contractions 5 min apart but stopped after 3 hours?

so I will be 40 wks Saturday and last night I was having 30 sec contractions about 5 min apart for 3 hours. I didn't call or go in because I had to work this morning and didn't want to go to be sent home and get no sleep since I had to be up at 4 am. Well around 9 pm they stopped and around 9 am again started with 5-6 min contractions for about 30 sec each for 3 hours....there spot on I don't understand how this could be Braxton hicks and I don't want to waste a trip to the hospital to be sent home 😭 especially when I work ten hour days and have to get up so early...sleep is very valuable if I can get it. Anybody else experience this? If I was in active labor they wouldn't just go away right? Does this sound like it could just be Braxton hicks?