"Pre" labor

Prelabor, False Labor, Call it what you will, it sucks.

Thursday night Danny and I were driving up to the temple when I started to have contractions. Being educated and knowing what we know about labor and signs of it and all of that, we weren't concerned and continued up. They started out really consistant and even close together, the first hour or so they were 3 minutes apart and lasting for 1 minute each, though they weren't painful and I was in a very normal and relaxed state of mind. We arrived at the temple and were in the temple with the Youth, doing baptisms for the dead. I wasn't doing any, I was just sitting in as a witness, so I sat on a bench watching. A friend of ours is somewhat of a childbirth expert, or so we like to think :) and was standing on the other side of the room watching me. She came over to me and asked if I was having contractions, that she could see it not only in my face, but could actually see the contractions happening in my belly.
I wasn't timing them or anything at this point but they weren't as frequent as they had been in the car, possibly due to my position or who knows what. Still not painful, though I seem to have gone into some kind of trance with each contraction. Since they weren't painful Danny and I went home and to bed, I wanted to get some sleep just in case.
I had several more painful contractions through the night, but each time was able to go back to sleep. In the morning I remember having several, and then for about half an hour they stopped so I decided to try to take a nap. I was woken up about two hours later by a much more painful contraction. Although they were now farther apart, 8 minutes or so, they hurt and I also had back pain which didn't subside when the contractions did. We were told to be prepared to have the baby within the next 24 hours. I didn't want to believe it, as something just wasn't right, they weren't painful enough or I don't know, so I didn't want to get excited... but as the day went on and the contractions continued, I ended up getting excited, and so did Danny.
between 18 and 22 hours after they started, the contractions stopped, just as suddenly as they had come on. I have had only two or three contractions in the last 17 hours.

It's surprising what "false" labor does to the mind. We were excited, thinking this could be it, she could be coming! Then it stopped suddenly. I feel like a depressed failure. I know that might sound silly, but it's true. I feel like a failure. And all I want is to hold my baby. Before this, I was content waiting another 3 to 4 weeks for her, and now... now that seems like an eternity, especially compared to the thought and idea of holding her within the next 24 hours. My back, hips and pelvis ache. My abdomen was very sore for several hours after the labor stopped. My body worked hard, and then nothing. I suppose it's better than having intense, very painful contractions for so long and then labor stopping. Silver lining... right?