Early labour is the part nobody films. It is not the dramatic dash to the car. It is a long, often unremarkable stretch of tightenings that come and go, an evening of wondering is this it, and a great deal of waiting. Knowing what it tends to look like makes it far less unnerving when it actually arrives.
In early labour your cervix is doing two quiet jobs at once: softening and thinning, then slowly beginning to open. This groundwork can take a long time, particularly with a first baby, and it often happens in fits and starts. Surges may build for a few hours, fade away, and return later. None of that is a false start. It is the ordinary, unglamorous rhythm of a body getting ready.
Surges in early labour are usually irregular and manageable. They might feel like strong period pains, a tightening band across your bump, or a low ache in your back. They build, peak, then ease, and in between you can talk, move and rest. Some people notice a show, a small plug of mucus, in the days beforehand. Some have a run of loose tummy as the body clears the decks. These are normal signs, and on their own they are not a reason to rush anywhere.
This is the stage to stay home, stay calm and conserve. The hormones that drive labour flow best when you feel private, warm and unobserved, so the more you can treat this as an ordinary evening, the better things tend to progress.
Early labour rewards the people who manage to ignore it the longest.
Your maternity unit will give you their own guidance, and that always comes first. As a rough general picture, many people are asked to call when surges are strong, regular and close together, often described as roughly three in every ten minutes, each lasting around a minute, and keeping that pattern up for a while. Call sooner, at any stage, if your waters break and the fluid is green, brown or bloody, if you have bright red bleeding, if your baby is moving less than usual, or if anything simply feels wrong. That instinct is worth trusting every time.