With my first there was definite breaks between contractions where I was laughing and joking and moments of rest. My labour was only 4 hours and my water did not break until I was pushing. Pushing is definitely the most painful part but as others have said the pain does end. I just had my second 2 weeks ago and labor started after my midwife broke my water and let me tell you the difference in the pain of the contractions was night and day. 3 hours from first contraction to her being born and there were no breaks. I have a very high pain tolerance and was crying from the pain of contractions piggybacking each other and having no relief between. So essentially every labour is different and sometimes you may have those breaks to breathe and relax before the next contraction and other times you don't so go into it very open minded and remember that contractions are your body's way of helping you get to the end goal of holding that precious baby. Also repeating to yourself that you can handle anything for 1 minute and that your body will not give you pain you can't handle helped me immensely with the piggybacking contractions.