker Yolande Cooke provides pregnant girls with snacks. She describes her home and family education class for pregnant teens as a combination of education and support group.

Rantoul Township High sends students to a program for new parents run by the Regional Office of Education, where they get breakfast and information on parenting skills.

A look at Illinois Department of Health statistics for East Central Illinois from 2005, the most recent year available:

County Total births Teen Under 15

Champaign 2,490 225 7

DeWitt 180 21 NA

Douglas 277 18 NA

Ford 185 13 NA

Moultrie 173 17 NA

Piatt 186 9 NA

Vermilion 1,112 180 3