Well, the update on this is that the real pains were not regular when they came. Luckily something about the intensity made me ring my ob. Within an hour of the pains starting I was in hosp and 5cm. Thomas arrived 3 hours after the pains started, and during peak hour, so I'm very glad instinct kicked in and I got straight to the hosp. So if anyone wants to know the answer to the question, sometimes the only way to know if it is labour is instinct. Things are not always like the text books say!