MB,
as tigwig said, all births are different so scaring yourself with what may or may not happen may be pointless. Thats not to say that you should be blinkereed. Read up as much as you can on pain relief and options and go into it with an open mind. That way you will feel confortable with whats going on and not feel scared or bullied into things you dont want.
My birth experience was great but nothing like Id expected. In short i went for induction at 42 weeks after 4 weeks of painless contractions (because baby wasnt in right place). I had 3 days of gel which didnt work so on the eve of the 3rd night I had my waters broken.
within 2 hours i was in established labour. I asked for a bath ang got to 7cms with relative ease, it was just like a bad tummy ache.
After that, things moved to 9cmas but i had a lip of cervix caught over babys head, I wasnt allowed to push until it cleared, which it did after a hour or so.
The pushing was painful, for me it took 2 hours but your body takes over. It is pretty much like needing a poo, you cant fight it. The head crowing is very sore but once you get the head out the rest slides out, and i dont even recall the 3rd stage (delivering placenta) as i was cuddling my beautiful baby.
2 days later and id pretty much forgotton actually how it felt.