Another Hard Week (plus, details of the accident)

I arrived seconds after the accident. I didn’t even know it was an accident until I saw the UTV (side by side) flipped on its side which then led to why my husband was covering his right eye. My heart sank. I then looked closer at the UTV, and saw his sister still inside of it, trying to climb through the roll cage.

I rushed over with the gulf cart that me and my girls came up in. As I approached them, all you could see was blood covered on the sides of their faces. After hearing that they rolled the UTV by simply doing donuts, I immediately told them to load up on the gulf cart so we could head back down to the house.

I hollered over to my mother-in-law who was with my second oldest at the pond feeding the fish. She came down with him on his four wheeler, still having no idea that her son and daughter were injured.

After coming inside, we grabbed some towels to soak up all the blood. My father-in-law came over to investigate what needed to happen next. After seeing an indent in my husbands face next to his eye, and the amount of blood coming out of my sister-in-law’s head, we took them to the ER. My father-in-law traveled with me while my mother-in-law stayed back with all the children.

The ER took us in right away.

After the doctor noticed a 1.5 inch deep cut in my sister-in-law’s head, they decided she needed staples instead of stitches.

Thankfully they both were placed into the same room, so my father-in-law and I were able to be with them both while waiting on the results of their CAT scans. And so we waited. We answered lots of questions. And we continued to wait.

After some time, my sister-in-law was cleared by the physicians and was released from the hospital.

The results from my husband’s CAT scan showed fractured bones and internal bleeding on the side of his face. Which led to immediate transportation to the trauma unit by ambulance.

My father-in-law traveled with him, while I went home to get a few items, planning to spend the night with him. (I was so thankful my mother-in-law was at our place to take care of the children!)

Later that evening, after feeding the children and getting everything packed up for the hospital, I received a phone call that my husband was being released.

Praise the Lord!

His brother decided to go in and pick him and his dad up. He also took our three older children along. The moment my oldest walked into the hospital room, my oldest had tears running down his face.

It was hard for my children while their dad was in the hospital. They were a bit confused. They didn’t know if their dad was going to come back home. I do regret not taking the time to comfort them more and clarify exactly what was happening.

But thankfully, he came home that night. And since his sister was also home, were able to enjoy each other’s company again rather than spending that weekend in the hospital.

I’m extremely thankful for so much-

I’m thankful neither of them had to spend the night in the hospital.

I’m so thankful that I came up to the accident seconds after it happened.

I’m thankful that there were no major injuries.

However, it was hard.

First off, like I said above, it was hard for my boys. It was hard for them to wrap their heads around what was actually happening to their dad. They kept asking questions while he was in the hospital whether or not he was going to come home.

Two weeks ago, I put up a post about how hard mothering was that week. Here is to another hard week.

I held extremely high expectations on myself during and after the event

I learned a lot about myself in a just a few short days. These expectations I had on myself led to thoughts of failure. I felt like I failed in every area.

When I got back from the hospital, I felt like I failed in comforting my children and being with them. I was so focused on quickly packing and getting ready to head to the trauma unit.

I didn’t comfort and support my husband like I should have. Rather than coming back home to pack up my stuff, I should have just traveled with him in the ambulance to the other hospital.

I was not the best host. A few days after it happened, I was super emotional. Every little thing bothered me on the inside. I was not myself.

That next morning after the accident happened, I was exhausted. I was laying down and resting after breakfast. It wasn’t even I who got injured in the accident! My sister-in-law was helping around the house with the children and cooking after getting eight staples in her head. But I was so exhausted. I felt like there was nothing left to give inside of me. Again, I felt like I was failing.

My mother-in-law was a huge help with all that was going on. She was making all the food and doing all the clean up. She was tending to her son and daughter, providing everything they needed. Which I was so thankful for! But at the same time, I wasn’t holding up to the expectations I was putting on myself.

It was hard. There were so many moments I just wanted to run away and cry. And then on top of that, I put the expectation that I had to be the tough one. I had to be strong for my husband, children, and in-laws.

All of this came crashing down on me. I learned an incredible amount about myself in just a few short days.

Looking into the eyes of my daughter

Children, again, are a blessing. They have a sensitive spirit, and know how to reach the depth of our hearts. During this time, I had moments of holding my seven month old baby and she would just look at me and smile from ear to ear. In those moments, she would remind me that this circumstance is so small, that this too shall pass very quickly.

She was right. It all did pass quickly. It’s now over a week ago that this accident happened.

I realized how small of an accident this was. It all seemed so intense in the moment and chaotic in my mind. But the reality of it all, my husband would have been perfectly fine not even going into the ER or trauma unit. All the X-rays were normal, the fractured bones just need to heal on their own, no excessive bleeding in his head, and his vision is fine. His sister did need the staples on her head, so I’m glad she was sent to the hospital for that.

I’m thankful for God’s grace and provision during this time. I’m thankful for friends and family that intentionally took the time to pray for all of us. I’m thankful that my in-laws were here for the weekend to assist me in everything that needed done. I’m thankful that my own family made a trip out on Sunday to visit us. Thank you, everyone, for your support!