New, how concerned should I be?

I've been having severe, doubling over pain in my left hip/lower back/lower abdominal area several times a day for about 2-3 weeks and have been to the docs several times to try and figure out what was wrong.  After many tests, they've concluded I've been having contractions.  The doctor said my cervix is softer than it should be for 22 weeks, but didn't say how soft.  She said the length was either 4mm or 4cm, I can't remember, but she didn't seem too concerned about it.  She gave me some tocolytic medicine to stop the contractions, and I haven't had any pain since.  I was put in the hospital overnight for observation (baby is fine, and I wasn't contracting).  I'm currently at home on bed rest for the next week, and then she'll do a follow-up appointment and we'll see from there.  I just know it's so early to be having a scare like this and I hope it turns out to be nothing serious... but how concerned would you be?

BTW, I'm also in a foreign country where the language is very difficult for me.