Hey Trixy, as others have said labour for everyone is different. In my experience I was genuinely surprised at the pain level - it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and even during labour, whilst I was pushing, the midwife joked if I would be having another and I said I definitely would. I loved the whole process of labour, but then again because of the length of time I was in labour I had ALL the drugs and my little girl was born in theatre as they were going to perform a c-section and I didn't actually feel her come out. However, for the 18 hours that I could feel (until she got stuck!) it was just like severe period pains.
Also, just to reiterate what Red has said, your body knows what to do - if you feel you want to push, stand, get on all fours, lay on your side or whatever then do it, your body knows what it is doing. Best of luck sweeite, they're so worth it xx