Let's begin Finley's story with my forty-first week of pregnancy. This was the first time that I had a false alarm that labor was coming very soon, and I had 3 false alarms! The first was when I was leaking fluid a couple weeks before the due date and was advised by my doctor to go to the hospital to see if it was amniotic fluid. Labor with Avery began this way- there was a tear in the sac and I was leaking amniotic fluid, and labor came that night, which was one day before her due date. I was praying that with Finley, this was just some random fluid because I felt it was too soon for her to be born. I think by then we had bought the van (remember how our Expedition broke down and we didn't have a car that could hold a family of 6?), but I just didn't feel mentally prepared for labor yet. The second false alarm was just an evening of contractions a week before her due date on a Saturday night. But it gave me enough alarm, that when I told my mom about it, she decided to come to town the following Monday so that she would be there to watch the kids when real labor came. Little did we know that Finley would not really be coming for an entire week. But having mom here during the last week was a big life saver since I was grumpy and uncomfortable and anxious about labor. She helped get us up and out doing activities to keep busy for my mental sanity and the kids' as well!
The Friday night that mom was here (so 3 days before Finley was born) was the third false alarm. Mom was watching the kids while Eric and I watched Mission Impossible 5 in the movie theatre. It was a really good movie, but by the end I was contracting and so hot and uncomfortable that Eric and I decided to leave (at the final scene!) to go home and time these contractions. As soon as I layed down at home they let up.
Some of the fun we had during mom's visit included going to the University of Montana campus. We checked out the book store and walked a lot in an effort to get Finley out =). We also made a couple visits to an big annual consignment sale at a local church. We found some cool dress-up outfits for Avery and some trains with tracks for Henry. Tate bought some K'nex. I told him not to show Eric, who especially hates toys with small pieces, but Tate couldn't resist showing off his cool new toy. Finally, we visited the local fair, and the kids loved the kid sand area. It was hot, but we ended up getting to participate for free during the free hours they offer. Anyway, it was fun, and a big thank you to mom for helping me with that final tough week!!
