A timely winter story

I was asked to share this story with our church yesterday as a "caution" to all those who will be driving during this winter season. It got me thinking about how I had personally not documented it yet, and I realized that I needed to while the story was still fairly fresh in my mind. And so, readers, I issue this WARNING: This is a long story, and many of you have already heard it. In fact, it's really meant to be more for my own personal journaling than anything else, so I wanted to document all the details that I could remember. Don't say I didn't warn you.

This story takes place in Michigan while I was 8-months pregnant with Jake. There was a big snow storm coming in, and knowing that I had to make the 30 minute drive to pick up my husband from work and then drive an extra 20 minutes home, my boss let me leave early before things got too bad outside. I left with what I thought was plenty of time to "beat the storm." However, by the time I had driven onto the freeway, the sun had gone down, and the snow and ice was really coming on strong. To make matters worse, I had failed to take into consideration that in this kind of weather, a drive that would have normally taken me 30 minutes would now take at least an hour. Count that as mistake #1.

As I was driving on the freeway through this terrible storm, my windshield started to get the "perma-ice" on it, and I could hardly see a thing. I was being as careful as I could in our little green Chevy Malibu, when all of the sudden right in front of me a big mini-van spun out of control and almost hit me before it landed in the ditch. It was at that moment that I realized that no matter how careful I was being on the road, I couldn't control other cars, and that was putting me in very real danger. I said many silent prayers on my way to pick up Joseph, while the snow and ice just kept coming.

By now it was pitch black outside, except for all the white snow falling from the sky. I still could hardly see out of my windshield, and it was in this condition that I made mistake #2. You see, there were two ways to get to Joseph's work. One was to take the main road, the other was to take a back road that was usually faster. At this time, I was more paranoid about other cars on the road spinning out of control and hitting me than anything else, and I figured, hey, I'm in Michigan, we're used to snow-storms like this, no doubt this backroad will be plowed and I won't have to deal with so many other cars. So, in the moment of decision, I took the backroad.

As soon as I turned onto that road, I knew it was a huge mistake. There was literally a foot and a half of snow on the road, and the only way to get through it was to follow some tracks that had been made by another car that had gone before me. I couldn't turn around because I knew my little malibu wouldn't make it going through so much snow without getting stuck. The only way to go was forward. I thought that as long as I stayed within the bounds of the two tracks and I kept moving, I could eventually make it to Joseph.

The snow continued to come down hard, and I was moving along fine, albeit slowly. All of the sudden, there was a break in the tracks and my car got stuck in the now 2-feet deep snow. My pregnancy hormones started to kick into high gear and I called Joseph in hysterics. He calmly walked me through how to rock the car so I could get some traction on the tires and start moving again. After a few failed attempts, I finally got going, and I knew that if I could just somehow keep moving then I would be fine.

After traveling at 2 mph for about ten minutes minutes, the inevitable happened: I saw two red brake lights in front of me. As I reached the stopped car, I saw what had happened. A huge SUV had apparently started to go down this road, decided it wasn't a good idea, and tried to turn around. However, even this 4-wheel-drive monster of a car was no match for this snowstorm, and it had gotten stuck sideways in the road, blocking both sides of traffic.

And that was it. I was officially 100% stuck. There was no way around it. I couldn't go back, and I couldn't go forward. Now I REALLY started to panic. Luckily, we had AAA Roadside Assistance, so I quickly gave them a call, explained my situation, and they said that they would send a tow truck ASAP to get me out of there. Phew!

But wait, the story doesn't end there! They said it would take about an hour or so to send someone out, and I, being 8-months pregnant, was desperate to find a toilet. Luckily (and this is really where the grace of God kicked in) my car had gotten stuck in front of a house who had a man outside that was snowblowing his driveway. In my state of panic, I ran up to this man and asked if I could use his bathroom. He kind of gave me a funny look, but seeing that I was hugely pregnant, he kindly obliged. He said that his wife was inside and would show me to the bathroom.

After using their bathroom, I came out and in all of my panic and worry over what was happening to me, I just started sobbing. Obviously a little shocked, the wife asked me if I was ok. I just explained to her what was happening - about how I had gotten stuck, and I didn't know how I was going to make it to my husband, and how AAA said they weren't going to be there for a whole hour, and how this storm showed absolutely no signs up letting up. After hearing my (literal) sob story, she showed great compassion and fed me some of her family's leftover dinner and let me wait in her home while AAA came to get my car.

