Does childbirth hurt?

Im having my first child in July. I am 17 years old, excited but very scared.. When I was having periods, those cramps were the worse, & everyone tells me childbirth is like 100 times worse then periods cramps.. I plan on having an epidural, but im going to last as long as I can without it. Im also very scared of the epidural needle, can you feel it? Im very frightened about the whole thing, & would really appreciate some advice. & I would like to let everyone know that this was not planned, me & my bf have been dating for a year an a half, weve talked about it but never thought it would happen so soon, I was on 'yaz' birth control & we used condoms.. but we are engaged, & very happy together.