A cruel mistress

I'm really taken back to the lyrics for "Ironic":
a traffic jam, when you're already late
a no smoking sign on your cigarette break
10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife
meeting the man of your dreams, then meeting his beautiful wife.

It's kinda like that w/ Braxton Hicks contractions...it's like you think you are getting somewhere, just to have your hopes dashed upon the rubber glove of a Nurse Practioner.

I made a call to the OB office this morning (I know I call alot, but I'm a first timer with LOTS Of questions and concerns, and yes I do consult the What to Expect book and Babycenter.com before I call, but didn't find an answer either of those places) with a concern about some "weird" stuff...I told the receptionist it wasn't a life or death call and the nurse could call when she got a chance. Having worked in a doctor's office before I know there are other patients that probably had more major things that my little question. So I made the call this morning around 9 and around 11:30 I started having some contractions...I started paying attention to them around 12. It went something like this...."Ouch" contraction, 15 minutes later "is that a contraction?" (but no pain), 15 minutes later another "is that a contraction?" for the most part the itac's (for short) I'd notice about 20 seconds into that although I wasn't having pain with them my belly was just taunt and tight. That and Little Miss Greer did NOT like what was going on, and as soon as the grip of the contraction let us both go she'd wiggle and squirm as much as possible for the little amount of room she's got in there...thus adding to my uncomfortable state (but she didn't bother me that much). It basically followed the Ouch, 15 itac pattern for a couple hours. And when the nurse called (around 1:15) I started with my first concern, then I filled her in on the pattern. She instructed me to take a Tylenol and drink about 32oz of water, see if that helps, and she'd call me in an hour.
So I did....and it just kinda set them of schedule for 30 minutes. When she called back I told her I was still having stuff, so she asked I come in to get checked out.
My blood pressure was a little high, and Little Miss had a heart rate of 150, but upon checking I'm still just dilated to a 1 and I'm about 70% effaced. I no longer get excited about being effaced either since my friend Christy told me she was at 90% for 3 weeks...thanks..but at least I'm making "some" progress.
My contractions and "weird" stuff are just birth prep, but no, I'm not there yet. They had me chill out on my left side for a little bit and rechecked what was now completely kosher blood pressure, and had me cancel my appointment for this Thursday and reschedule for Tuesday.
I guess the up side to all this is that slowly but surely we're getting there. I can't help but be terribly anxious for 1) to have our little girl here finally, and 2) quit being so symptomatic and feeling like I'm going crazy.
So that's it, for now..I know I'm being a little bit of a post-a-holic lately...but I did warn that it would pick up towards the end!