The latest Drama

Fri, Aug 15, just after 6pm, I was in a pretty serious car accident. I was on my way to the pet store to get some things for my aquarium, and was at the intersection of the shopping center. I was out in the intersection waiting to turn left, the light turned yellow, and all the cars that typically speed through the yellow went through. Then, the light turned red, and I saw cars stopping, and one car was still moving, but he was far enough back he should stop for the stoplight, I ASSUMED WRONGLY. Instead, he came barreling down, and smacked into me hard, going over 40 miles an hour I think, my airbags went off, and my car went spinning into the intersection, gratefully missing the other cars that were trying to get into the intersection. Some cars started honking at me, as if they hadn't seen the whole event. After the car stopped spinning, my head was splitting (probably from the airbag explosion and maybe hitting things like the rear view mirror and whatever flew inside the car), but my heart was racing, and I was breathing heavy. I guess I was hyperventilating.

IT took me a while to think about taking my foot off the break, and turning the car off, despite all the many cars wanting to get through the intersection. I was shaking up a storm, and heavily breathing. Some really nice man came to my door, and said he needed to help me out, as the car was smoking, fluids were leaking, and he didn't want me in there if it was going to start on fire. He helped me get to the side walk, which was harder to do than expected. My legs were all wobbly, and I hurt pretty bad, and was really scared about my tummy, which had been banged up pretty bad by the seat belt/steering wheel. I wasn't feeling Kaleb, who is CONSTANTLY moving, kicking, and boxing me. He was silent down there, and I was scared.

I sat down on the sidewalk, and the man was asking if I had a phone to call 911, I was reaching for my phone when Larry called, so I picked up to shakily tell him I had just been in an accident. While I was talking to him, another very kind soul, a young woman was also there, and she was calling 911, rubbing my back, and also there to support me, which I greatly appreciated. Apparently, Larry was calling to tell me that he wasn't driving up to Frederick that night, as he was on his way to pick up a hutch we had purchased off of Craig's list with the new Bishop. That changed those plans! Thankfully, Larry was on his way home, so he came and saw them bring me into the ER on the backboard, all taped down and neck braced.

Anyhoo, 2 different ambulances came immediately, I was impressed with how fast they were. The first set of EMT's checked me out as best they could, while the police were talking to the guy that had hit me, and anyone standing around. They never spoke to me until I was in the ER waiting. I heard the guy who hit me telling the police that he was only going 20 miles an hour, and the light was still yellow. The girl who had called 911 tried to interject, saying she saw it, and he was going much faster than that. By this time, they were getting me into a second ambulance, and the 2nd set of EMTs were deciding whether or not to backboard me. I wish they hadn't, as I think my current back pain now is from being back boarded. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO terribly uncomfortable, more than I would have thought, and being pregnant and having difficulties being on my back anyway only aggravated it. The EMTs with me kept commenting that the other guy would surely get the ticket, there were no brake marks from his car, and they saw the scene first.

Anyway, I was trying to calm myself down, as breathing hurt, everything hurt, and my legs were shaking and convulsing (I'm sure from fear and shock). While riding to the ER, I was able to calm down mostly. The EMTs were great, and I appreciated them too. We get to the ER, and there were all sorts of comments about how busy a night it was there, and a helicopter was coming in right after me. It was unfortunate for me, as I ended up waiting hours and hours and hours, just waiting. And not getting checked out and sent home.

And, keep in mind, I'm pregnant and nauseated, so I need constant food snacks and drinks to keep me from loosing it, and this happened at dinner time, so I had nothing in me, and hours are ticking by. I had Larry ask them if I could have some water or anything, and their answer was always "NO!" Come to find out, it's protocol in case I needed surgery, but since I didn't need surgery, and no one was checking on me, I don't see why they couldn't have let a pregnant woman have some water and a snack...

Well, I am laying on this backboard, all taped and unable to move a muscle other than my hands which were numb (right side) and toes. Head was smarting like crazy, as was my back from that board. We had a doc come in and take it off, (WHEW, THANK GOODNESS!) and he moved my neck around, and it moved, so that was it for my check. He didn't want to ex-ray anything as I was pregnant, so that was the extent of my exam. Then, I laid there some more on that uncomfortable back board, thirsty, and no one but Larry there, and the cop in and out, and eventually the Bishop who came to give me a priesthood blessing.

OH yeah, the cop. He finally came in and spent a minute with me, asking questions. I said the light was red, and he told me the light was yellow, and that the other guy, and a witness had said it was yellow when he had stopped (Though he didn't know the color when the other guy behind him went through the light), so guess who got the ticket? I did. Amazing! And angering! Apparently, the cop said that regardless of if the light was red or yellow, I had to yield and make sure there were no cars moving before I turned. But, in my situation, had I waited a second longer, I would have been hit by the oncoming cars from the other direction, so I had to move, and the other cars were stopped, and I thought that guy had time to stop (which he did, but I guess he was going way too fast and didn't want to stop). SO, the big time bad news on that, is I got the ticket. And all the techs, myself, and Larry were shocked. We plan on fighting it in court.

