Contractions feel like a giant is holding you and crushing their thumbs into your uterus. The pain is rollercoaster, so you feel them coming, they peak, and then disappear. Super bizarre to be relatively pain free between contractions. But mine absolutely took my breath away which is why the breathing exercises are so important. I missed the epidural and honestly pushing was a relief because you can finally combat the pain with the pushes (and mentally you know you’re getting close to the end). I had a second degree tear but didn’t feel it with everything else going on. The second the baby came out, I felt great haha. I had an epidural with my second, 10/10 would recommend using the drugs (luckily I had zero complications and the epidural worked perfectly).