Need some encouragement
So far in this pregnancy I've intended to go natural. Despite people saying I'm crazy or reacting funny to it, I've always thought that I could do it. I don't like medical interference generally, and watching videos of epidurals really creep me out.
With that said, I had an internal exam this past week that has started to cause me to doubt. Usually with a pelvic exam, I never feel pain, but with this particular OB I felt pain and I don't know if it's because of her, or because of my being pregnant. Either way it was painful and it sucked, and felt extremely intrusive (so the pain felt "unnatural" rather than "purposeful").
I ended up being 1 cm dilated, and she seemed content with my current condition, so she said additional internals weren't necessary unless something happened that required it. Happy news for me.
But now the seed of doubt has been planted in my head of my abilities, and I'm starting to fear labor for the first time. Please ladies, lift me up and give me some words of encouragement 
Re: Need some encouragement
A little off-topic, but an internal is almost never "necessary." And yes, the way the OB does the internal can be painful, depending on the OB and how gentle she is.
But labor is so different; you can't compare any "pain" to it. Not a broken leg, or an internal exam, or how bad your period cramps are (though that would be the closest comparison). It starts off gradually, and the intensity slowly increases.
I know how you feel --- I had leg cramps during pregnancy that I would wake up screaming about. I told my hypnobirthing instructor that if I couldn't handle those leg cramps, there was no way I could do labor. But I have, happily. Twice.
All I can say is, you'll see! You can do it, and it's hard to explain the how of it all, but you can. I really liked listening to and reading birth affirmations. You might google some and repeat the ones you like to yourself several times a day!
As pp said checks are generally not necessary I didn't have one until I was in active labor 40w3d.
Anyway, I had the same thought 4 days before I went into labor. I had awful sciatic nerve pain one night (baby was moving into position) to the point where I was almost in tears and I thought if labor feels anything like this I am getting an epi. It felt nothing like that and I never came close to asking for an epi. It feels like a wave coming and going. You will start to feel it, it builds up and then washes away. In between contractions you feel pretty good, so just take it one contraction at a time. There is a Hypnobirthing affirmation that I really liked it said, "Every surge (contraction) of my body brings my baby closer to me."
I'm high risk and I see a MFM. She does an ultrasound and does my cervix measurements by ultrasound since I'm at high risk for PTL since I had a LEEP done.
However, I have to share. I have a friend who's OBGYN was rough with all his patients. She said it was like he was trying to fist her when he did her internal checks...