The days that followed....

The night alone in the hospital was horrible. I was not able to sleep at all due to the pain and the nightmares. I continued to replay the accident over and over agin, but it usually ended differently. I was terrified that I had lost either Matt or Caleigh, or both. I knew they were both alive, but everytime I closed my eyes my mind played tricks on me. Mom came to the hospital quite early after I called and said that I couldn't be alone anymore. She spent the day with me, giving me a bath, and helping me eat and go to the bathroom. Devin and Angie came by around lunch with Caleigh so that I could see her again. Matt wanted to come by, but he was in so much pain that it would have been impossible. While we were at the cafeteria in the hospital, I was approached by the wife of the man that caused the accident. She was tearful and apologetic, and was concerned about our health. I was very taken aback and didn't really know what to say. I know they feel bad about what happened, and I know their actions were not intentional, but I was so close to losing my family that day - I just didn't know what to say to her. I was sent home from the hospital in the early evening. I just didn't think I could handle another night alone at the hospital and I was so desperate to see Matt again.

I was very happy to get back to Mom and Dad's house to try to settle in for a couple weeks. Matt was there and I was very glad to see him. We were both in quite a bit of pain, and needed help doing almost everything. Mom woke us up every 4 hours even throughout the nights to take our medication. Neither of us were able to get out of bed by ourselves, shower by ourselves, I couldn't even go to the bathroom by myself. We were definately alot of work those first few days. Angie and Devin kept Caleigh for well over a week. They brought her and Ashton over every day for a visit and a play so that Matt and I could see her. We didn't want her to see us in pain, so we tried to keep things as light as possible when she was there. Angie did an amazing job keeping her busy and happy, I don't know if I will ever have the words to thank her. I know that we were alot of work and stress for mom and dad, but we would not have been able to function on our own without them. It brings me to tears when I think about all of the people that put their own lives on hold in order to help us. It makes me feel very lucky and forever indebted to them for everything they all did.

The next few days were filled with visits to the doctors and phone calls with insurance. I went back to the ortho doc, and they were able to give me a walking boot cast instead of the plaster cast they put on in the trauma bay. It was great to be able to have a shower, and the new cast was quite a bit lighter than the plaster one. We were able to have another ultrasound, and saw the baby kicking around again. I was so happy to see the baby, but babe was very lathargic from the accident. They were concerned since the baby was so quiet since the accident, but babe was very traumatized as well. They explained that it could be stress or simply a side effect of the medication that they had me on.

We were recovery very slowly. Matt was still picking glass out of his skin, and our bruises were slowly appearing. Matt was more mobile than I was, but still very very sore. We were both very tired as well. It was very surprising how simply functioning was very tiring. By the time I got out of bed, through the shower, brushed my teeth and had something to eat, I was ready for a nap! My ribs caused me quite a bit of pain, and I was really uncomfortable. We did not sleep through the night, and moved very slowly throughout the house. Matt was better once he was moving around, but got quite stiff if he didn't move around enough.

We were very grateful for every day that we had after the accident. We were so close to losing everything in life that mattered, so we were simply thankful that we were all alive. All of our injuries would heal with little permanent damage, which was a blessing. I believe someone was watching over us the day of the accident, and the many long painful days that followed. I don't know how I would have continued on if I had lost anyone that was in our car that day, and I hope to never have to think about that again.

Accident.....

Matt, Caleigh, Molly and I were driving back to Calgary on Sunday, August 1, 2010. We were planning on stopping in Saskatoon to pick up some lunch and take it back to Mom and Dad's house so Caleigh and Molly could blow off some energy in the backyard before we headed off to Calgary. As we were driving through Hague, Saskatchewan, all of a sudden Matt started screaming 'No no no' and had a horrible tone to his voice. I looked up in time to see a green vehicle in our lane on the highway. A man travelling in the other direction on the highway in a Ford Expedition with his family turned infront of us and we hit him head-on. I will never forget the sound of Matt's voice just before impact.

