early signs of labour? 37 weeks pregnant

[sasscass]

I’m due July 10th but the past 24 hours I’ve felt as though my belly is wrapped around my baby, if that makes sense? I did have it before as well but it seems more frequent. It feels tighter than usual, as if the baby is being squeezed by my skin and you can see her back bulge out my belly like a firm lump when these tight/heavy feelings come on.

They aren’t painful and I may be reading too much into it since they aren’t even that obvious, but I just feel as though something is different in general. There’s no reason why she would come earlier than usual, I just have the odd feeling that she will.

These are contractions, I know exactly the tight and heavy feeling you mean as I got them throughout my first pregnancy and sporadically in this one. They don't necessarily mean you're in labour though, and in fact my actual labour contractions felt quite different with pressure in my lower back and later upper thighs.

If the contractions are coming in s regular pattern, e.g. every 5 minutes, every 8 minutes, then get yourself to triage to be checked. They'll look at your cervix and see if labour really is starting.

Sounds like bracton hicks aka false labour. It’s your body gearing up for the main show. Doesn’t mean labour will be tomorrow as it may continue for weeks.