Let me first just say, that I honestly don't really know how to capture how much panic I was in... How scared I was and how I honestly had no way of solving this problem...
Let me tell you what happened the best way I can.
June had just gone potty, flushed the toilet and came out to me. Usual. I went back to the bathroom to make sure she fully flushed since we have those high efficiency toilets that sometimes doesn't produce enough water pressure to get everything down. I flushed the toilet again and went back to the kitchen. All of the sudden I heard this gushing water sound. I could not figure out where it was coming from. I thought maybe June went to go wash her hands again, so I went back to the bathroom to discover that the pipe that connects the toilet to the wall had burst and was pushing out an extremely large amount of water at such an intense pressure. I just stared at it for a minute that went into action. The pressure was so so hard that I couldn't even get the pipe to even go near the toilet. There was so much water just pouring out. It was going everywhere!
June ran in and she started to panic. She was getting soaked as I already was. Head to toe. I yelled at her to get out and go to the living room...
I know what your're thinking. Lesli, why didn't you just turn the valve?! THERE WAS NO VALVE! The renovators of our house felt that part was not important to have! So I turned the gushing water pipe to face the bathtub. It was just shooting straight to the ceiling and then running into the tub. There was so much water that the tub was filling up faster than it could drain which added to the flooding. At this point I was heading straight into panic mode.
I called Dan with only 2% left on my phone. I was trying so hard to explain what happened and just begging him to help me solve this to turn the water off! It was flooding our house. Of course he told me to just quickly turn the valve. DAMN IT DAN THERE IS NO VALVE! So he then tells me to go out front to just completely shut off our water. I am no city worker so I take my phone out with me, FaceTime Dan and have him explain it to me. All while water is just pouring further into bedrooms and the hall. I had a million things running through my mind. I thought the ceiling in the bathroom was going to cave in because so much water pressure was hitting it at such a fast rate, I was worried how much water was going to actually be in our house, I hated the thought of all this mess and damage with June's birthday party the next day, Junes actual birthday, My In-laws coming and Owen's birthday. So much is going on that I was building myself up for an anxiety attack. I had to just keep telling myself to breath and it will be ok. Dan was very calm on the phone and helped me stay focused.
June and Owen come running out too because they are scared. June is completely naked because she was so wet she took it upon herself to take her clothes off. She keeps yelling "Mommy, I know the answer, we can just move and buy a new house!" BLESS HER LITTLE HEART! She was trying so hard to calm me down and solve the problem! Owen was in a wife beater and a diaper. He was just looking at me in horror...
I didn't have the proper tools to turn off the water. At this point I am crying, soaking wet, 25 weeks pregnant and my two little homeless children in tow. We were a hot mess!
My phone of course dies and now it was just up to me. Guys, I had no idea how to solve this problem. I figured the next best thing was to go get help. I ran, and I mean full on sprinted to three different houses and no answer. I told June and Owen to stay right on the front step and DO NOT MOVE!! I ran across the street and THANKFULLY our neighbors (The Kirby's) were home. He knew exactly what to do, had the right tools and came quickly to my rescue. As I return to my house, my next door neighbor (Jessica) was sitting with June and Owen. I must have been such a sight being so wet, and my poor poor children. She was so understanding and made me feel so loved and not like such a horrible mother. Have a mentioned how much I love my neighbors?!
Once we got the water completely shut off, we all went inside to assess the damage.
There was a solid two inches of water in the bathroom. The hall was flooded along with June, Owen, and the baby's room. All the way back to their closets. Just so much water.
I was breathing a bit easier once the water was off. My neighbors were in rescue mode from there, helping in anyway they could. One stayed with the kids and picked up anything soaking wet that was on the floor. Thankfully it was just June's clothes and a sheet that she had grabbed to help soak up the water. And right at this moment my heart is bursting with so much love for that little girl and how she was so so willing to help!
The Kirby's ran home and grabbed their wet Vac and they helped suck up the huge amount of water in the bathroom and started working on the carpets. Dan came home and it was such a relief to see him. After a bit, our neighbors left and I just cried in Dan's arms. I was so relieved to have him home, to have found a solution and so much adrenaline rushing through my body finally came crashing down and I realized how scared I really was. I'm totally a panic-er for sure!
Dan and I got to work soaking up all the water. It felt like it was never ending...
Tonight, I can thankfully say that we are mostly dry around here. No water damage on the ceiling and We have had fans running non-stop for the last 24 hours and covered the floor in baking soda. Now I just have to focus on the smell.
Dan went to Lowes, got all the proper parts and fixed the busted pipe THAT INCLUDED A VALVE! He also bought a proper tool to be able to turn off our water line out front. We will definitely be prepared if this ever happens again.
I am so grateful for such fantastic neighbors that came to my rescue. They truly saved our little house from being completely flooded.
I was praying so hard to please let me just be able to turn off the water. And like I told my dad when talking to him about the flooding mess... I said that even though my prayers weren't answered in a way I was asking or would have hoped, they were answered in such bigger ways. I mean how was it that my neighbor was home on a work day and was ready to spring into action!? And that he knew exactly what to do along with the cleaning up part?! And my sweet neighbor next door who watched carefully over my kids while I try and pull myself together.... That my friends is how prayers are answered!
So all is ok. It wore me down and it scared me... A lot.
But if there ever is a next time, I will be ready!!
Please don't let there be a next time.
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