My first was a lovely easy labour, had very mild contractions/braxton hicks (like 3 secomds of period pain every half hour) for a few days. When they ramped up to every 15 minutes I phoned dh and made him come home from work. They were still very mild so went to sleep that evening, managed to sleep till about 3am when they started waking me up. Got to the hospital at 4am, I was only 3cm but they admitted me. At 6.45 the contractions became stronger, midwife examined me and I was 6cm. 20 minutes later dd just came out with 2 pushes.
My second labour they told me to get to the hospital early as my first labour had been rather quick, so dropped dd at nursery in the morning (mild contractions I could sleep through at night). They admitted me although I was only 1cm and contracting every 10 mins or so. By 2pm my contractions felt more genuine,so I was examined and had reached 5cm. By 2.45 I was cuddling D's.
Both labours were fine, the contractions were similar to period cramping and I got a break between them to recover my breath, etc. I found gas and air AMAZING, i just giggled my way through the whole thing both times.
If you're worried about labour then I'd suggest doing a few ante natal yoga classes, they teach diffenrt positions to use during the stages of labour and breathing techniques. I found it really helpful, especially when I was in the early stages of contracting as I could somehow get myself more comfortable.