A Day in the Life…



Today I turned 31 weeks.  I was nervous about it for some time because the boys were born at exactly 31 weeks.  I know that their situation was unique, and I have no reason to believe Shiloh would come so soon, but it’s just one of those things that weighs on your mind.  I woke up hoping the day would go quickly so I would soon be 31w1d.

At about 8:45 AM, after dropping of CJ at school and the boys at daycare, I was stopped at a red light – a new red light that was just installed in the past couple of months.  I was not the first one in line and I didn’t just stop recently.  I’d just been sitting there when WHAM!  I got rear-ended, and I believe that the girl who hit me was going the speed limit (25 or 35) as it was quite a hit.

I was in shock.  I didn’t know if I had hit the steering wheel or anything, but I was immediately scared for Shiloh.  I tried to call Skip at work but got his voice mail.  I got out and got the name of a witness who had stopped and then we pulled off to exchange insurance info.

The girl who hit m was younger.  Maybe later high school or early college.  She was really freaked out and didn’t know what to do.  I gave her my insurance info and wrote my phone number down and she gave me a copy of her insurance card and wrote a phone number down.  We went our separate ways about 9 AM.

I immediately called my doctor as I was worried about my pregnancy, and they scheduled me to come in at 1 PM.  Meanwhile, I see flashing lights in my rear-view mirror… yes, I got pulled over for using my cell phone while driving.  Normally, I am exempt from the hands-free law as I wear hearing aids, but of course I didn’t have them in at the moment.  I pulled over and began sobbing hysterically.

The officer came to my window and I was gathering my things for him while sobbing, telling him I had just been hit, I was worried about my baby, I was talking to my doctor and trying to get to my husband’s work.  I told him I normally wear hearing aids but didn’t have them in and on and on.

He was very kind.  He looked at my van, talked to me about the accident, confirmed that I got the info I needed from the other driver, etc. and then let me go.

I got to Skip’s work shortly after and called him again and just started crying.  I was lightheaded and seeing stars at that point.  My upper back and head were hurting.  I just wanted to go home, so he followed me home where I laid down until it was time for my appointment, which he came back to pick me up for.

I got to Dr. A’s and he checked me out.  Of course they won’t do x-rays or MRIs or anything, so it was a very general once-over.  Shiloh was active and her heart rate sounded good, but Dr. A said that the standard is a minimum of four hours of fetal monitoring to ensure nothing else is happening.

Skip got me and took me to the hospital where I was hooked up for four hours and turns out I was contracting every 15 minutes.  They suggested keeping me overnight, but I wanted to leave so they said it wasn’t THAT bad that I had to stay, but to be cautious and aware of any changes.

Oh, and about 20 minutes after the girl who hit me and I parted ways, she left a voice mail at our home asking that I get an estimate of damages and let her know, and she will just pay cash.  Nice.  I also noticed the name she left on my voice mail was not either of the names on the insurance card, so I am not looking forward to how this is all going to play out…

7 Replies to “A Day in the Life…”

  1. Why didn’t you call the police when she hit you?

    I’m sorry it was such a crummy dy, but I’m glad to hear you are relatively ok.

  2. Thanks, JoAnna.

    Leah, I’ve been in my share of accidents, and I’ve always been told that you don’t need to call the police unless there’s a certain threshold of damage or you can’t move the vehicles. Anything else, you just exchange info and move on. Besides, a rear-end accident is automatically the rear-ender’s fault, so I didn’t need a report to establish fault in this case.

  3. Hey Sommer, just glad you and Shiloh are OK! Mike got rear-ended not long ago, right after we got the car back from the accident that HE rear-ended someone else, and he said the same thing–he called the police, and they wouldn’t come because there was no injury or property damage…but it is concerning, because not everyone out there is going to “fess up” when the insurance company comes-a-calling…glad everything seems to be working out in that regard…and LOVE your little tunic for Shiloh–adorable!!!

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