'Period pains' before labour starts?

[JimbosJetSet]

I am 38 weeks pregnant with DC2 and over the last few days I have been getting more frequent and noticeable cramps like 'period pains'... I know I got them before DC1 too but I can't remember if thet went on for weeks or days or hours before proper labour kicked in! Any experiences? Thank you!

I'm also 38 weeks and been having cramps and contraction type things for a few weeks now so I think it could be a while.

Good question; I've been having period pain-like cramps for about a week now (currently 36+3), usually about once a day. Had a minor panic half an hour ago when I had two very painful cramps, 5 mins apart, lasting about 10 secs each. Was a bit worried that things were kicking off, but nothing since.

I remember having a few cramps, twinges etc in the time running up to DC2 being born but I can't remember how many weeks I was when they started.

Was wondering myself how early they can start as have been having period type cramps on and off all day today - I'm 34 + 3. I'm thinking it's par for the course and am not going to worry about it until they're strong and regular!!

I've been having them since about 33 +5 - currently 35+2. They're strong enough to make me feel slightly sick - you know that griping waves of cramping sickiness? I reckon it's the uterus doing the equivalent of stretching and flexing before a long run

I had what i thought were period like cramps about,ooh , 8 hours before DC2 popped out. Was fully dilated when reached hospital- i thought i was in latent stage. First DC was induced so my idea of what constituted labour was a bit warped! Just a wee warning! best of luck.

i am 37 +6 and have had period like pain/cramps for about 2 weeks. insterestingly enough, they have been coming on during the night only so far and they are strong enough to wake me up but not the worse i have ever experienced. today, i experienced them during the morning as well....

interesting to see what everyone else is goign through. could these be an early sign of labour?

I had that a few hours before labour, but actually labour was less painful than my periods...