Yes and No. If you are hocked up for monitoring, your reading may momentary reached 100/contraction without you feeling anything. The actual contraction comes in waves. You will definitely feel it. It starts with slight/light cramps once every hour follow by more constant and higher frequency before you feeling more pain and shorter intervals.
At first i didnt know how contractions feel but once it comes, you will definitely feel the pain and the tightening.
usually painful but every pregnancy can vary a lot