Its Been An Interesting 24 Hours

So last night was pretty exciting. Our friend Barry was over for a visit. We had a nice time visiting and catching up. Then all of a sudden we heard Milo going nuts outside. It was pretty late so I went to the door to call him inside so he didn't bother the neighbors. Imagine my surprise when I called his name and he came barrelling in the back door. Usually if he's barking at something it takes quite a bit of coaxing to get him to give up the hunt. As he came in the door he was still yelping. Then we realized that he was hurt. That's right, that's damned raccoon is back. He had a bite or a scratch, hard to tell which, on his front right leg (last time it was his front left leg) and his back left leg. Poor fellow has an interesting limp going on. We also found a scratch awfully close to his family jewels if you catch my drift. Poor Milo! We got him cleaned up with one of our cloth diapers. Who knew they could be used to stop bleeding from raccoon bites. Maybe I should tell Tiny Tots, they can add it to their newsletter. We got Milo calmed down and I started to research about raccoon bites. After his last altercation we got him up to date on all of his shots, including rabies. After doing some research, we think he will be fine. Apparently the big thing to watch out for is the scratches themselves getting infected. If the attack had happened during the day, it would be a higher likelihood that the animal was rabid. Then we would definitely take him to the vet. So we are going to watch him for a few days just to be sure. But he seems fine. Eating fine and all that. But just to be on the safe side we gave him a bath last night to get everything cleaned out.
This morning we were having a great day. We napped in the morning and then headed out to Barefoot for coffee and a bagel. I had the Bob in the car to get her used to it, since that is what we are going to be using in Paris. The fact that we used the Bob today will be very important later:) Since she was doing so well, I figured I would take advantage of it and get a hike in. *Before I get to this story, let me be very honest. I was tempted to never tell anyone what happened on our hike. But I told myself that I was going to be totally open and honest with this blog and our experiences. So here goes.
She was pretty sleepy when we got to Rancho so I just put her in the Bob and away we went. We had been walking at a good pace for about 10 minutes when disaster struck. I am pretty confident that I will have nightmares about what happened today for the rest of my life.
There were bees/yellow jackets buzzing around her. And anyone that knows me, knows that I am deathly allergic to stings. I keep a epipen in the diaper bag but that only buys me about 20 minutes, so they freak me out to say the least. I was trying to shoo them away from her when all of a sudden the Bob was careening down the side of the trail. The trails at Rancho are fairly slanted and the Bob is just waaaay too smooth, apparently. Before I even knew what was happening I was throwing my body down the side of the hill to catch the stroller that was picking up speed quickly. Apparently I was also screaming in the process, which I didn't realize I was doing, because a woman that I had passed a while back came running around the corner to see if we were ok. At the point I had stopped the stroller and must have looked fairly bewildered looking around me, kind of wondering how that had just happened. She helped us back up the hill and got us brushed off. She mentioned that I should probably check for ticks. The funny thing was, Callie wasn't upset at all! Maybe she will be a thrill seeker. And she can tell her therapist how it all started! Luckily the shade was down on the Bob so she didn't get stuck with any branches on her little adventure. The woman that helped us was so sweet. She made sure we were ok and said "This can be our little secret."
At that point, Callie still seemed great and into a hike so we kept going. In retrospect, this was not the best decision. There were bees all over the place but we kept going. I thought Deer Hollow Farm was closer than it was. I told myself, just get to the farm. We made it to the farm and I took her out to look at the goats. I found some benches, so I thought I'll just feed her here and then we will head back. Again, the bees came out to play. So we booked it back to the parking lot. As in, running! So I wanted exercise today, I certainly got it. I was freaked out by all the bees but I just kept telling myself "Stop freaking out. Protect your daughter and just get to the fucking car." And we did without incident. I fed her and she promptly passed out. And back home we went. When we got home I dumped all of our clothes in the wash with hot water and the two of us got clean in some hot water as well. Baths always make her tired so is down for a nap. It wasn't really until then that I really reflected on what had happened today.
Remember when I questioned whether I had "maternal instincts"? No longer. Mama Bear in the house. I had absolute no thought for my own safety I just wanted to get to her any way I could. I'll be honest, I feel pretty much like a terrible mother right now for letting it happen but I know my reaction was the right one. I am really trying to forgive myself and find solace in the fact that I reacted and we are both ok. The call to Bill was a tough one. I was praying that he would still trust me with his daughter. Thankfully he does. He told me about how he thought about how stable strollers were on trails like that when he went on his dad's hike last month and that was with our other stroller. If she had been in our regular stroller it would've been much worse, it probably would've flipped over before I could've gotten to her.
So on one hand I feel like the shittiest mother ever and on the other I feel very lucky that we are all ok. I am horribly embarrassed yet I find hope in the fact that I was able to catch her.
But like I said, when I started this blog experiment I promised to be honest and that's what I've done. And I hope and pray that I will never have to make another post like this one today.