Just to do a recap…we’ve discovered we’re pregnant. I heard her heartbeat and decided I still don’t like kids but I’ll love this one forever. We find out we’re having a precious little girl and decide to name her Madison Lynn!
Now what?!? I get into a crazy car accident. That’s what! With cuts in my head and my hands and you guessed it, contractions!
How did this happen? It happened because I was still driving an hour to work each way (and did so up until a week before she was due). I had been doing this commute for the past four years so I thought it was nothing at this point. But on December 20, 2011 (~2 months before I was due) I drove my pretty little ’07 Ford Fusion for the last time on my way to work. I was to blame for the accident as I had zoned out a bit. If you commute, and do so consistently, you know that sometimes you end up from work to home, and vice versa, without really remembering the drive itself because you do it so often (your mind sort of wonders throughout the entire drive). So if you add that to the fatigue of pregnancy and everything else I was dealing with at the time I probably shouldn’t have been on the road.
The car in front of me braked suddenly and I knew I was going to hit it. I feared that hitting it head on would cause the most impact to the front of my body (i.e. my stomach) and would hurt the baby. It’s crazy because I didn’t have much time, yet somehow I had time to realize that and make a decision. So I swerved sharply and hit the guard rail on the left, shattering the window. The impact from hitting the guard rail caused the car to swerve back out to the right into a semi-trailer, commonly referred to as an 18-wheeler, totaling my car. Long story short…God saved us both that day!
Then, here comes Christmas 2011. Yes, five days later! Mario and I went on a “Babymoon” as our last little outing before the birth of Maddie. We’d planned it a few weeks prior and it was just what I needed as I had been through so much already.
We spent that morning putting her room together in the house we were currently renting…
I actually fell out of the chair while putting the changing table together and nearly gave Mario a heart attack! After we set up the bedroom we packed our bags and headed to the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, NC!
This place was divine! From the moment we pulled up we were treated with care and I honestly felt like a celebrity for a moment, until checkout when we had to pay the bill with our non-celebrity checkbook. We’re talking super expensive, people! But hey, we were about to have a baby soon and the phrase YOLO would soon leave our vocabulary! So it was well worth it and I’d do it again!!!
Our package included dinner at the hotel restaurant (or in the room)! Of course, me and my pregnant self chose to eat in while sitting on the bed. Classy and sexy, I know :)! We also had a couples massage as a part of the package which we did the next day (Mario’s very first) and it was truly the icing on the cake! Well, except for the part where Mario had us running late (as usual), which cut into our massage time, but lucky for him the massage calmed me down :)!
Now, the grounds of this hotel (inside and out) and the hospitality that comes with it makes it the perfect venue for a wedding, if you ask me. I decided while there that if Mario and I actually have a ceremony for our five year anniversary, like we are considering, then this place will definitely be my number one choice (I even requested a wedding information packet and we should probably start saving now)! But you know how I feel about weddings so we’ll see!
Next up…
{Part 4} – Induction!
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How scary! I'm just so glad that you both were okay. I read your first post in this series, I love how you went back and tried to calculate when it happened, and his birthday nonetheless 🙂
Indeed, Vanisha, it was definitely an experience I will never forget. I also thought it was SO neat that out daughter's birth traces back to his birthday. So cool to think back like that in relation to birthdays. My mom was born on November 13, so she and I would talk about how her parents must have had a great Valentine's Day back in 1968. Ha!
You must have toned down the details of that accident to not give the family a heartattack but I thank God that you two were saved that day!! And thanks for the spa info, I'd never hear of it but wanted to find a place that offered couple's massage. I'll need the inside scoop on the pricing.
I'm enjoying the post series, it's like a Maddie Love Story :)!
I also wanted to note that you and Mario were looking right jazzy putting her room together :)!
I did tone it down for y'all. We had enough going on already and I didn't want y'all worrying about me more than you already were.
I'm SO glad these stories aren't too much. I wanted to tell as much as I could so Maddie would have all the details but without being boring! And yes, we were DONE putting her room together.
Check your email for the spa details at the end of this rant…
Yes she did Tasha!! I totally agree with her and have to say Thank God!! for you and Maddie's lives being spared that day…geesh! I am so in love with this story and will never get tired of hearing it!! Loving the opportunity to some inside scoop info!
You guys are right as I did not want you guys to worry too much! Again, I am so happy about the response I've gotten from this story. I've been having SO much fun telling it!!! Two more posts to go!!!
I'm so glad you and Maddie made it out of that wreck. God is good! I love how you guys did a baby-moon…how cute. I'm enjoying your series!