Is this normal? Does it mean I'm about to go into Labour??

[Anarchymummy]

Hi,I know this may sound odd but I was just wondering if this meant I was about to start labour soon.I'm 37 1/2 weeks pregnant and 2 nights ago I had really strong contractions/braxton hicks that seemed to come every 45/30mins for about 4 hours but then stopped.They felt "lower down" and well different from the braxton hicks i'd felt before and theyv'e started up again today but are not regular...
My friend said she had something similar for a few days before she started labour properly am kind of worried/scared/excited...

They sound to me like the start of irregular contractions - you might experience for a few days on and off until you go into proper labour and have proper regular painful contractions. I hope this helps and hopefully it IS the start of something for you! Best of luck

Thanks guys,just giving an update really...lol as nothing more's happened(aside from a quick trip to the hospital yesterday as we thought my waters had broken but no such luck.Midwife thinks I properly just wet myself in the night )
Iv'e got 9 days to go and I'm so impatient,everyone in my family has had really early babys so I was expecting to have her at around 36 weeks.feel selfish for wanting her now but am so sick of being pregnant.lol I think she takes after her father and probs won't be born till January!!!
Is there anything I can do to safely speed things up?

i had a very similar thing the other night, v strong bh for 3 n half hours, then on and off next day, nothing yesterday, then throughout the day today. Keep getting told its v normal and common and could go on for weeks! I'm almost 39 weeks and although I'm not fed up I can't wait to meet DS! good luck, as someone said to me today, they com when they're cooked!x