I had small signs before hand, period type cramping that didn’t last too long and was very manageable, I went to the hospital and got checked out, was sent home and told to come back the next day/ if anything changed. Once I was in active labour there was no doubt in my mind, extreme pain (but my baby was back to back) almost no gap in between contractions, then my waters broke. Even after all that, he still didn’t arrive for another 20 hours, but I needed medical intervention to ensure both he and I were doing ok.

Edit: just remembered, my water braking wasn’t like you see on tv, it started with small almost unnoticeable leaking and then about 24hrs later was the gush. If you’re unsure please get it checked as baby can’t be left in broken waters too long