False Alarm or Really Long Early Labor?

I am not an expert in childbirth...I've just had two kids and am very willing to have my third ANY DAY NOW!  Wednesday night I started having painful (all things relative to me...I've got a high threshhold for pain) contractions.  Almost from the time I got up Thursday morning until when I went to bed Thursday night, I was having non-stop contractions.  In the morning they started out 15-20 min apart, then progressed to 12 min, and then 8.  My OB's office recommends that if you live more than 30 minutes away, to call them and come in to be checked if you were 3 cm at last visit (which I was) and your contractions are 10 min. apart for an hour.  So I called, and the doctor on call recommended that I come to the hospital because of the snowstorm we were having just to be on the safe side.  So we did.  By the time we got there, my contractions were coming 5 min. apart.  Unfortunately I was still at 3 cm, so they monitored me for an hour.  I was having contractions 3 min. apart at that point.  Then they checked me again and there was no change.  Since I was not quite 37 weeks along (though I am today), they told me that they wouldn't give me medicine to stop the contractions, but also wouldn't give me anything to help them along (i.e. pitocin).  Fair enough.  I understand that their hands are tied.  The thing is that I have never been at 3 cm this soon, I've never had painful contractions before, and the pain that I get with me contractions is mainly concentrated in my lower back.  On top of that, this kid "dropped" the day before Christmas, and while that has lessened heartburn issues, it has also created a lot more pressure on my hips than ever before.  Which is when I started developing what sounds a lot like SPD.  So basically I've been in constant pain/high levels of discomfort since Christmas.  And there's no real treatment.  And then I started having issues with temporarily losing my peripheral vision (3x in the last two weeks), so I saw an eye doctor who informed me that it is my migraines manifesting themselves in a different way.  Joy.  And there's no treatment.  And I'm still anemic, despite having a diet rich in iron and taking supplements, so I'm exhausted.  Basically I'm just complaining right now because I'm a little grumpy and uncomfortable and in a lot of pain.  The funny thing is that when the hospital sent me home the other night (in the snowstorm with horrible conditions and we were very nearly in an accident close to the hospital when the car next to us spun out, by the way), the instructions I was given in my discharge papers were to come back to the hospital if I were having painful contractions 6x/hour or if I was having lower back pain associated with the contractions or if I was having vision issues.  There were other reasons to come back, too, but I was just amused by those three because I was having those three when they sent me home!  It will all be worth it when I get to hold my little Seth, but seriously!  I was told that they'd be able to induce me at 39 weeks, so I guess that at most I only have to do this for 2 more weeks.  My next OB appointment is Wednesday morning, and I'm just praying that I've made some progress by then!