The Rescue Squad

When Ellie was 13 months old she had a febrile seizure at my parents' house on Christmas Eve. It was so scary. We called 911 and the first group to arrive was the local Rescue Squad. They were amazing - they helped to calm me down and let me hold her on the couch while they evaluated her. Everything worked out well that morning and obviously Ellie is fine. I always appreciated what the Rescue Squad and volunteer Ambulance Corps did that day. I also always meant to send money to our local Rescue Squad when we got that yearly letter in the mail asking for donations.

But I never hoped to see them again.

Today the Rescue Squad came to our house but not for an emergency. They came because I am an idiot. I'll start at the beginning...

When I was pregnant with Ellie I didn't try to take off my wedding ring until it was too late so I ended up wearing it throughout the entire pregnancy. It was tight during the last trimester, but I really didn't want to get it cut off. And there was no other way it was going to come off.

Fast forward two years. When I was about two months pregnant with Audrey I took my wedding ring off before I even gained a pound because I was scared that I would wait too long again. I haven't worn my wedding ring since then. I have missed the weight of the ring on my finger and have simply missed wearing it for what it means. Today I thought that I would try to get it on for the first time since taking it off 8 months ago. I only weigh a few pounds more than I did when I got pregnant and far less than I did when I was 9 months pregnant with Ellie so I thought for sure that it would fit. Can you see where this is going???

When I put it on I knew that it was too small. I thought that if I could just get it past my knuckle it would be okay. I pushed it past my knuckle and knew immediately that this wasn't good. The circulation in my finger was getting cut off so I had to either take the ring off or push it all the way down. Well, it wasn't coming off so I only had one choice. As soon as I got it all the way on, I ran downstairs, yelling that I had just done something really stupid. I told Lori what I had done and we got to work right away on all the tricks - cold water, ice, dish soap, olive oil, hand soap, holding my hand over my head. I went on the Internet and learned about Windex and dental floss. WE TRIED EVERYTHING!

Stirring the green beans with my hand in a cup of cold water

Eating dinner and then nursing Audrey with my hand over my head.

Ellie was upset about all of this. When she heard us talking about getting the ring cut off, she came running in the kitchen with her little safety scissors and asked, "Mama, you want me to cut your ring off for you?", with a very sympathetic look.

By this point the ring had been on for about 2 hours and it really hurt. And of course all our efforts left my finger more and more swollen. There was no way that ring was budging.

We had talked about going to the ER when it first happened, but then I read on the Internet that most fire departments and Rescue Squads (ahhhh!) carry a tool for just such a situation. It sounded like I could just go to my local fire department and have this taken care of. As awful as the thought of cutting off my wedding ring was, it was starting to really hurt. When I called our police department they explained that the Rescue Squad would actually have to come to me to do this. How embarrassing! (The dispatcher assured me though that they've been called for much worse!)

So the Rescue Squad came to our house to cut off my ring. There were four of them, three of whom appeared to still be in high school. When I explained how embarrassed I was, they told me that it was kind of exciting for them because they hardly ever get to use this tool - oh, great! They tried to get the ring off after making one cut but couldn't. They made another cut and removed a small section from the back of my ring but still couldn't get it off and then it was cutting into my finger and hurting even worse. Eventually they made a third cut and removed practically the entire back of my ring so that it just fell off. And let me tell you, it was not a painless process!

Ellie sitting on the couch and taking it all in. She was not happy about all the commotion!

Finally off!

Thankfully the ring is off, but unfortunately it is in pieces and is hopefully fixable. Did I mention that Friday was the 6th anniversary of our commitment ceremony where we exchanged these rings? Lori said that if we believed in bad luck, then this is a big one!

So thank you Rescue Squad for saving my finger! I should have asked if they knew a good jeweler...