That was one of the best descriptions of the trip to the hospital ever and makes me less nervous about the prospect of giving birth in France should we get a BFP soon. I can easily imagine the sex on a park bench thing happening to us as well.
For BH, I always heard you should keep yourself super hydrated. Which is hard because then it makes you want to pee even more often, but that's all I've got for you.
On an unrelated note, since you're an urban dweller, do you have a car seat ready for the baby? I've been thinking about how to cut down on gear if we do have another kid here. I thought I could get away with wearing the baby home in a sling from the hospital on public transportation if it comes to that. (We only used the car seat twice for DD when she was a baby in NYC and it felt like a huge waste of $.)