I heard every pregnancy is different even for the same person. My experience was pretty similar to what my mom experienced; it was mild. I expected to hate it but didn’t. We got lucky.

My worst symptoms were insatiable hunger, fatigue (from mild anemia), congestion. I used saline nasal spray and breath right strips religiously. I got lucky and I lost facial and body hair in pregnancy; hands down best feature for me but was completely unexpected.

I was terrified of L&D but my body took over like it knew what it was doing (breathing/focusing/pushing) which surprised me; the epidural helped me stay focused. My mom talked about how focused she was for L&D so again luck.

Also early labor I didn’t know it was happening because I was sleeping. When I realized what it was it felt like period cramps or a uti early on except the waves would make me stop and it was all I could focus on. Since I was asleep for part of it my L&D was super quick (6 hours ish). Have your hospital bag ready in case your first is quick like this.

My advice is take your prenatal vitamins daily, walk/stretch daily (any amount is better than nothing), and if your mom is around, talk to her about both of your experiences. Also try to enjoy the process, congrats.