I waited and waited. The hour dragged on. The storm was getting worse and worse. Finally, I received a phone call from AAA. "Umm...ma'am I'm sorry to tell you this, but the street that your car is on has been deemed 'impassable,' which means that we can't send our tow trucks down that road. The road plows have stopped plowing, and there is just no way that we can get to you."

And that was that. My fate was sealed. There was no hope from here. I called Joseph to tell him that there was no way that I could get to him. Luckily, a guy from his football team lived across the street from where he worked, so he was able to walk over and stay the night at a friend's house. I, on the other hand, was completely at a loss. What should I do? Should I sleep in my car? I didn't have any blankets, water, food, or anything in there, but I didn't dare ask this stranger's family to let me stay in their home overnight. And honestly, who knew how long I would be stuck there? Even when the storm passed, it left a mighty pile of snow in it's wake that my little car just couldn't pass through. I would be stuck until the plows got to my road, and I had no way of knowing when that would be.

Sensing my distress (I've never been one to hide it well) the kind woman offered to let me stay there overnight. I was terribly embarrassed, but to be honest, incredibly grateful for her offer. She had already been my saving grace, but in that moment she was literally an angel to me. By now it was about 9:00, and I thought that maybe a good night's sleep would clear my head a little and maybe we could work out a solution in the morning.

Of course, all schools were cancelled the next day, and the snow plows came around 3:00 in the afternoon. With the help of his friend's truck, Joseph was finally able to get to me and help me get our car out of the snow. We successfully managed to drive home, and I had never been more grateful for the comfort of our shabby little apartment.

Sometimes when I think about this story, I find myself pondering the "what-ifs." What if I hadn't stopped in front of this house? What if I had been just a half-mile farther up the road and there were literally no homes in sight? What if I wasn't pregnant, but instead had an infant with me? What if this man hadn't let me use his bathroom? It just keeps going and going. Luckily, what could have been a nightmare turned into just a...well, bad dream. I knew at the time that it would be a good story to tell in the weeks, months, and years down the road, but right then I was just grateful to be with Joseph in the safety of our own home. I was also grateful that I didn't go into early labor. But more than anything, I was so incredibly grateful for the kindness of a stranger and his family, and it reminded that even in this sometimes rotten world that we live in, people are good, and the Lord will answer our prayers through those wonderful people.

Holy heartburn!! (and a rare picture)

Oh. my. gosh. I think I'm dying. I can hardly breathe anymore and my back is killing me, but I think it's the heartburn that's really going to do me in during this pregnancy. I don't remember it being this bad with Jake. Maybe I just have a bad memory...or maybe I'm just more of a wuss these days. Actually, I think that I am just carrying "in" more, and this baby must be squishing all of my insides!!

This has been going on for a while, and my midwife told me to take 20 mg of Pepcid AC twice a day. So, I followed the doctor's orders and went and bought some, but it really only worked for about 3 hours before I was starting to really feel it again. I decided to talk to my midwife again and see if there was anything else she could do for me. She went ahead and gave me a prescription, which I filled, came home, and compared it to the Pepcid AC I already had. Turns out she just prescribed me the generic brand of Pepcid AC!!! It's the SAME THING. 20 mg and all!!! What the heck??

On a happier note, I decided that I should redact the statement that I will never have pictures taken of me to document my pregnancy. I've just had that urge!! So, for all of you who have been asking, here ya go:

33 weeks

I can't hear you!

Lately, Jake has been pulling what my sister-in-law affectionately coined "the ear-muffs": when he has done something wrong and he knows you're going to say something about it, he simply puts his hands over his ears and pretends like he can't hear you. He also does it when he just doesn't like what you're saying to him.

For example, yesterday morning I was getting ready for the day when all of the sudden Jake came running into the bathroom and stood in front of me with his hands over his ears. Knowing this means that he has done something he knows he's not supposed to do, I went around the house looking for the disaster. What I found was no disaster at all, just a half eaten apple on the table that he had gotten out of the fridge and started eating. The funny thing about this is that I really don't scold him for doing that, I usually just say something like, "Jake, next time ask mommy if you want an apple." But he knows...

Another example is when we tell him that he can't have dessert until he eats his dinner first. It's like he thinks that if he can't hear that we said something, then it was never said at all! Nice try buddy!!!

This picture was taken at the same time as the "ear-muff" picture...I just love this kid!

Trunk-or-treaticus

On Saturday morning we had our church Halloween trunk-or-treat party, and our family came dressed as Harry Potter, Hermione, and Dobby the house-elf! I had so much fun making these costumes, and even more fun wearing them to the party!

