If they are staying far apart, or the timing in between them varies ie every ten mins then not one for twenty mins or so I would say braxton hicks. the day after my first sweep i had them every 9 minutes for about 8 hours, then they faded to every twenty mins, then to one an hour. That was at 39+6 weeks and I had been 1cm dilated. At 40+5 I had sweep number 2, followed by a couple braxton hicks about 5 mins apart for an hour then nothing. Im now 41+1 and baby STILL isn;t here x
Time your contractions. If you notice a pattern then it's probably time!