Well, we experienced a Christmas Miracle this year as a family. As Ben, Noah, and I were driving up to the Anderson's home for Christmas Eve this year we got into a car accident on the freeway and it is absolutely amazing that we all walked away from it unharmed.
We hit a patch of ice on the road and our back tires were not able to grip the road and we started fishtailing. Suddenly, as Ben fought for control of the car, we started spinning across the freeway. We were in the far left (car pool) lane, and we spun 4 times across 5 lanes of traffic to smash into the right shoulder cement barrier. We hit hard on the front driver's side, then the force of that crash spun us a little more and we hit the back driver's side before finally coming to a stop facing the freeway and still poking out into the right lane a little bit. It was SO scary! In those brief moments, I looked over to check that Ben's seat belt was buckled (it was, as usual), then I sat half turned so that I could hold on to Noah's car seat because I knew we were going to crash and I wanted to feel like I was doing something to protect my son! I know that my grip on his car seat didn't do anything, but it made me feel like I was protecting him anyway. It was absolutely miraculous that we didn't hit another car on the freeway since there was a fair amount of holiday traffic on the road.
Once we hit the barrier and Ben and I took a moment to make sure the other person was okay, I turned my attention to calling the police and to calming down a terrified and bawling Noah. The big crashes and the jolts were frightening to him, and I didn't dare take him out of his car seat since we were still on the freeway a little bit and the car wouldn't start of us to back up out of the way. After I got the police called, and Ben was trying to push the car off the freeway, a kind man pulled over and immediately jumped into the task of helping Ben push the car out of the way. As they were working on that, another man in a truck pulled over and hooked up a rope and literally pulled us out of harm's way.
Around that time, another small car pulled over and a young couple ran up to the car (I should mention here that it was snowing really hard by this point and it was very windy and freezing outside) they peeked inside and saw me sitting with a crying little boy and they asked if we'd like to come wait in their car with the heater running. I was so grateful for them! I said yes, and asked the woman to hook up Noah's car seat in her car. She came back a few moments later and I handed her Noah to put in her car and grabbed the diaper bag and a few other things from the car. Noah was still sobbing at this point, he was very scared. He still gets a little nervous whenever I stop the car and get out. I sat in their backseat next to Noah and finally got him calmed down. They waited with us with their heater on for about 30 minutes while Ben spoke to the tow company and the policeman about the accident.
Finally Ben came over and asked this couple if they could drop us off somewhere off the next exit (we crashed right in front of it) and we would wait there for Ben's parents to come get us. They were more than happy to do so, and they waited while we got everything out of our trunk and loaded it up into theirs. The whole time they chatted with me, and played with Noah, and didn't seem annoyed at all that they were spending part of their Christmas Eve with strangers on the side of the freeway. After helping us unload at a fast food restaurant, she gave me a hug and they were on their way. I am SO grateful for the kindness of all of these strangers, especially on Christmas Eve when they were probably on their way to their own families.
Our car was totaled, but we all walked away safely. I was pretty sore in my left knee, which I smashed into the console when we hit since I was turned halfway around, it also caused my siatic nerve to freak out for several hours after the accident (I'm sure being pregnant had more to do with that than the accident!) and Ben has experienced some pain in his neck and jaw caused by whiplash. Noah is fine and healthy, and our insurance company will even cover the cost of a new car seat since once the car seat has been in an accident they want you to get a new one. I am SO grateful for Ben's quick thinking and fast reflexes. I absolutely KNOW that his excellent driving skills prevented us from hitting another car or hitting the barrier head on instead of on the side. I am sure there would have been injuries if we had hit it head on. I know that we were protected and watched over, there is no other explanation for why we didn't hit another car. We were shaken and frightened, but safe and well. I'm grateful for the safety of my little family-unborn baby included! (Side note, I felt baby #2 for the first time on Christmas Day!)
