when life comes at you fast

Nothing says "fun Friday" like being 37 weeks pregnant and then getting rear-ended!

This past Friday afternoon, I had been out doing some last-minute baby shopping.  After I left Toys R Us (our pitiful excuse for a Babies R Us around these parts), I decided to call my mom and give her an update from my Wednesday doctor appointment and joke about some of the guesses in my online baby pool (my dad thinks my baby will be 25"--LOL!).  I stopped at a red light, still chatting away, then BAM!  I hollered into the phone, "I've just been rear-ended!" but I realized the phone had slid down and hung up.  The light was still red, so I called her back, but I started crying as I said the same thing and I guess the phone dropped the call right after.  Mom said she sorta panicked (and her office mates even asked if everything was okay), so she called B.

The guy and I pulled over into a restaurant parking lot, and my crazy pregnancy hormones had me crying as I got out of the car.  The guy, who was in some type of Army uniform, was so pissed at himself.  He kicked the remaining pieces of the cover off his front license plate, and I think he kicked his bumper, too.  I was trying to calm myself down, assuring him I was okay, but just crazy pregnant.  Neither of us really knew exactly what to do, and I was shaking as I copied down the info from his insurance card.  I called my mom back to update her and ask her if we should call the police.  She said I should, mostly because of the pregnancy.  EMS came out and didn't lay a finger on me, but offered to drive me to the hospital (which I declined).

My poor baby with a hole in her bumper!

We waited a bit longer for Florida Highway Patrol to come.  It didn't even cross my mind that the guy was gonna get a citation.  I felt kinda bad about this because as we waited, he told me that he's in the National Guard and has been having trouble finding a job since coming back from deployment last year.  He said he's seriously considering going active duty full-time, and this might have been the push he needed.  I guess I can't feel too bad, though, because I gotta look out for #1 here (and Baby W, of course).  I also decided that even though I turned down EMS, I should give Labor & Delivery a call and see if I should come in (answer was an easy yes--apparently big jolts may cause your placenta to detach).

Close-up of the hole.

After we got our police report filed, I headed to the Naval Hospital to get checked out.  It was right around the time B was getting off work, and I thought it was gonna be a quick thing, so I told him not to come.  Well, when I checked in, they told me they were gonna monitor me and baby for at least 4 hours!  Well, crap.  So B came to the hospital, and there went our plans to attend the Twelfth Night celebration downtown.  I had really been looking forward to that!  They also wouldn't let me eat anything as a precautionary measure.  I had hardly eaten any lunch, and it was nearing 5pm now.  And my 'labor popsicles' were still at home in our freezer, since I was pretty sure this baby wasn't coming yet.  They put me in the nice triage room with a TV, poked me with needles, took an ultrasound, and had me strapped to monitors and such.  I learned that I've actually been having contractions but not feeling them yet.  Very interesting!

Did I mention the bumper is falling off?

My doctor's husband was actually the doctor on duty, and my doctor dropped by to bring him dinner at one point so she came in when she heard I was there.  I think it was her who asked me if the other driver had been texting.  I actually don't know, but why hadn't I thought of that?  (Probably because I don't text that much and never while driving.)  All I know is that he said he looked away for a second, and then braked but his brakes locked.  So, hmm, I don't know, and probably never will.

There were a few upsides to this eventful day:

• Obviously, Baby W is okay and still happy in utero.
• I got a small taste of what it will be like the day I actually come in laboring.  My butt hurt sitting in that bed, and the hospital only has a handful of TV stations (at least in triage).  Luckily, we were able to watch some football.
• It was a beautiful day!  In the 70's, I think.  This made it a lot more bearable to sit around and wait for the cop.
• I didn't get everything on my to-do list accomplished.  I had actually planned to install the car seat that morning, but the fire station near me doesn't do those and you have to make an appointment.  I'm so glad that the car seat was sitting safely in the apartment, so that's one less thing we have to do.
• My car is drive-able.  No airbags deployed.  I was wearing my seatbelt (always) and had the lap strap below the bump.  And I wasn't at fault, so I don't have to pay anything for repairs.  There's a lot to be said for all of that.

Also, I'm hoping to keep this baby inside this week because my doctor (and her husband) are on leave!  We'll see how that pans out :)