If I would have written this blog post a couple of days ago, it would have read: “I was in an accident, my sister Rachel and my two babies were in the car, everyone seems to be ok, I don’t want to talk about it.”
So I decided to wait until I was ready to talk about it before writing this post. At the time, I had told the story too many times and I was too emotional to discuss it anymore. I had told the story already to police officers, drivers that stopped to help, my parents, Jason, the ambulance driver, the EMT in the ambulance, the doctor in the hospital, several hospital nurses, my daughters’ pediatrician, my insurance agent and several other people who had heard the story from someone else. Talking about it was emotionally exhausting, it was the worst thing that I’ve ever had to go through, and I hated reliving it.
I’m still having a hard time with it, but I am finally ready to tell the story. It helps that the outcome of the story is positive: everyone who was in the car is unharmed. I’m sorry that I ruined the ending of the story, but I was in so much agony waiting for the ending myself, that I don’t want anyone else to have to worry like I was.
My sister Rachel babysat for me on Thursday so I could take a subbing job while Jason was also working. Usually, we can work it out so that only one of us is working at the same time, but it was difficult to do so this week. So I was driving Rachel to Topeka where my mom was picking her up and driving her back to Manhattan. When we left Kansas City, the road conditions were great; there was no sign of rain or anything of that nature. Jason had to go to class, so we brought Kylie and Eve with us. It started to rain about the time we reached Lawrence, so much so that I almost hydroplaned. That freaked me out, so I slowed down a lot and turned off the radio, so I could concentrate on driving. I was going about 50 mph, and cars were passing me going extremely fast. It was making me nervous, I could barely see in front of me and all these cars seemed to still be driving over the 70 mph speed limit. Well just as I was thinking “man, those drivers need to be way more cautious in these conditions,” it happened: my car hydroplaned, spun completely around on the interstate and the passenger side crashed into the concrete median.
I was completely in a daze at first. I had been praying the entire time we were spinning, and I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or not once the car had crashed. Hearing both my babies scream their heads off made me realize it was real and I noticed Rachel about to get them out of their seats to check them out. She had reacted a lot faster than I had, but we have known for a long time now that she is the most motherly sister out of the four of us Toll girls, so that wasn’t too surprising. I yelled at her NOT to take them out of their seats, I was scared that another car was going to come spinning from the same spot and hit us. Plus, visibility was very low and our WHITE car was barely sticking out onto the highway. I was afraid of what was going to happen next. Rachel called 911 while I frantically checked out my babies. Some nice people stopped and we left the car to sit in someone else’s black SUV which WASN’T sticking out in the highway, so it seemed safer. Rachel and I were still freaking out because Eve seemed to have a bump on the side of her head. She’s only 7 weeks old, so we did not know how damaging it was. Kylie seemed to be ok, she had no marks on her, and she didn’t seem to be in pain anywhere. The cop came, and then the ambulance came and took us to the hospital. The doctor in the hospital checked out my baby. By now there was no bump or swelling on Eve’s head. She seemed very alert and had even given the EMT some big smiles. She nursed really well and was very interested in all the lights and people in the hospital. The doctor said there was no indication that she had any head trauma and that extra tests would not be necessary. Kylie meanwhile was climbing and running all over the place, laughing her head off as if nothing had happened. The doctor couldn’t find any injuries on her either, and told us that my girls were going to be just fine. He gave us a list of things to look out for that might indicate a head injury. He also suggested I visit my pediatrician in case I was still worried. Of course I was still worried; we visited the doctor the next day. He also reported to me that both girls were healthy.
Our ford focus ended up being totaled. We are still waiting to see how much we are going to get for it and hoping that we will have some extra money once we pay off what we owe. That is a big prayer request right now. We should hear tomorrow what the insurance company is going to offer for it. Our next step is to see if we can afford a van. We could really use the extra space to travel. Meanwhile, we are down to one car: my little 2000 Chevy Cavalier that I bought my senior year of high school. I’ve had that car all this time! I’m going to miss our Ford Focus. Jason and I bought it a week before getting married. Here is a picture of us about to take it on its very first trip with us: our honeymoon.
I’m so thankful to God that my girls, Rachel and I are all unharmed (except for the inevitable whiplash). It is a good reminder that God is always in control in our lives. Even though it seemed that I was taking all the necessary precautions on the highway, I really wasn’t in control of the situation, God was.
Eve at 2 months 
Kylie at 2 and a half months
These workouts are hard on such tiny little legs!
Eve at 2 months and a week old. Look she's also holding on to her paci, she's getting so big already!
