How I got a Shiner

{Let me begin this post by letting you know that everything is A-okay :)}

Last night at around 10:00pm, after a fun night with some ladies from Bible study, I was walking up to the house and took a spill on our sidewalk. Honestly, I'm not sure whether I tripped, lost my sense of balance, or just got dizzy.

All I know is that one moment I was on my feet and the next moment I slamming my nose into the ground, skidding my palms against the concrete, and doing a belly flop. I got up, a bit out of sorts, and knew that my nose my bleeding.

Josh came to the door when I walked in and I told him to get a paper towel. I think he was quite surprised to see his wife stumble into the room with a bloody nose! He helped me clean up my nose and got me some ice to help with the swelling.

Right after falling, I felt my belly cramp up a little and my first thought was for the baby.

Is he okay?

I didn't feel any pain in my belly so that was good, but I still wasn't feeling him move--even with a little prodding (which usually gets him to move a bit).

Honestly, I could care less about myself. All I could think about what whether the baby was okay.

I feel like I experienced one of my first moments of motherhood: I cared more about him than myself.

After about 5-10 minutes, we decided to be safe and go to the hospital just to be sure everything was okay. (Can I just say that I'm so thankful for such a wise and caring husband who encouraged me that I wasn't overreacting...?)

The whole way there I felt so many emotions: fear, anxiousness, peace, thankful that I hadn't hurt myself worse...

We headed to the hospital and landed in the triage room in the L&D ward. I definitely wasn't expecting this to be my first experience in the L&D ward!

The nurse quickly hooked me all up and found his little heartbeat.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. 

One of the most beautiful sounds ever.

They also took my blood pressure and hooked me up to see if I was having any contractions.

To my surprise, I was having some semi-regular contractions which I could hardly feel. I felt a little bit of tightness but no pain.

So, I had to stay until the contractions went away. I also had to got checked to make sure I wasn't dilating or going into pre-term labor. Thankfully, everything was nice and closed up!

While sitting there and thinking about how unexpected this all was (definitely not how we had planned on finishing the evening!), Josh prayed and thanked God for everything--the good + the unexpected. I was so thankful for him in that moment and felt even more love for him! I'm so thankful that he's my baby daddy ;)

Then, we waited around. I got an "ice pack" and Josh tried to sleep a bit (since it was after midnight).

 (Yes, that is a diaper that they made into an ice pack. I'd have to say that those L&D nurses are pretty resourceful!)

Eventually, my contractions tapered off, and we headed home at around 1:15am. I was told to take it easy and rest today.

This morning, I woke up feeling pretty good--except for for my swollen and scratched up nose plus a growing black eye. I'm not too excited to go out into public! Maybe I'll get brave and show you a picture, but for now, I'll let you guess what it looks like ;)

Today, I stayed home from work to take it easy (doctor and husband's orders!) and have done a little sewing-by-hand (making something for the nursery!), taken two naps, and relaxed. Josh also played hooky from school and has been spoiling me :)

Honestly, I'm so thankful for this shiner--for the reminder that even in unexpected life events, God is present. Even if it had been worse, I am not alone. Not now, not ever.

And that truth makes my swollen nose and purple eye ever so beautiful.