The good news is (well aside from the fact that it was just annoying when it happened) everything about it is good news. We were in my FIL's SUV. And his two dogs had recently used the corners of his bumper as a giant chew toy. It looked awful. He'd had a couple quotes already but just hadn't gotten around to actually replacing it, so someone else damaging it more, and even better, someone else paying for the new one was great news to him.
No one was seriously injured. I had a sore neck and Addie had a couple rough nights of sleep and said her back hurt, so she and I went to the chiropractor and she's been fine since. (Me, not so much, but it's not because of the accident.)
I spent a few hours in labor and delivery because I have B- blood type, and if my blood were to mix with the baby's blood and she doesn't have the same type as me then my body would treat the baby as a virus. I called my doctor right after the accident and she advised me to go to labor and delivery for blood work and heart monitoring just to be safe. Everything turned out fine. I forgot to mention that there were seven of us in the car, our friends from Chicago and their two-year-old were with us. So they watched our kids while we were at the hospital. And even the hospital ended up being a good experience because I had recently learned that the head of labor and delivery who I fell in love with when I was delivering Addie, has been promoted to a different job. I was so sad when I learned this, because I know I got good treatment because of her, because she and Paul and my father-in-law had connected a few months before and become good friends. Anyway, on this visit, through conversation with the nurse who was taking care of me, I learned that she is the sister of the former head of the department. And she called her sister while I was there and her sister told her great things about the White family. So again, I got great treatment and I'm really not nervous about delivery now because I met several nurses through her and I'm feeling comfortable again.
Other good things: My FIL got a rental car at no cost while his is being fixed and he's getting a free bumper so he's glad he procrastinated.
The insurance informed us that we need to replace all three car seats that were in the car. I feel kind of funny about this because it didn't seem like there could've been any damage done to the car seats, and I really don't understand that rule. When he told us that, I remembered hearing that before but I would've never thought of it. There's no price restriction. They just trust that we'll replace them at close to what we paid for them (and we did) and we send in the receipts for full reimbursement.
I had a medical adjuster from the company come get a statement from me about my hospital visit and both mine and Addie's chiropractic care, which honestly, I wasn't too concerned about needing to pay all or at least part of. But, not only are they paying back 100% of our already paid for chiropractor visits, but they are paying 100% of my hospital visit AND if Addie and I go again (I told her maybe one or two more times), I fax the receipt to her and she'll send me a check. AND, both Addie and I got 'pain and suffering' settlement checks. I couldn't believe this part. I kept asking, "do I save this money to go toward something that is over the amount of something you don't pay?" Or "is this money I pay to the hospital?" I probably sounded so dumb. She finally said, "in California if you're in an accident that requires any medical care you are entitled to money for your pain and suffering." I was still so surprised, so I said, "Both Addison and I??" I went onto say, "I just feel like this is very generous for such a minor accident. We're really fine." But she didn't miss a beat, and continued to write two checks. After she left, I called Paul to share the great and surprising news, and he said, "Insurance companies are just happy when people are willing to settle and don't fight for more. That money is nothing to them." Maybe nothing to them, but to me it's a new pack n play, a video monitor, and the laptop that Santa forgot to bring me. Plus a bit more in savings. I still feel weird about it, and I've never been in an accident to know if this is normal, but I'm thankful for how kind and helpful the insurance company has been. I'm not wishing for more accidents, but this has been a really good experience overall with very little inconvenience and very little 'pain and suffering'.
Ok, that last part isn't true, about the pain and suffering. I've been in pain since my visit to the chiropractor following the accident, but it's not accident related. My chiropractor accidentally dislocated one of my ribs. 38 weeks pregnant with a dislocated rib. It's worse than contractions and its gotten worse over the last couple days. I went back to him yesterday, nearly in tears and it was out again. He popped it back in but still no relief. I'm going back to him Friday and maybe to my regular doctor for any help on pregnancy safe pain killers. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed.
