Hey Erin, I'm a single mother myself - I'm the same age as you are, and also got pregnant at 18 - so I guess I really felt the need to reply to this.
In my situation, I didn't have to go through what you did because my son's father wasn't keen on keeping him at all - so I took the "shortcut" and saved myself all that trouble, and just raised my son with my parents.
But for yours, I really hope that you'd find the courage and self-respect inside you to leave the house as soon as you can - because that environment isn't good for you or your children. I know it's scary and hard to take that step, but please protect yourself and your children!
Fight back and stand up for yourself, get personal protection orders and seek help from social workers or family service centres - you would probably also have to get some form of a job yourself while putting your kids at childcare to ensure you're able to take good care of your children - if the need of custody issues ever arises.
Please don't allow yourself and your kids to go through this, being a single parent can be hard - but you don't need a mother and father to raise a child, you just need to teach them the right values. Not just for your own safety and sanity, but also for the sake of your children because they'll be growing up in this environment watching you quarrel with your husband and MIL.
Please feel free to reach out to me if you need help, I'd try to help in whatever way I can!
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