Is this labor?

39w3d and I've started bleeding. Then the contractions started and are continuing however they aren't back to back, maybe every 5-6 minutes during the bleeding and now they've subsided to about every 10-15 minutes. I went to the hospital earlier when I noticed the bleeding and they sent me home saying it's normal and my cervix was closed but softening. Now I'm just laying down trying to time them. I truly know what these contractions feel like now, I am not looking forward to them getting stronger. But is this the beginning of labor?