This is one of those pictures where I was laughing at the camera. But Jake just looked so cute I couldn't not put it in!
Jake was playing with his buddies the whole time, and I tried to get a picture of all of them together but this is as close as I could get.

The "balloon pit" was one of Jake's favorite activities.

Jake refused to wear his socks or a jacket (or his elf-ears for that matter) for the trunk-or-treating part of the activity. Luckily, the weather was unusually warm, but I still felt like a deadbeat mom letting my son walk around outside in a pillowcase!!

We all came home loaded with lots of candy and good memories. Happy Halloween everyone!

Sicko

Yuck. I knew that there was a terrible bug going around here lately (Jake even had it about two weeks ago) but I had been lucky enough to have escaped its path thus far. That is, until yesterday. Holy cow! This thing was BAD! I woke up at 2 am on Sunday morning with my stomach just churning. I thought it was something I ate because I had gorged myself on pizza the night before (there seems to be a recurring pizza theme here lately...) In my mind's eye I could see that last piece of cheese pizza just laughing at me as I lay in bed about to hurl. From that moment on, I couldn't keep a single thing in my stomach all day long, not even sips of water or ice chips. To make matters worse, during all of this stomach upheaval, I started having pretty bad braxton-hicks contractions. That evening it got to the point where I was just throwing up bile, and Joseph made me call my doctor to see if there was anything I should do. They said they wanted me to go into the hospital to make sure everything was OK with the baby and get some fluids in me through an IV.

When we got to the hospital they monitored the baby (everything was fine) and put me on an IV and expected me to stay for just a few short hours. However, after they took my blood and some other fluid samples, apparently I was worse off then they originally thought. That's when my 2-3 hour stay turned into an overnight with ten bags of fluids put into me! I thought I might end up swimming out of the hospital by the time I checked out! But really, I felt SO much better when I left. The anti-nausea medicine was amazing, and I was just more tired than anything else.

So today I've just been resting and laying low all day. The worst is definitely over. The doctor at the hospital said that this virus that has been going around has been hitting pregnant women especially hard because it causes you to deplete anything in your stomach, and then you can't eat, which then makes pregnant women even more nauseous, and makes you throw up even more, and it's just a cyclical effect. Thank goodness for friends that just knock on your door at 8:30 am and take your child so you can sleep all morning (you're a lifesaver Jess) and for a wonderful husband who comes home during lunch to take care of you (love you Joseph) and even for a 2 1/2 year old who is more than willing to watch movies all afternoon so you can rest some more. Hopefully by tomorrow this will all be a thing of the past!

A late birthday present

I can finally check this one off my bucket list! For my birthday back in August, my AMAZING husband bought us tickets to see The Lion King in Chicago this past weekend (I know, right? He's the best!) We stayed with my ever-so-gracious aunt and uncle who live outside Chicago and they even watched Jake for us while we spent the afternoon in Chi-town. Their girls, who are my youngest cousins, loved all over Jake, and he couldn't have been happier. In fact, when we came home for the evening, all he did was tell me that he was picking raspberries with my aunt. Not even a hello. I took that as a good sign.

The play itself was incredible. Of course, me being me, I forgot our camera, but these are a few pics of what we saw:

I didn't know what to expect, but the set and props really blew me away. In reality, the play itself is almost exactly like the movie, same script and everything. In fact, it was so similar that Joseph had a hard time because he wanted all the characters to have the exact same voice inflection as they do in the movie. Sorry, babe, it's called artistic license...at least I think it is.

After we got home, my aunt and uncle treated us to real Chicago style deep dish pizza at Giordano's. And yes, it really is as good as it looks! And, no, I didn't feel guilty at all because, after all, I am pregnant!

The rest of the weekend was spent watching movies, playing games, and talking and laughing until the wee hours of the morning with my aunt and uncle. A good time was had by all!! Thanks again, Galen and Janet, for everything, we had a blast!

And the awkwardness continues

Joseph has now jumped on the awkward train with me (braces and a growing belly are not a good combination) and has gotten braces of his own! He had braces when he was a teenager, but lost his retainer so now he has to get them again. We've known for a while that he was going to get them, but I think he secretly hoped that the day would never come. Well, it finally did, and I love that my husband and I can be in this somewhat bothersome stage together. We can share in each other's misery.

When Jake saw Joseph's braces he just stared at them then finally said, "Take that off." Joseph told him that they won't come off, to which Jake replied, "Yes, get scissors."

I still think Joseph is very handsome, but both of us are anxious for this awkwardness to be over. When it's all done we'll both have smiles fit for a dentist and his family. So cheers to that!