Verified answer

I can only answer on the Braxton Hicks part because I am only 24 weeks. I can feel my stomach tightening up like in .2 seconds and its very uncomfortable, not painful just uncomfortable.. As my uterus tightens up something hits my bladder and I have the sudden urge to pee my pants, lol. Not fun. But I get them up to 10x a day already.

Sometimes they don't hurt at all, its just your uterus that is contracting (gets hard and then softer). Sometimes it's like a mild period pain ....and I've heard they can actually become painful. Alot of times they can be very similar to early contractions. Period pain like with back ache but the difference is that Braxton Hicks are irregular while real contractions will get more intense and more regular with shorter time in between them. They say you DO KNOW when you get the real thing.

I don't know about labor contractions yet because I'm only 34 weeks, but my BH feel different almost every time I have one. Sometimes it hurts in my lower back and around in my belly like my really bad period cramps, sometimes I only know I'm having one because I feel my stomach tighten up and that's it.

They feel like strong period cramps. Only your belly gets REALLY tight during the BH contractions. It's weird.

for me, they are always different. sometimes my belly just gets really hard. sometimes it's very intense and i get menstrual like cramps. sometimes my lower back and thighs ache when i get one. sometimes i get them 5 minutes apart. sometimes they wont go away (mostly when i am walking around a store) they are very annoying and sometimes hurt...