As I opened my eyes after imact, I saw Molly scrambling to get off of the dash of our car. The windshield had been shattered, and the front end of the Rav was destroyed. Molly scrambled over me and was trying to get into the back seat of the car. I was able to get my door open about 6 inches, just enough for me to squeeze out. When I got out, I had to lay down on the side of the highway as I tried to figure out what was going on. Suddenly I heard Caleigh screaming. I was panicked as I got to my feet and ran around the car to see if she was okay. As I came around the back end of the Rav, I saw Matt's arm and his upper body hanging out of the window. He was bleeding quite badly and moaning. I went over to him to check on him, and he was coming in and out of consciouness. I opened up Caleigh's door. Her mouth was full of blood, and she had some cuts around her neck from the seatbelt in her car seat. I looked at the rest of her, and then pulled her out of her seat. Once I got Caleigh out, a woman approached me to help. She noticed that I was pregnant and took Caleigh from me so that I could lay down. Matt was awake, and in quite a bit of pain. He was trying to get out of the car, but his door would not open. Some men were pulling and kicking on the front passenger door so that it would open up far enough for Matt to get out. He was able to move himself about halfway out of the car, and the men pulled him the rest of the way. The scene was filling up with people that wanted to help. I noticed that Molly was trying to run away, she was about 200 yards away from the scene. I was yelling for her, and a gentleman said that he would go catch her. About 10 minutes later, he came to me with Molly in his arms and said that he would take care of her for us. I asked one of the people on the scene to find one of our cell phone's, and the were able to find Matt's blackberry. I was desperate for someone I knew to help me. I called my parents, but the call would not go through. I then called Devin and Angie, who were about half an hour behind us. They drove as fast as they could to the scene, and Angie called 911 and tried to get ahold of my parents. The fire department and some first responders were now on the scene. The woman was still holding Caleigh, who was suprisingly calm, and she found her blanket, suckie, and sippy cup in the car. I could see Matt laying on the side of the road, and there were several people helping him as well. They had his arm tied off and above his head trying to stop the bleeding. I had a fireman holding my head still. I was not in any pain at this point, but I had fluid running down my legs and was very concerned that my water had broke and that I was going to lose the baby. The scene was chaotic, the police had arrived, and we were still waiting for an ambulance. Shortly before the ambulance showed up, Devin and Angie arrived. I was so relieved to see them, but I will never forget the look of fear on their faces. Devin continually checked on Matt and I, and Angie made sure that Caleigh was being properly cared for. I was so scared that we were going to get to the hospital and Cal would be alone. I knew that Matt and I would be okay on our own, but she would not be able to speak for herself, which was devistating. I knew Angie and Devin would care for her as if she was their own, which brought me huge levels of comfort. I will never forget what they did for us that day, and I don't think I will ever be able to properly thank them. The ambulance arrived, and loaded the three of us up to take us to Saskatoon. We were all on back boards, and had neck braces on. The started IV's and were monitoring our vital signs. We drove very quickly to Saskatoon. They were able to give Matt medication for pain, but I was not able to have anything due to the pregnancy. I was holding Matt's hand on the left, and Caleigh's hand on the right. We prayed to God to save our lives, and take care of us through this time. The EMT noticed that Devin and Angie were chasing the ambulance so that they would arrive at the hospital at the same time. Devin was standing at the back of the ambulance when the doors opened, and Angie took the dogs (including Molly) back to their house. The EMT took Caleigh into the hospital immediately, and Devin was able to go with her. Matt and I waited in the ambulance until the trauma rooms were ready for us.

