Thank God for seat belts

Yesterday, my in-laws came into town. So for dinner, we decided to head to McAlister's to eat. We all piled into my Rav-4 (with me in the driver's seat) and took off. About halfway to our destination, we were stopped at a red light. When the light turned green, it took a while for all the cars to start moving again. Well about that time, we got slammed from behind. Since I was driving, I didn't even register the impact because I was so focused on not hitting the car in front of me. After we stopped moving (only a couple of seconds passed), I started screaming because I realized what had happened. Well my screaming set off Cooper which made me think he was hurt. So of course I start bawling. Cooper was fine though as soon as I got him out of his car seat. I kept crying and didn't stop until a couple hours later. Thank goodness Matt and my in-laws were there. I was a wreck, and don't know what I would have done if I had been by myself. Oh did I mention that I got whiplash? Yep, as soon as I got out of the car, I started rubbing my neck. Well all the emergency personnel started arriving and asked if anyone was hurt. I said that my neck was hurting. Well I probably would not have said anything if I had known what would happen next. They put a neck brace on me and then laid me on a back board and strapped me down. Then I was put in an ambulance an taken to the hospital. My very first ride in an ambulance. And while I didn't want to have a first ride ever, I am grateful that my injuries were so minor. Anyways, I was at the hospital for about 2 hours. They did some x-rays and everything was fine. Just whiplash. I'm definitely feeling the effects of it, but I'm very thankful to God for keeping my family safe. I don't know how many of you saw the new car seat regulations. Well you used to be able to turn a child forward-facing when they turned one. A couple of weeks ago they changed the regulations. They are now saying to keep your child rear-facing until he is 2. At first I did not like this. I was so ready to be able to turn Coop around at one. But after last night's accident, I have decided to leave him the way he is. Matt was sitting in the back by Cooper when the accident happened, and he said that Cooper didn't move at all. If he had been forward-facing, his head probably would have come forward. So, he will now stay rear-facing. He may not like it, but I'd rather put up with a fussy baby than an injured baby. Oh and when the police showed up, they looked in our car to make sure his car seat was facing the correct way! Points for us! I will keep you updated on the car front. It is a lot of damage. It will need a whole new backside and probably work on the right and left sides as well. We have to wait until Monday to pick up our accident report, so I guess we will find out more then from the insurance company. I'm also hoping that the insurance will cover my hospital visit as well. The hospital was wanting me to pay last night before I left, but thankfully I was able to leave without paying right away. So, that's about all right now. More to come later!
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