Anyway, back to the hospital drama. A few hours later, we were told I'd get a sonogram. SO we waited, and waited, and eventually, went to get the sonogram. By this time, I had tears rolling down my face from the pain in my back, and being on my back for the sonogram was very difficult, along with her pressing on my abdomen which also hurt, due to the seat belt bruising. But, she said the baby looked fine, though it was the stillest I'd ever seen (or felt) him.

We went back to the ER and waited some more. Apparently, they were going to get me over to Labor and Delivery to monitor me for a few hours, but it took them several hours to tell me this, and get it set up I guess. IT was midnight, and I was so thirsty, so hungry, back hurting, and just wanting to go home. I had an IV thing in my arm, otherwise, I might have convinced Larry to just walk out. But, we told the nurse, when we finally found her that I wanted to go home. She came back 1/2 hour later or so, and had the papers for me to sign out against medical advice. Yup, I left the ER AMA. As if they were doing anything for me, and charging us thousands of dollars for it too. And, Larry also realized by this time, that it was all protocol, and it was ok to leave, as nothing really was going to happen.

We hit a McDonald's on the way home so I'd have something in me, and got home after midnight, rather than closer to 6am, as it probably would have been, had I stayed around for the "few hours of monitoring" once I got over to Labor and Delivery. Then, we called the insurance company the next morning. The lady we spoke to was very lovely, very nice, and we were grateful. Today, we will hear from the claims adjuster lady who will tell us our options about the car. We are praying that it will go well, and in our favor, and that we'll at least get enough money for my Hybrid to pay off the loan.

And then, our rates are going to double, and I have to car shop and we can't afford much, so I can't get another Hybrid. I loved my Hybrid.

Today, I'm going to see my OB again, I was just there on Fri for my monthly checkup, but I'm going back in today just to make sure everything is still ok since the accident. Larry took today off work to help me, as if he had gone to work, I'd be trying to unpack and work on the house, despite my hurting back. If he's here, he stops me and keeps me doing other things that won't hurt me so much. :) And, we have plenty to do, having just moved here. Guess I'd best get moving on that.

I had wanted to write in my journal about all of this, but it is still hiding in one of the many unpacked boxes somewhere, along with fingernail clippers, medical records, our coats, and who knows what else. :)

Larry has been wonderful through this ordeal. He has pointed out how something like this reminds us of what is important. Here we were stressing about the house, how we can't afford it, can't afford to fix it so it's more functional and usable, how having the baby makes it even tighter financially, but after something like this, he likes to point out that what is really important, is both me and the baby are alive, and that is what matters. Sure, there is more to stress about now, with the ER bill, insurance rates going up, having to get a new car, etc., but we are reminded about what is more important. There is a different perspective that comes when you are that close to your life changing forever in ways that it's hard to think about.

So, we are grateful that the worst of it is bruises and back pain, nothing more. We are grateful we have each other through this. We are grateful that the first insurance lady was so helpful and nice, and we are hoping the claims adjuster today is just as great. :) And, grateful that Kaleb is still moving, though not as actively as before. We're going to be ok after all... :)

IT's a .....???? ALIEN!

It would be fun to put a poll out there and see what you all predict/guess... but, since a few of you already know... that spoils some of the fun.

So, to be boring and polite... :) We are having a baby boy. The name we've picked out so far is Kaleb Joseph. Larry is planning on painting the baby's room blue, and is looking forward to playing football and taking him to sporting events. The sonogram pics we got, we have one where the baby is giving us the Thumbs up signal, and another where he is flexing his muscles... ALREADY! testosterone is big time in this little active guy!

Weeks from Hell

I'll most likely edit this post when I have more time to add details, take out attitude, or whatever. :)

WE have had a tremendous time moving, and NOT in a good way, though hopefully in the end it will be. I have to just remind myself that God's hand was involved when we got those offers so quickly, and that we felt right about the house we were trying to buy ourselves. We were supposed to go to closing 7/30/08 on both houses. Since it was mid week, we couldn't find help to load up trucks and such, so we hired movers to pick up our stuff 7/29/08 morning, and unload 7/30/08 evening after closing. In the late afternoon of 7/29/08, AFTER THE MOVERS had come and taken away all our belongings but the 2 cats and fish, and some plants and pictures (you know, the bare essentials if you don't mind being naked or dirty and such...) We found out that the buyers for our place had some issues screwed up with the financing, and it wasn't going to go to closing. We weren't sure if it ever WAS going to go to closing, but it was all up in the air. We couldn't have the movers unload of course, we couldn't buy the new place until my place went to closing, I had worked extra hours at work to take the time off, but then we weren't closing any more. And I had nothing to do if I stayed home in an empty house (no projects, no entertainment, no books, no cleaning, absolutely nothing to do). So I went to work, and we hoped and prayed closing would happen Thurs or Fri. We never heard, other than "we're working on it." Meanwhile, after spending a night on the floor and not having any clean underwear, we decided to take Larry's friend Lisa up on her generous offer to stay at her place with the cats. So, we piled ourselves, my cats, the cat litter, cat food, and our big fat selves into her guest room indefinitely... And I finally had a bed to sleep on, which was very very nice. :) She lives in Alexandria, so it made commuting to all the different things (my place in Greenbelt, or Manassas, or Frederick, or Annapolis) extra long, but we did have a place to sleep and for the cats to be traumatized and cry under the bed for a few days (and get worms while they were at it!). As the saga continued, We were told closing would be Friday. but, it wasn't. Maybe Monday. Meanwhile, you have this pregnant woman (yes, that's me) who is uncomfortable, no clean clothes, one pair of shoes, no underwear that are clean (I only have 5 pair that can squeeze over my big fat belly, and the store for my "special underwear" is closed until end of September) without a home and everything in limbo.

