I never imagined that becoming a new mother would also mean learning how quickly the ground beneath you can shift.
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I am thirty-three years old. My husband, Jake, is thirty-four. We have a six-month-old daughter named Emma, and until recently, I believed we were building a life together based on partnership and trust.
Right now, I am on maternity leave, recovering at home, wearing a rigid neck brace that makes even the smallest movements difficult.
The reason I am wearing it is simple and painful to admit.
My husband could not put his phone down at a red light.
How Everything Changed in an Instant
Two weeks ago, we were driving home from Emma’s pediatric appointment. She had just received her routine shots and was crying in the back seat. I was turned halfway around, balancing the diaper bag, trying to soothe her and get her pacifier back in place.
Jake was supposed to be focused on the road.
Instead, his phone glowed in the cup holder. He was laughing at something on the screen, tapping away with one hand while barely keeping the car steady with the other.
I remember saying, calmly but firmly, “Hey, the light’s changing.”
What happened next is a blur.
I do not remember the moment itself. I remember the sudden jolt. I remember my head snapping sideways. I remember pain exploding from the base of my skull down through my shoulder, sharp enough to take my breath away.
Emma screamed. Horns sounded. I could not even turn my head toward my daughter without feeling like something might give.
At the hospital, doctors ran tests and scans. I lay there strapped to a board while Jake paced and texted, telling his friends we had been in a “minor incident.”
The doctor did not see it that way.
He explained I had a serious cervical strain with nerve involvement. I was told no lifting, no bending, no twisting. I would need a neck brace and weeks of rest. Possibly longer.
When he said the words “maybe months,” something inside me quietly broke.
