What a night!

Yes, the snowbirds are back in full force and this I know because one from Minnesota hit me last night!! I haven't been in an accident in almost five years and that one was just a little fender bender (ironically I was also pregnant at the time.) THIS one was scary!! It was nighttime on Main, east of Ellsworth where instead of streetlights, the road is lit by liquor signs and billboards for men's clubs. In fact, that's how I told Landon where to find me after it happened.

Basically, I was driving in the far left lane and I happened to notice this guy pulling out from one of the shopping complexes. He was just sitting there waiting, waiting, waiting and then suddenly decided to pull out right in front of a motorcycle! I actually thought to myself, "nice, if he had just gone 30 seconds earlier he wouldn't have cut off traffic." So my attention was on him and thank goodness it was! He went from the right lane to the middle as I approached going 50 and in a moment I just KNEW he was coming into my lane. I slammed my hands on the center of the steering wheel to honk (which doesn't help in the jeep because the horn is not there!) braked, and swerved as far left as I could. I keep seeing the scene in my mind like a movie as he just kept driving right into the passenger side of the jeep, completely oblivious to me.

There were no airbags and no violent jarring, but I was still pretty shaken up at what had happened. Then my adrenaline kicked in because he got out of his car and instead of the apology I was expecting, said "Lady, what were you doing? I was turning and you just hit me!"

WHAT??

Oh man, my hands went in the air wildly as I started yelling, or trying to in my hoarse, sick voice, "I've been driving in that left lane for 3 miles and you just came out of nowhere and ran into me!"

By this time, there were a bunch of onlookers. Thankfully, a guy from one of the nearby stores was already on the phone with the police so I was able to call Landon right away. My anger left as I realized the other driver was nuts, or even drunk, who knows, and no one was going to try to blame me. Then the tears came, of course. There's nothing like a pregnant crying woman to get people to freak out =) Men were helping me get my stuff, turn on my hazards, walk to the other side of the road and sit down to rest. One lady in bright, pink-red hair smoking a cigarette started chastising us for not being more careful and then pulled out a couple of flares to alert oncoming traffic of the cars in the road! Flares! I have no clue where she came from or why she had them, but looking back it was almost comical seeing her waving her cigarette in the air and directing the men where to put the flares.

Two fire engines and three police cars came. The sheriff drove my car off the road to free up the traffic and the paramedics checked my vitals and asked about the baby. When the other driver and I were declared fine and the cars moved out of the way, people cleared out. Landon and his mom had arrived for me and we just waited to give my report. She went to get the kids and take them back to her house, while Landon and I went to the hospital to check on Kellen. No injuries for me or the baby and we were able to drive the jeep back to the Moores house, which was closest, to wait on the insurance claim. So, the night ended pretty smoothly. But the main reason I wanted to write a post about this event is because I am so thankful for so many things. Be prepared for a lengthy report!

- Praise God that I was alone and hit on the passenger side. He hit right where Trenton sits if I had been in the car with the kids!!
- Praise God that I was in the jeep and not the corolla. We are counting on the corolla for years to come and the jeep also has a much beefier build to sustain an accident.
- Praise God that the police and paramedics arrived immediately! Let me tell you, I saw our tax dollars at work and I am so thankful to live somewhere with a quick emergency response team and one who CARES.
- Praise God for this one specific paramedic who insisted they check me out even after another young guy flippantly took my stunned, i-don't-know response to medical help as a refusal. The rest of the group was so attentive and concerned and the main guy, who I wish I had a name for, stayed by my side until Landon came. He made little jokes and small talk to calm me down and try to make me laugh. He explained everything they were doing and what I should do if anything changed after leaving the scene. He was so comforting and a true example of a fireman who serves his community.
- Praise God for Sheriff Rodriguez who took the report. He was also very soothing and compassionate, when he could have been short and business-like to get the job done. He moved my car for me, seeing that I was too shaken to do it. He told stories about owning a 92 jeep and what a tough car it is as he looked at the damage. And he was pissed at the other driver - who through the entire questioning continued to insist he was just trying to turn left and it was not his fault. He was thorough in his explanation of the report and what I should do next, pointing out his name and the department phone number a few times in case I had questions.
- Praise God for the motorcycle driver who was cut off by the other driver. He had to swerve to avoid being run over and then saw the collision. He could have just not worried about it, but he pulled off the road and called the police to make a statement. It was his witness that allowed the sheriff to write the guy a citation, which will make the insurance claims way easier to handle.
- Praise God for the store owner who was the first on the scene. He is the one who called the police when I was too confused to think that far and he was also the only one on the group of people that surrounded the initial accident to corroborate my story. He saw the guy pull out from his complex and watched it happen.
- Praise God for my nurse Bridget who checked me out at the hospital. She didn't treat me like a paranoid pregnant woman =) She was upbeat and kept laughing at Kellen because he made it impossible to get a steady read on his heartbeat with all his moving around. She showed me on the monitor the graph that tracks fetal movement in blips and his was solid black! She engaged Landon and I in conversation and kept talking directly to Kellen, telling him to slow down and quit demanding all the attention. She put me at ease when I was worried about my baby.
- Praise God for Landon's parents and Landon, who responded right away. I'm thankful Sheila came to sit with me at the accident and then picked up the boys from church. It was wonderful to know the boys wouldn't be scared because they were going somewhere familiar. And I'm thankful that my husband stayed calm, even when I first called and he assumed I had caused the accident =)
- Praise God for ALL of our friends, family, and even small group coaches (since Landon rushed away from Wednesday night SG) who offered prayers, help with the kids, and support, texting and calling to make sure the baby and I were ok. Landon and I felt so loved last night.

What started out traumatic, has really turned into a moment for me to be thankful. God kept Kellen and me safe.