Once inside the trauma rooms, the doctors worked very quicklyto assess our situations. They were very quick to give me an ultrasound and were able to find a heartbeat for our baby! Matt was on the other side of the trauma room from me, so I was able to yell at him that the baby was still alive! I was so relieved! I had several xrays taken of my foot, ribs and my neck. They saw that both my foot and 4 ribs were broke, but that my neck was fine. They did several xrays and CT scans of Matt's neck, back, and arm. Matt thought his back was broken, and they had some concerns with his arm, as it was cut up very badly. Caleigh had several xrays and a CT scan, as they thought there was a chance her neck was broken. After 8.5 hours taped to a back board, they were finally able to determine that her neck was not broken. The next hours were filled with further testing, monitoring, and pain medication. My parents, Devin, Angie, Ashton, and Shane were at the hospital throughout this entire time. I don't know what we would have done without them. Mom and Dad stayed with Caleigh throughout her testing, and everyone did a great job keeping her entertained. Everyone was really great, and they rotated between the three of us to make sure that no one was ever alone. I was really nice that there were so many people there for us, there was never a time when we were alone. We were also getting very regular updates on the condition of everyone else. They finally put me in a wheelchair so that I could go see Matt and Caleigh. I went to see Caleigh first, as Matt was getting a CT scan done. Caleigh was still in a neck brace, taped down to a backboard. She had several xrays done, as well as a CT scan. They could not find a certain bone in her neck, and would not let her off the board until they could figure out what was happening. They also would not let her eat or drink anything in case she needed to go for surgury. Everyone was so patient with her, and did everything they could to keep her entertained. Mom and Dad even had CT scans done so that they could help her through that! I then went to see Matt. He was still in a neck brace as they were waiting for the results from his CT scan. I was able to talk to him and help clean the blood off his face. A surgeon came down to stitch up his arm. He was in quite a bit of pain, but it was good to get his arm fixed. They sent Caleigh home around 10pm, and finally sent him home around midnight. Caleigh went back to Devin and Angie's house, and Matt went back to mom and dad's house. They said that I needed to spend the night in the hospital for observation. They wanted to do another ultrasound on the baby, and make sure that everythign was okay before they sent me home. I spent a very long night in the hospital, and I don't think I slept at all. Being alone really brought out the psychological aspect of the accident. It was a long, painful night. I really missed both Matt and Caleigh, and I just wanted to see them and make sure that everything was okay with them.

Summer Vacations!!!

We were lucky enough to have 2 summer vacations this year!

Caleigh, Molly and I drove to Saskatoon on June 26. That night, we drove up to the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa! We also go to stop in Prince Albert to see Uncle Shane. We spent a few days relaxing on the beach and going for boat rides. Cals loved playing on the beach building sand castles, swimming in the lake, playing with her inflatable airplane, and riding in the boat! She even went on a buscuit ride! We went back into the city for a couple days so that mom and dad could go back to work. Matt flew to Saskatoon on June 30 to join us for a few days! He helped Dad and Shane to sod Devin's yard before heading back up to the lake to meet us. We even got to go golfing! Caleigh came with us, and loved running the golf course and driving the golf cart. It was a very relaxing week, and we loved every minute of it!

Caleigh spent most of July pretty sick. After many trips to Alberta Children's hospital and her family doctor, they finally came up with a diagnosis. The doctors diagnosed her with a heart murmur, 2 ear infections, and a lung infection that eventually turned into pneumonia. We saw many different doctors, and a doctor in Prince Albert finally upped the dosage of her medication. That seemed to finally do the trick becuase she got better once the medication took effect!

We went back to Calgary for a couple weeks before we drove back up to the lake! We left the night of July 22 so that we could be in Saskatoon for Caleigh's 2nd birthday. Caleigh had a great birthday, and had lots of fun playing with Ashie! We were able to spend almost every day on the beach as the weather was fantastic. Matt rented a wakeboard, and had lots of fun wakeboarding and skiing with Devin and Shane. We drove up to Waskesiu one afternoon, and wandered the town and did a little shopping. The guys went golfing, but I don't think anyone was too impressed with their golf preformance that day! We threw a little birthday party for Caleigh with the whole family, and she was able to meet Peter, Shelley, Jack Chad and Taylor for the first time! The vacation was very relaxing, just what we needed!

We decided to drive home on the Sunday of August long weekend so that we could have a day at home in Calgary to get some chores done before going back to work. Our lives changed that day forever.....