Sorry for the perhaps silly question but I'm a FTM and have no idea if I'm in labour or my body is just gearing up for the big event 
I'm 39+2, been having lower tummy cramps for about 4 hours. I've been timing them for just over an hour and they seem to be coming every 4-10 mins, most of them lasting around 60 seconds each. Thing is, they're painful, like quite a bad period pain, but they're not THAT bad. Just not sure whether it's labour or not as I've not lost my mucus plug and waters haven't broken yet. I've read elsewhere that you can get false labour contractions days or even weeks before giving birth.
Does this sound like the beginning of labour, should I phone the hospital to see what they say? Again, sorry if I sound daft!