Saturday, February 02, 2013

the runaway stroller incident

 
i had received a few alerts from concerned friends and family members that spam was quickly taking over the comments in my recent post. after tidying things up a bit (and deleting hundreds of spam leading me to toilet repair sites....?) i thought i'd just say hey. my name is heidi. you may not remember me, but i used to blog here quite often. i have 3 little rambunctious children that are completely consuming my life right now and in between trying to raise them right and remembering to carpe diem a little here and there, i pluck stray grey hairs from my now 33 year old head and blame my children for every last one.

most of my grey hairs are just grey at the root, but the one i found this morning was a doozy. it was about a foot long and the ENTIRE length of it was grey. i found it near the front of my head, and there is no way i could have missed it, so i just know that it turned completely grey overnight and i know exactly which incident is to blame for it: Ava's First Roller Coaster Experience (or, more accurately known as The Runaway Stroller Incident )


three days ago a friend and i were just leaving san diego zoo's safari park after spending a fun afternoon there with our kids. tristan was pushing ava in the stroller and had done such a good job up until that point, i didn't think anything of him continuing to push her to where our car was parked. the parking aisles are alongside a very long and steep hill and, as we were walking down this hill, tristan decided that it would be fun to let go of the stroller and then run to catch it. (ava was sitting in the stroller and was not buckled in). its honestly all such a blur but the first thing i remember is that suddenly i was running as fast as i possibly could while screaming, "tristan!!" at the top of my lungs, while he was running as fast as he possibly could trying to reach the stroller that was quickly gaining speed and hurtling down the hill. the stroller bounced off of the sidewalk onto the road, then suddenly swerved towards the curb where it hit, stopped and turned completely upside down on top of my baby.

she had blood and dirt all over the right side of her face, but she was crying and i knew that was a good thing. my friend cindy had the presence of mind to check her head for bumps and her little body for broken bones. i just held her in my arms while i trembled and hugged her to me while saying, "you're okay!" over and over, like i couldn't quite believe it. i have thought of so many "what if's" that i've made myself sick, and so i keep reminding myself that the what if's did not happen. she is safe, she is whole and i have no idea how she is still in one piece, but she is!

seriously, i don't think i have ever been that terrified in my entire life. the next morning i woke up with a throat hoarse from screaming and a leg sore and painful from running on it (which it is not used to) and i still had post-adrenaline shakes. ava now resembles two face, (though a much cuter version) and i've already had a few strangers ask what in the world happened to her.

that little girl is going to turn me completely grey, i just know it! perhaps i should start keeping track of my hair-coloring expenses and ask her to pay me back once she gets her first job?

7 comments:

Jenn & Wade said...

OH MY! Just another story you'll be able to reminisce and laugh about some day, gotta love our kids and the things we go through. I don't have the gray hair yet, but I've lost my mind. =)

kelly ens said...

SCARY!!! So glad she's ok (and hope you recover too!!!)

Cherie said...

So my first comment didn't publish! I had said... i was so excited to see that you blogged AND updated your look that I had to run and grab a cup of coffee and a Costco cookie before I read it! but oh my goodness! scary times! i wondered if that was a sticker or a scratch on Ava's face in that group picture! glad she is ok!!! and I think you should give Tristan the bill for your hair! haha

Unknown said...

I'll bet that Tristan didn't need any reprimand for his poor judgement. If it were me that age just the screaming and the terror accompanying the event would have made me very remorseful, even if it had been Cherie ;)

Anneliese said...

You and my daughter-in-law could compare run-away-stroller stories! It's amazing to realize as a mom how often, when we are not watching out, God is. The grey hair is still all worth it in the end.

Unknown said...

Adam pushed Liam down a small (but steep) hill at my parent's a number of months ago. I wasn't there to witness it but thankfully Liam was strapped in (he was only 6 months old). The stroller flipped right over & he was dangling. So scary!
Glad Ava is ok!

Unknown said...

Thank you for posting this... Just today I had a similar experience. I had 2 dogs with me and one of the dogs got loose and as I reached for the dog... The stroller got away from me, backwards onto a street. It was so horrible.. I was 2 feet away when it hit the curb and flipped all the way over. Thank God my 9 month old was strapped in. People were out of their cars and businesses. Some woman rounded up the dogs. Unbelievable all involved are ok. The what ifs are killing me right now... But reading this has really helped me. Thank you.