If it feels as if the baby is "balling up", thats a contraction. Not all hurt. I have a crap load of BH everyday and some are uncomfortable and others are not. Some do, however, make my breathing harder. But if you are in labor and are contractring, you'll definitely know it lol. Hope that helps ;)
My last pregnancy was 11 years ago. But with my first two and this one, all of the contraction have felt the same, braxton. Hicks, or real ones. I never felt real pain, its just been very uncomfortable. I'm 20 weeks now and started having braxton hicks at 16 weeks. My tummy gets really tight, and my breathing becomes harder. The only difference I ever felt between the two is the amount of time and the regularity of them. Everybody is different tho, and so is every pregnancy. Some woman say that braxton hicks hurt, some don't think they do. Some women never feel labor pains, some feel as tho they are dying. Because of the way mine felt my doctor told me to keep track of all contractions and just watch for regularity of time they last and the time between them.