Stitches and Sarcasm: Pregnancy 19 Weeks: Thanksgiving and Car Accident

I've had two ultrasounds since my last update. The first was the anatomy ultrasound. Everything the tech could see looked great, but baby girl was a wiggle worm. I go back in mid-December so the tech can try again for the heart. She could see the heart beating away, but she could not visually confirm everything she needed to.

We also went to visit my aunt in Colorado for Thanksgiving. It was an eight-hour drive, but I love being able to spend time with family members. I only get to see my family about three times a year, so I always look forward to it. I also have a cousin who lives about 90 minutes south of my aunt. We visited with her as well. She has a little dog that E was obsessed with.

We had a really good visit, but the drive home on Sunday was more eventful than I cared for. We decided to take the northern route home since the southern route has frozen over. We checked the weather reports and all was clear, but I guess this winter storm decided it wanted to make an entrance. Hubs could tell conditions were bad and the other drivers were being wreckless. He started to pull off onto the shoulder to avoid the person speeding and gaining ground behind us. I was knitting at the time when hubs said, "We are about to get hit."

I looked up into the passenger side mirror to see a purple-blue car lose control and collide with a semi-truck. It then spun and slammed into the back of our SUV. We thought only the bumper and exhaust pipe were affected, but we noticed some frame damage to the back passenger side door as well.

E was not hurt, but she was terrified. She screamed inconsolably for about 20 minutes. I called 911 and told the dispatcher where we were, that numerous cars were involved, and that I was 19 weeks pregnant. An officer arrived and informed us that with conditions this bad, I would be better off having hubs drive me to the nearest hospital than getting into the ambulance.

One car involved took off right away. Another one tried to, but its axle was snapped in half. The police officer took everyone's statement and insurance information and then gave us the incident report. The nearest town with a hospital was 40 miles away in Rawlins, WY.

Once we got to the town, I realized I was bleeding. When we got to the ER, they couldn't do much of anything. They had no ultrasound tech on the weekends. They did have a doppler, so I got to hear baby girl's heartbeat. The ER doctor did a physical exam and said his best guess was I had a small abruption. He told me to rest as much as possible and see my own doctor as soon as possible. I stopped bleeding that same night.

I saw my doctor yesterday. She agreed with the ER doctor's assessment. Since it was so late in the day, I could not have an ultrasound to confirm. They scheduled me for one this morning. There is no major tear, as they expected. Their best guess is a small corner tore away from my wall and caused the bleed. I am on modified bed rest for a week and then I can ease back into my regular activities.

I had a really bad headache Sunday and Monday, and my uterus is a lot sorer than I expected. We are so thankful that none of our babies were hurt. Our biggest hurdle and concern going forward is that I am not allowed to lift more than 10 pounds for a week from the bleeding. Hubs had shoulder surgery so he cannot lift much either. Thankfully, my mom is coming out tomorrow, which is such a stress relief.

Now that we are home and we know baby girl is well, I have some late comparison pictures. 19 weeks with E on the left, 19 and a few days into this pregnancy on the right. Unlike previous weeks, I am now looking bigger than my previous pregnancy. Poking out a tiny bit!