Kirsten puts the car into park and climbs out, grabbing her purse off the passenger seat, she leans against the still open door as yet another Braxton-Hicks contraction hits her, the contractions themselves are painless but her already aching back does not respond well, tensing up, becoming so painful this time that it almost takes her breath away.

After it passes, maybe 30 seconds later she walks or more correctly waddles into the house and collapses into the nearest available couch. Today has not been good, her father, now that he is more confident in her health and that of the baby is upping her workload again, today was particularly stressful, the company is in final negotiations for a major property development deal. She hasn't slept more than two hours in three nights, thanks to the combination of insomnia that also plagued her during her pregnancy with Seth and her nose being constantly blocked, yet another charming side effect of pregnancy hormones.

She wishes Sandy was home. He would massage her back for her, relieve maybe a little of the pain even if he didn't, the feeling of his hands against her skin would be instantly calming. She closes her eyes, in desperate need of sleep she knows won't come, another Braxton-Hicks contraction comes, this one hurts a little more than the last, both in her stomach and back, but nothing she can't handle. When she was pregnant with Seth she must have gone into false labor 50 times, starting at about 25 weeks, which is exactly where she is now, she remembers this well.

She remembers her OB telling her that lying on her left side would stop the false labor, she doesn't quite believe that but tries anyway, awkwardly maneuvering to her left, her tummy is much larger this time than it was with Seth, another sign to her that the baby is a girl.

Another contraction comes and she is getting a little scared, it hurts more than she remembers but maybe time has blurred her memory, or age decreased her pain tolerance. She wishes someone would come home even though she is sure it's nothing, she doesn't want to be alone. She closes her eyes, still hoping in vain that she will fall asleep.

She's not quite sure how much time has passed when Seth comes bounding in the front door, slamming it behind him and dumping his backpack and shoes at the foot of the stairs. Another contraction hits her and this one is strong enough that she moans out in pain. Seth hears her as he is crossing the front living room on his way to the den.

"Mom, are you okay?" he asks, Kirsten can't see his face but she can hear the fear in his voice.

"I'm fine, just a bad backache." She replies hoping he can't hear the uncertainty in her voice.

"Have you taken some Tylenol or something?" he asks sounding completely unconvinced.

"No, maybe it will help though." She says, slowly pulling herself up to a sitting position before standing.

Standing, thankfully made Kirsten's back ache a little less, she walks into the kitchen following Seth who is clearly frazzled, Kirsten could see his hands shake as he pours her a glass of apple juice and pops two Tylenol out of the packet lying on the bench near the sink, she smiles as the baby gives a firm kick, to ease Seth's mind, she says "Seth, come and feel this."

Seth hands her the juice and painkillers, she swallows most of the juice and the Tylenol in one gulp placing the glass on the kitchen table and guiding Seth's hand to the spot on her tummy where the baby is kicking up a storm. Seth laughs a little as the baby moves beneath his hand, Kirsten has a goofy grin on her face her mind eased somewhat. Seth's smile however quickly turns to into a worried frown as Kirsten's stomach hardens under his hand and she cries out, terrified and in pain.

"Mom?" Seth says as her tummy finally relaxes after what seems to be an eternity, his voice is high and to Kirsten he looks as white as a ghost.

"Seth, I'll be fine, it's just false labor, it happened maybe 50 or 60 times with you." She snaps as she tries to stop her hands from shaking.

"How can you be so sure?" Seth snaps right back, his voice still much higher than usual.

"Because the contractions are not regular amongst other things, or at least I don't think they are." She adds the last part of the sentence quietly, realizing that she has no real idea weather the contractions are regular or not.

"Mom, maybe we should go to the hospital, just to make sure." Seth says quietly.

"No, there is no way…" Kirsten starts before being interrupted by another contraction, she looks over at Seth, he is even whiter than before, her hands are shaking uncontrollably, she wants to cry but needs to keep it together in front Seth, he is freaked out enough over what she is still entirely sure is nothing.

"Mom, really I've been home maybe ten minutes and you've had three contractions, now while I know next to nothing about babies, Summer has been reading about the whole thing and I know that babies are not supposed to be born this soon, I also know that the practice contractions are not supposed to hurt, please…" Seth says panicking.

Kirsten interrupts him, "OK." She says knowing that the ignore it and it will go away approach is no longer working; she is as freaked out as Seth is.

Kirsten watches silently, wringing her shaking hands as Seth writes a note of explanation, in case this really is something and they are not back by the time Sandy and Ryan arrive home, she is thankful that Seth hasn't called Sandy, he is in court today, she doesn't want him freaking out.

She can feel her stomach tense up again, she takes a note of the time, before walking out to the car and climbing into the passenger seat without argument, although she wasn't a fan of Seth's driving at the best of times she knew she was in no condition to drive herself. Seth jumps behind the drivers seat and takes off down the driveway at what feels 120 miles an hour, Kirsten admonishes him "Seth, I would like to arrive at the hospital alive."

"Sorry." He replies slowing down slightly.

Another contraction hits her and Kirsten takes note of the time, she desperately hopes the clock in her car and the one in the kitchen are seriously out of sync because if not barely two minutes have passed and this is far more serious than she thought.

Another two minutes pass and surely enough another contraction hits, the pain at least isn't increasing but it is still enough to freak her out, that and the fact that they are far approaching the hospital. Her heart begins to race as they draw closer, she has hated hospitals as long as she can remember, and she hated them even more after her mother died. She tries to calm herself down knowing that stress will do nothing to help her situation. Seth she notes has been strangely silent throughout the trip, another contraction comes and she can't control her emotions any longer, tears stream silently down her cheeks as Seth pulls the car to an abrupt stop at the emergency room doors.