Oh, honey. An epidural is nothing. And don't let people scare you with labor horror stories. Nearing the end of my pregnancy, one of my mom's friends gave me an exact account of what it's really like. Truthfully, it was the most helpful advice I got. She was matter of fact, and described it bluntly, and because of her I had a much better idea of what to expect. And, she was right.
Again, about the horror stories. I was very blessed with a great labor. I had back pain all weekend, so I knew something was up. Couldn't get comfortable, DH, mom, dad and I were watching the Superbowl. The Patriots won. I remember that distinctly. OB had me planned to be induced on Wednesday, but wanted one last check-up on Monday. I told DH to come with me, we both had a feeling, so the car seat was already installed, we took the bag o stuff.
When they checked me at the office, I was 4 cm and in the middle of contraction. Truthfully, I barely felt them until they started poking around in there.

I got checked in at the hospital around 1230pm. I remember the car ride distinctly. It wasn't painful, I was in a good mood, very excited, and the sun was shining, a beautiful crisp day. So not what they picture in movies and on tv, eh?
DS was born around 830-845pm. I made it all the way to 7cm without an epidural, and then opted for some relief. At that point, I couldn't breathe my way through the contractions anymore and I was hyperventilating. Not to scare you, I know my body and knew it was time. Whoa, is that epidural a lovely, lovely thing.
DS was feisty, even being born. On the fetal monitor, you could hear him kicking me on the way out. What an active little bugger huh?
God bless him.
Off-topic sidetrack over.