Oooh, Trish, how exciting that your little one is nearly here! I know I've only had two births, but FWIW my labours were really quite different.
With Natty I had my first contraction around midnight and she was born at 8:45 the following night. The contractions got lots longer as they got closer together and once they started they didn't stop.
With Phoebe I had two nights of pre-labour, where the contractions disappeared in the morning, then finally went into active labour around 10am, and she was born at 5:15 that evening. Interestingly, the contractions didn't increase too much in duration - I kept thinking I wasn't really in proper labour, LOL! Then arrived @ hospy in transition. So they were really quite different.
I think there's something to be said for labours that start gently and gradually increase - it is certainly my preference, having spoken to a couple of friends who've had fast & furious labours of 2-3 hours.
All the best anyway! Looking forward to reading your BA