Honestly? I think that it's a major mental game. One of the things I really worked on was giving up control (because I am a major control freak) and letting things happen. (As you can see, I wasn't entirely successful.) If you can somehow get out of your head and let your body just do stuff, it will totally happen pretty much on its own. Seriously, I wouldn't lie.

Once your head gets in the way, though, it's all over. Things start to go screwy and that's when people need extra help... to check the head out and let the body get back to work. I think that's why epidurals are so popular... mama can go to sleep and the body keeps doing its business.