Does the pain increase every hour / contraction?
Yes, the contractions get gradually more painful. Having said that, my impression is that they are not as bad as I had feared. I'm not just saying that because the memory is fading: when I was in labour with my first child, I remember telling myself to pace myself because things were going to get a lot more painful and I needed to be able to handle it. As it turned out, that was about as bad as it got. Even so, the later contractions with my second child were a lot more painful than those with my first child, so I guess the pain can vary not just from woman to woman but also from labour to labour.
What type of pain are the contractions vs. transition vs. crowning vs. pushing?
Contractions: difficult to do justice to it really, but you know when you get a very painful cramp in your calf? It's a bit like that, but over a larger area. One thing I found helpful to remember is that a contraction gradually builds and then gradually subsides. The really painful bit only lasts for about 20 seconds or so, and I found it hugely helpful to count through it.
Transition: not sure I can actually identify this stage, but it's not a pain as such, more a sense of starting to panic. But as soon as I started to panic, I started pushing the baby out, so it didn't last long! Once you hit this stage, you're almost there.
Crowning: I honestly can't remember. I guess it must have been painful, but at that stage there is too much else going on to notice!
Pushing: as I remember it, there are two types of pushing. There are the pushes that your body gives involuntarily, and the pushing that the midwife tells you to do. Both are pretty horrible, but I think painful is the wrong word to describe why they're horrible. The involuntary pushes are horrible in the sense that being violently sick is horrible: your body is doing something quite weird and dramatic and you don't have much control, so it's scary. The pushing that you have to do when the midwife tells you is horrible because it's exhausting, and there is a also a psychological hurdle to overcome: you know you're going to do yourself a mischief by pushing that hard to get something far too big out of a relatively small hole, but you know you have to do it anyway! The only good thing is that there is not so much of the latter type of pushing with the second child. My second one came out in two contractions, compared to 45 minutes of pushing with the first.
Do epidurals really eliminate all the pain? (We don't have G&A or pethidine here, epidural is the only way to go if I want pain relief)
I didn't have one, so I don't know.
Episiotomy?
I had one with my first child. I really wanted to avoid one, but as it turned out it wasn't that bad - they cut you when you are mid-contraction, and I honestly didn't feel it. With the second child I wasn't that worried about having one, although as it turned out, I didn't.
Stitches afterward?
I had stitches after both of mine. It helped that they let me use the entonox while they were doing them, otherwise I'd have found it a bit of a trial. If you're having an epidural you won't feel them anyway.
Delivery of the placenta?
Don't worry about this bit, it's fine.
Most painful bit?
The most painful bit was probably the last few contractions before the baby came out. However, by far the worst bit was pushing the baby out - although, as I said, this isn't painful as such.
Good luck!