Am i having contractions?

So this is my first pregnancy, ive been feeling like i need to have a bowel movement every couple of minutes (i havent timed them yet). Ive actually had a bowel movement twice in those times. Everytime i feel that way my stomach gets hard. The feeling usually goes away for a couple of min and comes back. Ill time them, but i have heard that real contractions start in your back so im confused as to weather i might really be in labor or going into labor soon. Im 40 weeks 4 days getting induced on thursday. Thanks for any advice.