Do not admit fault

I was in a car accident yesterday. I have only been a few accidents in my lifetime so, intially, I wasn’t exactly sure about the protocol. I awkwardly got out of my car to see if the lady in the other car was okay. She was feisty and didn’t get out of her car and got on her phone right away. She looked like she knew what she was supposed to do in this situtation so I followed her lead, got back into my car, and got on the phone. I didn’t know who to call, so I called my husband. He was at a retreat and didn’t pick up. I didn’t want to look like I didn’t know what to do so I kept the phone to my ear and ruffled around looking for my insurance and registration. Luckily, my insurance card has directions on the back for what to do if you get into an accident! What a fabulous, thoughtful idea! Thank you, Esurance! Here is what it said:

1. Seek medical assistance, if necessary.
It was just a fender bender, no air bags or anything, so I didn’t think this was a necessary action step. Today though, I am quite sore, and wish I got checked out. I would feel better if I just heard the baby’s heartbeat, which I am sure is beating like the little speed beater it is, but when I called the doctor today to see if I could just come in to hear the baby’s heartbeat they told me to go to the ER. I hate the emergency room. I know I am just being paranoid. Mothers do this. I think I will wait until my appointment next week, unless I freak out later.

2. Report the accident to the police.
I have to admit, I did not want to do this. And I skipped this action step too because I figured the accident-pro in the other car would call them. Which she did. But the real reason I didn’t want to do this is because I just went through an ordeal with the police wrongfully suspending my license because they said I didn’t pay a ticket that I, in fact, did pay but I still had to go to court and pay fines! So, I am not happy with the police and I knew, since I rear-ended the car in front of me, that the old copper would just give me a ticket. (Which he did). Thanks for showing up 40 minutes after the accident, sitting in your car for 45 minutes and then slapping me with a $135 ticket. You’ve been so helpful, Mr. Officer.

3. Do not admit fault.
I think its hilarious that my insurance card actually has this written on the back of it! If I had written a card giving myself directions as a child, I would include this on it too. I can hear my mother yelling at us, “Okay, one of you left a the popcicle wrappers on the floor by the tv and I want to know who!” Never admit fault – one of the younger brothers will take the blame!

There were other helpful directions like how to report a claim and such, but I can’t think of anything funny or entertaining to write under those, so I think I will stop here. All and all, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, just mildly annoying and I will be without a car for a few days. But thankfully, thats what we have insurance for.

12 Weeks Coming

This blog post is a long time coming…well, actually 12-weeks to be exact. Joe and I are 12 weeks pregnant tomorrow:)

It is funny how things don’t really go as you imagine them. I had imagined, prior to being pregnant, that I would write every day, everything I was feeling, capturing every moment. But alas, prior to being pregnant, I didn’t factor in that I would be sick as a dog, barely feeling up to showering or holding a conversation beyond moaning on the couch. So, this blog space has gone untended.

But thank you, to those of you who gently encouraged me to get to writing. Thank you for wanting to hear. I think I am ready to write now. Let me start from the beginning.

Joe and I were trying for about 4 months to get pregnant but stopped because I went to the doctor and was told that I needed to have surgery due to some intestinal problems. Drats. The doctor said his office would call to schedule the surgery. But the scheduling process took forever because I played phone tag with his receptionist for several weeks. Well, in the meantime, there was one time when I guess you could say we weren’t so “careful”, if you catch my drift. One time! But I didn’t think anything of it because the other months we had tried diligently to no avail.

Well, I was at work. It was a Monday. I was in the middle of talking to a co-worker when I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up. I thought, weird, but nothing else. Then it happened again. Hmmm. Since we weren’t trying anymore, I stopped tracking my period and wasn’t sure when I was due. I had an inkling the week before that I should have gotten it by then, but took a pregnancy test and it had come back negative. But now, there were sudden, weird urges to puke. I called Joe at lunch and told him I was going to pick up another test. Since we’ve been married, there have been several times when I thought for sure I was pregnant and can’t even tell you how many tests I’ve wasted. Needless to say, Joe didn’t take inquiry very seriously.

I waited until I got home to take the test mostly because I didn’t really think I was pregnant. Joe was already home and asked me if I took the test. I said I just got too busy at work the rest of the day. He laughed and bet me $20 I wasn’t pregnant. I didn’t take the bet because I didn’t really think I was either. My words exactly, “Babe, I know I’m not pregnant, I just want to be sure.” We are having this hilarious exchange yelling through the door of the bathroom as I was taking the test.

I open the door of the bathroom as I see the test start to take effect – and those of you who have taken a pregnancy test will know what I am talking about when i say that I was so used to seeing it come back negative, I glanced down and saw the “minus” or “-” start to fill in I just figured it was negative. So I swung the door of the bathroom open to tell Joe and I glanced down one more time…and saw the “plus” sign start to fill in. Again, my words exactly, “Babe, I think this is the symbol…I think this is the pregnancy symbol!” Joe comes running over as we fumble to open the instructions and try to compare our test to the drawing. Suspended breath. “Take another test,” Joe says with a half frightened/half unbelieving smile. Well, i didn’t think I was going to have to take another one and I used up all my pee on the first test! So for the next 5 minutes, Joe sat on the couch while I paced back and forth drinking a glass of water.

I don’t know what was going through my wonderful husband’s mind, but the next words out of his mouth were, “Man, I hope it’s triplets.” (It’s not! Thank the Lord!) He then proceeds to start chanting, “Triplets, triplets, triplets!” I shake my head at him and try to pee again. No can do. So we decide to go to dinner and pick up more tests on the way home. But first, Joe has the presence of mind to snap these pictures.

We ended up buying a super pack of tests – the really nice, digital kind.  They all came back “pregnant.”  🙂