false labor=just as painful as real

So I never knew that "false labor" hurts just as badly as real labor, until now. Last night, I started having contractions. They continued for like 2 hours, while I freaked out about soooooo not having anything ready. We got home and I started packing a bag and making like 75 lists just to calm myself down. The contractions were so painful, but not really...consistant and it felt like constant pain--no reprieve. After severe nesting of putting away laundry and packing bags....I lay down to clear my head and see if I could figure out how far apart they were...after 40 minutes or so they went away and I fell asleep. This morning, as soon as I started moving around, they came back. Again, nothing too consistant. About 11, they were starting to seem about 10 minutes apart. I suggested that we got for a walk about 1:30, because I was getting ansy, and had read that if they get worse when you walk, then .... it's a good sign it's real labor. Apparently, that's a lie. They did get worse. MUCH worse. So I went over to McKay Dee with Chris and was monitored for a couple of hours. The nurse said my cervix was "irritated" and not contracting, and that I was having false labor. Feels pretty real to me! I wasn't dialating so they sent me home--which is good, because holy crap is my house still needing like 10 hours of work before this baby can come home.
I didn't expect to feel so sad about leaving for the hospital and Ava staying behind. It almost made me cry. I was only gone 2 hours, but I missed her so much. She was asleep for a nap when we got home, and is still out. I have so much I want to accomplish this week, but everytime I walk, I hurt. I have a feeling this means, my to do list will need to be shortened. In any case, the bags are packed, the baby bed is set up in our bedroom and things are way more ready for Simon's homecoming than they were 24 hours ago...so should False suddenly become real we're set...the only question is...how will I tell the difference?