Bristol Palin: "Learn From My Example"
By XANA O'NEILL
Updated 11:43 AM EST, Wed, May 6, 2009
Bristol Palin said her baby boy is "not an accessory" and advised teens to have safe sex if they're not going to abstain.
"I'm just out here just trying to tell teens this is hard work," Bristol, 18, said as she cradled her sleeping baby boy. "It's not like an accessory on your hip. It's hard work."
The daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin appeared on the "Today" show this morning with her infant son, Tripp, and her father -- the "First Dude" of Alaska -- to talk about her life as a young mom and her new role as ambassador for an anti-teen pregnancy foundation.
"He's not a mistake at all. He's a blessing," Bristol said of her son. "But it's just a lot of hard work. A lot of responsibility."
The young mother recently signed on to be a teen ambassador for the anti-teen pregnancy Candie's foundation.
"Learn from my example," she said. "It's (my life) completely changed. I'm up all night with him, and I'm constantly changing diapers and making bottles and your priorities change 100 percent."
Palin recently split from the father of her baby, teen hockey hunk Levi Johnston, after a flare up between the two families went public. Johnston claimed the Palins called his family "white trash."
Bristol refused to talk about the heartbreaking breakup but said Levi is a part of Tripp's life.
"I am not here to talk about my personal life," she said.
Todd Palin said the family is "very proud" of their daughter, who plans to begin taking college classes in a few weeks, and he knows the father of his grandchild will be a part of the baby's life.
"I'm very supportive of Bristol and I know Levi is going to be a part of Tripp's life," he said. "I know that both of them will love and care for their son together."
The First Dude said the foundation is "sharing Bristol’s experience with other teenagers — sharing the mistake she made a year ago.”
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First Published: May 6, 2009 6:06 AM EST
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