You would think...

You would think that after having three babies I might know something about going into labor. But apparently I am just as clueless as the first timers. As Nick said, I went to the hospital last night. I was dilated to 2 cm and 50% effaced. I was also having contractions every 5 minutes. After walking the halls for an hour I was at 3 cm and 70% effaced. They admitted me and said the baby was coming that night! I was having contractions all night between 2-5 minutes. At 6am I had dilated to 5 cm and was 75% effaced. It was going, slow but steady. I was finally able to fall asleep for about an hour and when I woke up I realized that my contractions had slowed down. They called the doctor on call and checked me again and I was back down to only 3 cm but had gone to 80%. The doctor decided to send me home. I can't remember the last time I was so disappointed. How do you go from 5cm to 3cm? I am still having contractions but I'm not timing them. I'll wait until they hurt so bad that I cry. I definitely don't want any more false alarms.