Friday was a roller coaster. The people we were planning on buying from (and keep in mind it was 7-8 houses deep apparently, all resting on mine going to closing) agreed to let us move in early and pay rent, but we had to do the walk through first. So, we were excited that we would get to move in, even though it was risky with everything as it was, and save 400 bucks on the moving storage we had to be paying as the truck was holding our stuff until we had them unload it somewhere... Anyhoo... Fri night we went to do the walk through, hoping to move in Sat morning. WE got there, (after my 4 hr drive getting there as I was stuck on the beltway in an accident) and found out the AC wasn't working, and the house was almost 90 degrees inside. Being pregnant (again, yes, milking this) I got so sick, I was lying on the floor ready to pass out and throw up at the same time, so sick, and it actually took 2 days to recover from it. Also, found leak in the basement, and the windows that were supposed to be fixed weren't fixed, and the stove wasn't working, blah blah blah. Meaning, if we moved in, we accepted the walk through and the fixing and stuff would not happen. And since things weren't in working order when we bought, the home warranty wouldn't cover them either. So again, we were still in a bind/limbo about what to do.

The AC did get fixed that night, so we decided to go ahead and move in sat morning. Then, there was the fiasco with the movers, and being overcharged, told wrong things, and me telling the movers where to put things, and those things were found other places (i.e. basement or upstairs instead of main floor, or whatever). Also, they took FOREVER to unload, and our whole day was spent directing them where to put boxes (which didn't go well obviously). Then, drove to greenbelt to pack up the stuff left there that the movers wouldn't take, and forgot the key to the storage shed, meaning we had to go back yet again! Back to Manassas to unload, and then back to Alexandria to crash.

next morning we went to Annapolis, loaded up stuff that was there, went to greenbelt to load up the storage shed stuff, which we AGAIN forgot the key to, so George gave us a tool to cut the lock with. :) Then back to manassas to start dealing with boxes and mess and attempt to unpack late Sun night.

Mon I went to closing for my house, and yes, it did go through. Amazingly. But, it was all in spanish, and the ladies STILL said they were "working on it" in reference to Larry's request that we be reimbursed for our EXTRA moving expenses caused by their realtor not telling us in time about the financing problem, causing us to pay at least an extra 500 bucks (not to mention the inconvenience, floor sleeping, and crashing at friends house). They had led us to believe they were going to pay us for that. In the end, they refused, so Larry is debating on taking them to court or not for it.

Then, it was closing on the house Larry and I were buying. There were some missing documents we still need to obtain from the sellers, windows still need fixing, etc, but at least that was done. but I forgot a part. While at the first closing, my key ring with multiple sets of key rings on it was stolen. Including the new house and mail keys, and personal info like library card and store cards... So add that to the stress... (talk about one thing after another).

Larry's dad and sister had come that morning to paint one room so we could get the file cabinets put in it and start unpacking that one room, so they had spent all day Monday doing that for us while I was at the various closing. And larry's other sister and niece had come to help unpack boxes in the kitchen, so we had some great help getting started with the whole process! They are such a wonderful family to have married into. :)

So, it was back to work on Tuesday, wearing the same clothes of course, and shoes of course, as even though we had moved in, couldn't find anything even though boxes were labeled. And spent so much energy moving boxes around from one place to another trying to find other boxes, it just got messy. :) Oh, and don't forget, I had to get the cats to the Vet to check them out, and had more trauma trying to give them medications they refused to take. I have scars to prove it. :) But, I've been at work all week. not having time to unpack, so this weekend, we hope to get some space opened up by some unpacking.

We have to find a particular box, as it has my medical records and the sonogram slip to go find out the gender of the baby this coming Monday. So, the unpacking focus is probably going to be office stuff and file cabinets, even though typically it would be last priority... as I HAVE to find that box!!! :)

There was plenty I didn't add, and have now forgotten due to being so sick, exhausted, tired, and just plain wrecked. And, I need to get back to work, as I used up my entire lunch break writing in here, rather than eating. :)