DECATUR, Tenn. - For as far back as she can remember, Megan Lewis rarely kept secrets from her mother. The youngest of three girls, growing up in rural Meigs County, Megan said she always felt comfortable talking to her mom about anything.
That included her mother, Missy, talking to her about birth control if she was thinking of becoming sexually active with longtime boyfriend, Hunter Ballew.
But for six months in 2014, just past her 16th birthday, Megan carried the weight of a secret so worrisome she began to break out in hives and suffer spells of anxiety. In March of that year, Megan and Hunter found out she was pregnant. Too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone, the teenagers kept their secret until there was no longer any way to hide the truth.
Megan continued working on the family's farm and playing summer league basketball. She even went on vacation to the beach with her family in July, all while hiding her pregnancy. So determined to hide her secret for as long as possible, she would open her bedroom window when she felt sick and throw up outside to avoid making her family suspicious.
"We had noticed she gained a little bit of weight, and her dad even teased her about needing to work out more for basketball, but she wasn't noticeably pregnant," Missy said. "The day after we got back from the beach, Hunter asked me to come up to Megan's bedroom so they could tell me a secret.
"I asked them what the big secret was, and both of them started crying. She was sitting on her bed holding a pillow on her lap and couldn't even say anything, so Hunter finally said, 'We're having a baby.' I felt like I just got shot, but I tried to stay calm because I could tell they were two heartbroke kids."
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 51 percent of the nation's pregnancies, and eight of every 10 teen pregnancies (ages 15-18) are unintended. The rate of teen pregnancy in Tennessee has been reduced by more than half over the last 28 years, but while teen pregnancy and birth rates are at historic lows - the current rates are just more than half those of the early 1990s - rural areas continue to have higher teen pregnancy rates.
A 2013 study from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy indicated the teen birth rate is nearly one-third higher in rural areas of the United States than it is in more populous areas of the country, and teen pregnancy rates have been much slower to decline in rural counties over the past decade.
In southeastern Tennessee, Grundy, Meigs and Rhea counties all exceed the state average of a pregnancy for every 18.2 per 1,000 females ages 15-17. Bradley, Hamilton and Marion county averages have all dropped below the state average and under their own averages of five years ago.
The young couple's first decision was never really a decision at all. Even before telling their parents they were expecting, Megan and Hunter had decided to keep the baby.
And though they told her mother, Megan still knew there were tough days ahead, beginning with telling her father, then the rest of her family and Hunter's.
Then there was the shame she worried would come from the small community and her high school.
"I was raised in church, and I was worried what people would say," Megan said. "I dreaded coming back to school and having everybody see me, because I didn't want to be gossiped about. I was struggling. I felt like I was disappointing everybody."
Missy broke the news to her husband, Tony, the day after she learned of Megan's pregnancy. It took him two days to get over the shock and gather his thoughts before he spoke with his daughter about the pregnancy. Although he was still upset, he ended their conversation by reassuring Megan, "No more tears after today."
"It took having everybody telling me they still loved me and supported me before I finally felt like myself again," Megan recalled. "The two people I dreaded telling the most after that were my youth pastor and Coach (Jason) Powell."
Once school started, Megan continued working out with the basketball team, even running just two days before she went into labor in October.
Because he was born one month premature, baby Zaelem's lungs hadn't fully developed, which meant he spent an extra nine days at Erlanger before being allowed to go home. Megan and Hunter stayed at the Ronald McDonald House during those anxious days, going back to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit every three hours to feed and spend time with their newborn son.
He's 15 months old now, and the only thing brighter than his mop of red hair is the 1,000-watt smile that lights up the room and wraps every extended family member around Zaelem's finger. Hunter's mom, Andrea Norton, helps look after Zaelem. Even Tony, who was so distraught at first, now admits he spoils his grandson with attention.
Being teen parents means very little free time for Megan; Hunter, who is studying agricultural business at Cleveland State; and their families.
"Hunter and I both still live at home with our parents, and we take turns keeping Zaelem," said Megan, who plans to go to college and major in pediatric medicine. "My days are pretty full. I take him to my mamaw's (Linda Lewis) early in the morning so she can help watch him while I'm at school. After school, I come straight home to get him and start doing my chores around the house or helping my niece with homework until everybody else gets home, and then I'll get Zaelem ready for bed and start all over again the next day.
"Just because you have a child doesn't mean you stop your life. That's one of the things that helped me to stay positive."
A two-year starting guard for Meigs County's basketball team, Megan was back at practice less than two weeks after Zaelem was born. This year, she has helped the Lady Tigers climb to No. 5 in the state's Class A rankings.
At only 5-foot-1, she overcomes her lack of size with continual effort and energy.
"She's the best defensive perimeter player we've faced all year," Central coach Rick May said. "She took us totally out of our game because our guards couldn't keep up with her."
Added Lady Tigers coach Powell: "For opposing guards, it's excruciating having her guard them because she never slows down and never backs down from anybody. In my 22 years as a coach, I've never been associated with a better defender than she is."
On game nights, there's no shortage of willing family to help look after Zaelem while Megan is on the court. But once her game ends, Megan switches back to being a teen mom.
"I'll say this for her: She doesn't use having a baby as an excuse not to do well in school or in basketball or to get out of helping around the house," said Missy, who added that Megan also works at Cottonport Marina on weekends and during the summer and has a part-time job cleaning the local All-State Insurance office - as well as her work around the house and on the farm. Hunter also works to provide for his son.
"She definitely works to help support him," Missy continued. "I never look at any of my kids as being perfect. They do make mistakes. Zaelem's not a mistake, but he is something she would've waited on if she had the choice. It's not OK to be a child in school and have a child, but she's proof that if you deal with it the right way, you can make it."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.