Stitch like pains around bump!

So I’m 38+5 weeks pregnant and yesterday around 4pm I got period type cramping above my ribs which lasted for around 30 minutes, then eased off for around 5-10 minutes. After 5-10 minutes, the pain then went to the bottom of my bump, but this time a stitch like pain, not cramping but more like gas pains, to which being active and staying still didn’t resolve the pain. The stitch pain was felt all around my lower bump, not localised to one area. The pain then subsided at around 7pm.

At about 8pm, the stitch like pain at the bottom of my bump came back, then died down completely again at around 8:35pm.

This morning I’ve woken up and had both the period type cramping underneath my ribs/top of uterus as well as the lower stitch pain below my bump. The stitch at the bottom of my

Bump feels like what you have with trapped gas/IBS, but I’ve already passed a bowel movement this morning (sorry TMI!)

I’m a first time mum so don’t know what early contractions would feel like - does this sound like early labour or did anyone else have/had this?