With both girls, in hindsight, I know I was restless and grumpy before I went in to labour. With Marieke (2nd) I had BH, PMS pain, and back ache for about a week before. But the first real sign for both of them was the show, which I noticed right about the same time that the contractions started. I never really had any "false alarms" - just the real thing, with contractions five minutes apart right from the start.