Everyone is different for the length of labor and the begining of labor a lot of women don't even notice so it doesn't feel as long as the books will say. As far as pain, usually its really painful. It helps a lot if tou focus on being excited or thinking of the baby being there soon...like what it will look like or feel like to hold him/her. I didn't have an epidural with my kids, but I am sure it wouldn't be bad since you will already be in a lot of pain. Usually the first 12 weeks and last 6 weeks tend to go slow, but the middle flies by for the most part. I don't think it is bad or strange at all to talk to your baby. Its hard to say what you should expect when baby gets here, because everyone experiences it differently. Congrats on your pregnancy!
Gordonbaby is correct everyone handles pain differently but congratulations<3 oh and it does go by quickly but some weeks feels like its taking forever to get to the next week
Everyone's pregnancy and delivery is different. But Congrats : )