Yesterday I took the girls to feed ducks at a park near our house. My friend and her four kids also came. We played on the playground for a while, and then headed down the hill to feed the ducks.
I had Macie strapped in her carseat on one side of our double stroller and my friend's 2 year old was sitting in the other seat. We stood there chatting for a few minutes while the kids threw bread to the ducks and ran around. For a split second I turned around to talk to Addie and let go of the stroller. It rolled to the lake and flipped over the ledge. Before I knew what was happening my friend yelled, 'Your baby!" and I turned around to see my stroller, face down in the lake, with the wheels sticking up out of the water! Our little girls were strapped in there, face down!
Without hesitation I jumped in the lake, flipped the stroller over, and dragged it out of the lake as fast as I could. Macie was startled, a little wet, and crying. I unstrapped her as fast as I could and she calmed down pretty quickly. It wasn't until I flipped the stroller over that we even realized Daisy was still in there! Her mom pulled her out, she was dripping wet and screaming, but fine.
It was soooo scary. Probably one of the scariest moments of my life. I still don't even know exactly what happened, it was all so quick. I think I was in minor shock afterwards, I just held Macie and watched my purse and the bag of food we had brought float out towards the middle of the lake. It didn't even occur to me to go and get it. Shauna finally jumped in after my stuff and had to swim, truly swim, out to retrieve it.
Thankfully everyone is fine. The blanket that was on Macie in the carseat wasn't even soaked, about half of it was dry, so I think when the carseat flipped it made a small pocket of air around her. Her lips were kind of cut up yesterday, I don't know how that happened, but they look normal today. Daisy was really shaken up, but eventually calmed down. I just felt so stupid and irresponsible. It completely drained me I am blessed to have such a good friend that didn't blame me or get angry, she just did what had to be done and was very gracious about the whole thing.
It has made me think about the precious moments I have with my children. I mean, Macie honestly could have died had we not been able to react quickly. How would I have coped with that guilt and loss? I am grateful to have a loving Heavenly Father to protect my family and who blesses me even when I forget to be grateful or humble or obedient.
Needless to say, my phone is a goner. If you need me, either email me or call Jason's cell. I will be getting a new phone in a few days. Can you believe I need another phone? I think this makes four in two years. A small price to pay for the safety of my kids.
4 comments:
How scary for you. It's a good thing that Shauna is a good swimmer, or the secondary loss could be greater.
Wow, that's crazy. I'm glad everything turned out fine. Being a parent really is a rollercoaster.
Oh my goodness. That definitely is a super scary situation. I'm so thankful that you were able to react quick enough and that the drop off to the lake wasn't more steep. It is so true that life is so precious and can end so quickly. It is nice to be reminded of that and of how we should be thankful every day that we woke up one more morning to enjoy life.
Jana, that must have been terrifying. I'm glad you were able to react so quickly, I think those fast reflexes get grafted into our dna when we become moms. Don't beat yourself up. Your friend is right.
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