Ok, my best advice is dont panic. My daughter was 2 and a half when her sister arrived, and it is a very confusing time for them, because they go from being the sole source of your attention, to having to share. So get him involved. When you are feeding, snuggle up with him too, make him a part of it, also make sure he has special time with just you and no baby interference. Kids can go so many different ways, he may absolutely love his new sibling and want to be helpful or he may not, but you will soon find out.
Take all the help you are offered, especially if you end up having a section, because the more you can get some rest the quicker you will be back up to speed.
I have had 3 sections with all of mine, first was an emergency, second was planned but was breech anyway and third was a matter of course because of the first two. I had epidurals for the first two but was under general for the third, because they couldnt get the epidural in. If you can do it under epidural, I heartily recommend it, its weird to be in an operating theatre being operated on but it means you dont miss anything. I had a much harder time getting my head round the third one, because I went from being awake, to being asleep, to being awake and handed this baby out of what seemed like nowhere. A lot of my reaction I think was also due to the fact that I had always been scared of general anaesthetic (fear of the unknown, I had never had one), and so when I was knocked out I was in a bit of a state anyway.
DH wasnt allowed to be in there when I was under general either, so we both missed out really.
Recoverywise, well its an individual thing. I was up and about pretty much within a few hours of the birth, its painful of course but not unbearable, but some people prefer to stay put for much longer in bed afterwards. You will most likely have a morphine IV that you can administer to yourself when the pain gets a bit much. Also if you do have a section they will give you some VERY unattractive support stockings which you are supposed to wear for a good few days after the op, to minimise the risk of DVT, they do it as standard in pretty much all operations these days I think.
Most importantly, dont worry. I know what I have said probably looks horrendous but if you do end up with a section, its actually not as bad as it sounds, because you are really just focussed at the time on the arrival of your new baby and so the rest becomes a bit irrelevant.
Please feel free to PM me or ask any questions if you need to.
Oh dear, boohoo, someone else will have to do it for you!
