import numpy as np

def movingStd(x, T, period=None):
    """
    Python implementation of the MATLAB movingStd function.
    Calculates the standard deviation over a rolling window of T days.
    
    Parameters:
    x (ndarray): Input array for moving standard deviation calculation
    T (int): Window size for standard deviation calculation
    period (int, optional): If provided, data is sampled every 'period'
    
    Returns:
    ndarray: Moving standard deviation with NaNs at the beginning
    """
    if isinstance(x, list):
        x = np.array(x)
    
    # Get dimensions
    if len(x.shape) == 1:
        x = x.reshape(-1, 1)
    
    rows, cols = x.shape
    
    # Initialize output array with NaNs
    sd = np.full_like(x, np.nan)
    
    if period is None:
        # Regular moving standard deviation
        for t in range(T, rows + 1):
            sd[t-1, :] = np.std(x[t-T:t, :], axis=0, ddof=0)  # Using ddof=0 to normalize by N (not N-1)
    else:
        # Moving standard deviation with period
        for t in range(T*period, rows + 1):
            sd[t-1, :] = np.std(x[t-T*period:t, :], axis=0, ddof=0)
    
    return sd