With my second son, I had a very calm birth experience. I would almost go so far as to say I enjoyed it (crazy I know). I spent a lot of time in the lead up to the birth repeating positive affirmations to myself and worked with my Doula to work through what my fears were.

A big part of being calm is also education, knowing what exactly happens during labour takes away a large part of the fear. One thing that my Doula said to me is that labour isn't painful because you feel pain when you are hurt and you are not hurt when you are in labour, in fact your body is doing exactly what it is designed to do. Try to welcome the surges (I like to use this instead of the word contractions) as opposed to fighting them, feel the surge and let your body go with them.

For most of my labour I felt as if I could have fallen asleep. I was induced and had DS without any pain relief, not even gas. It was a very healing and empowering experience for me.

So no, you are not dreaming, a calm beautiful birth is not just a possibility, it is your right.

HTH
Spring