Yesterday started off as a great day. It was sunny and warm, I had the day off, and I was looking forward to a relaxing evening with my brother and Josh.
What happened was rather different, however.
I did get to enjoy most of my day though. I slept in. Went into work for a few hours to catch up on some stuff. And did a little shopping. I was then headed home to meet Josh, when I was rear-ended.
I was sitting in a line of traffic, waiting in a construction slowdown. Our lane was stopped, while they diverted traffic coming the other way. All of a sudden, my car was jarred forward. I originally thought someone at the end of the line of cars hadn't stopped and it had caused a domino effect. Luckily, however, it was just our two cars. The woman driving the other car stated she accidently shifted into/out of gear and her car lurched forward.
She was extremely apologetic, especially when she saw I am pregnant. One of the construction flaggers came over and diverted traffic around us, and I called 911. I told the dispatcher about our accident, and that I am 25 weeks pregnant. She then said she was sending the fire department as a precaution, and dispatched Washington State Patrol to the scene. Everyone showed up on scene with lights and sirens going (which slightly embarrassed me!). They did a head-to-toe check, and since my blood pressure and pulse we both high, they called my OB's office to ask what they wanted me to do. The doctor's office instructed them to transfer me to our hospital to be monitored as a precaution. Although I felt fine and could feel the baby kicking, I was still relieved that I was going to be checked out further.
I called Josh right away to tell him what happened, as I knew he would be heading home from work soon and the accident occurred on his route home. I didn't want him to drive by, see my wrecked car, and have me not be there! The State Patrol officer called a tow truck to tow my car from the scene, and the ambulance arrived. I was loaded up, given oxygen, asked a bunch more questions, and off we went to the hospital. It was my first ambulance ride! There were no lights and sirens, however.
I was texting Josh the entire time, telling him to meet me at the ER. When I arrived at the ER, they told the EMT's to take me to Labor and Delivery. I texted this to Josh, which sent him into a panic. He thought I meant that the baby might be coming THAT NIGHT! He arrived just after I did, and I've never seen him so pale. He was so concerned about both of us, and I could tell he was on edge. The nurse came in and hooked us up to a fetal heart monitor and contraction monitor, and we heard the baby's heartbeat right away. It was chugging along just perfectly, and he was giving us some good kicks too.
Josh started to calm down once he saw that I was calm, and we proceeded to spend the next 5 hours at the hospital. I had blood drawn, received my RhoGAM shot (since I'm Rh-), had an ultrasound* to check the placenta and a biophysical profile of the baby, and generally just rested. They then discharged us, saying everything checked out perfectly. I was told warning signs to look out for, and that my doctor would followup with me at my regularly scheduled appointment next week.
It was a scary experience to say the least, but I am so very thankful that everything is fine with the baby and myself. Although I can't wait to meet this little guy, he needs at LEAST another 13 weeks to cook!
*When doing the biophysical profile of the little man, the ultrasound tech had certain things she needed to check for. These included gross body movements, leg kicks, and looking at/measuring his heartrate. While trying to get him to move around, she zoomed in on his abdomen. We were able to see his diaphragm moving in a regular, consistent pattern. The tech said he was practicing breathing, and that they don't normally see babies doing that until much closer to delivery. She said he was very advanced in that department! That, of course, made me proud. :) Plus, I felt more relieved that if this little guy
did in fact need to come early, he would stand a better chance of survival with fewer problems. Kiddo isn't even born yet and he's already making me one proud mama!
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