So I had a really scary incident this weekend.
I was in the front seat of a car, on the passenger side; my husband and I were catching a ride home with a friend after a night out. My friend was driving; my husband was in the back seat.
At an intersection, a bunch of cars were slowing down because the light had just turned red. I thought my friend was going just a tad too fast and hoped he would brake in time not to hit the car in front of us. He didn't. The impact was extremely minor--we all felt it, but the guy driving the car in front of us didn't even bother pulling over, and as he drove off, I looked at his bumper and didn't see any obvious damage--but I was propelled forward enough that I felt the seatbelt dig into my belly. (I'm very glad I was wearing my seatbelt, anyway. The accident coulda been way worse if I hadn't.)
I felt fine, and I wasn't bleeding that I could tell, but I was pretty rattled. I called the on-call physician in my OB/GYN's office, and she told me I'd better go to labor and delivery and get myself checked out, just to make sure the placenta didn't tear.
Rather than risk turning around and going all the way back into Manhattan, to the Upper West Side, and getting into another accident, I just wanted to get the fuck out of the car as soon as possible and go somewhere closer. It was dark, it was raining, the roads were slick, and I wanted to go home, change clothes, make absolutely sure I wasn't bleeding, and then call a cab to a hospital in Brooklyn. So that's what I did.
After six hours--three hours of waiting, another three of ultrasounds, fetal monitoring, bloodwork and observation--I was told everything was fine and sent on my way. I was a wreck for much of the time, and on top of it all, I was starving, having basically skipped dinner (I'd planned to eat when I got home that night, but that didn't pan out) and I was also really thirsty.
The whole experience made me realize why some women don't want to give birth in hospitals. Don't worry, friends, I'm not going to be doing the home birth thing now. But the L&D ward sucked. I spent much of the night shivering in a threadbare gown, on an excruciatingly uncomfortable mattress, freezing my ass off and being blinded by fluorescent lights, without anyone offering me anything to drink. It sucked quite a bit.
For all that, I'm still very glad I went in. It was worth it. My baby is okay.
I was in the front seat of a car, on the passenger side; my husband and I were catching a ride home with a friend after a night out. My friend was driving; my husband was in the back seat.
At an intersection, a bunch of cars were slowing down because the light had just turned red. I thought my friend was going just a tad too fast and hoped he would brake in time not to hit the car in front of us. He didn't. The impact was extremely minor--we all felt it, but the guy driving the car in front of us didn't even bother pulling over, and as he drove off, I looked at his bumper and didn't see any obvious damage--but I was propelled forward enough that I felt the seatbelt dig into my belly. (I'm very glad I was wearing my seatbelt, anyway. The accident coulda been way worse if I hadn't.)
I felt fine, and I wasn't bleeding that I could tell, but I was pretty rattled. I called the on-call physician in my OB/GYN's office, and she told me I'd better go to labor and delivery and get myself checked out, just to make sure the placenta didn't tear.
Rather than risk turning around and going all the way back into Manhattan, to the Upper West Side, and getting into another accident, I just wanted to get the fuck out of the car as soon as possible and go somewhere closer. It was dark, it was raining, the roads were slick, and I wanted to go home, change clothes, make absolutely sure I wasn't bleeding, and then call a cab to a hospital in Brooklyn. So that's what I did.
After six hours--three hours of waiting, another three of ultrasounds, fetal monitoring, bloodwork and observation--I was told everything was fine and sent on my way. I was a wreck for much of the time, and on top of it all, I was starving, having basically skipped dinner (I'd planned to eat when I got home that night, but that didn't pan out) and I was also really thirsty.
The whole experience made me realize why some women don't want to give birth in hospitals. Don't worry, friends, I'm not going to be doing the home birth thing now. But the L&D ward sucked. I spent much of the night shivering in a threadbare gown, on an excruciatingly uncomfortable mattress, freezing my ass off and being blinded by fluorescent lights, without anyone offering me anything to drink. It sucked quite a bit.
For all that, I'm still very glad I went in. It was worth it. My baby is okay.
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