I was due Dec 13th, had my son Nov 24th, I waited all day BC I thought it'd be a false alarm but little did I know I was in actual labor, I was 8 cm when they checked me at the hospital and he was out in just an hour, not trying to scare u but better to be safe then sorry
when I went into labor I was having contractions really consistent and after each one I felt like I had to pee, this went on for almost 7 hours before my water broke.
I know I felt the urge to go the restroom when my son was actually coming but not before that. But if it feels like period cramps but a lot worse and they're close together then it's labor. They don't really consider contractions that are like 5+ minutes apart active labor so they'll send u home unless your dilated or water breaks
You feel really uncomfortable, I had back labor as well so my back was in a lot of pain. Contractions start like 5-7 min apart regularly then slowly get closer together with really bad pain