For me, I didn't know I was having Braxton Hicks if I didn't have my hands on my belly to feel the tightness. They were painless. Labor contractions started like period pain that got worse and worse, it was all low and in front and the only thing that helped the pain was heat. Then in my first birth I was given fentanyl, in my second I hopped in the bath for a good part and that was fantastic.