Rear-ended at highway speed while pregnant — do I even need a lawyer for this?

The 'weirdly friendly' adjuster thing jumped out at me immediately because I experienced the exact same thing after my accident. They were so nice and warm right up until they made me a lowball offer and then suddenly got really hard to reach. Please be careful. I wish I had talked to an attorney before I said anything else to them.

Stop talking to their adjuster. Seriously, just stop. Every single thing you say to them is being documented and can be used to minimize your payout later. That 'how are you feeling' small talk? They're fishing for you to say something like 'oh I'm doing okay' so they can argue your injuries weren't serious. You're pregnant and you were in a high-speed chain reaction crash — this is NOT a situation where you want to go it alone against a trained insurance professional.

Not legal advice, but speaking generally: pregnancy adds a layer of complexity that most adjusters are not going to factor into an early offer — things like the stress impact on a pregnancy, additional monitoring costs, and potential complications that haven't surfaced yet. Settling before your medical picture is complete (including for the baby) is almost always a mistake. Most PI attorneys work on contingency so there's no upfront cost to at least have a conversation. Worth knowing your options before you agree to anything.

Please make sure every single appointment — your OB visits, any additional ultrasounds, any maternal-fetal medicine consults — is being documented and tied to the accident. Even if everything turns out fine with the pregnancy, those monitoring costs are real and they should be part of your claim. Stress in pregnancy is also not trivial. Keep a log of symptoms, sleep issues, anxiety, anything that has changed since the crash. Your medical records won't capture all of that automatically.

I just want to say I'm really sorry you're going through this. Being pregnant and dealing with all this paperwork and phone calls and uncertainty is just so much. Please lean on people around you and don't try to white-knuckle through this alone. You deserve support — from people in your life AND from a professional who can help you navigate the legal stuff.

A couple of practical things: First, don't give the other driver's insurance a recorded statement — you're generally not required to, and it almost never helps you. Second, start a folder (physical or digital) for everything: accident report, all medical receipts, rental car invoices, any correspondence from the insurance company. If you do end up working with an attorney, having all of that organized is a huge help. Third, most PI attorneys offer free consultations so there's really no downside to getting a professional read on your situation before you make any decisions.

You're 16 weeks pregnant, your car is totaled, and the at-fault driver's insurance is already calling you. Get a lawyer. That's it. That's my advice. You can always choose not to use one, but you can't un-settle a case once you've signed a release.

It sounds like you and the baby are okay so far, and that is genuinely the most important thing. The car stuff and the insurance stuff is stressful and it feels overwhelming right now, but it IS fixable — these things do get resolved. Take care of yourself first, document everything, and let the professionals handle the fight. You've got this.