A couple of things that might help - you won't be able to lift your DD's. That doesn't mean you can't hold them - they'll just have to snuggle up beside you on the bed or sofa. And you do get mobility back pretty quickly - the first day after the surgery was pretty yuk, with a catheter and a drip and some vaginal bleeding still. The second day was so much better - able to move around independently and do most of the baby-looking-after.

The spinal that I had was a very strange feeling - but inserting it wasn't the ordeal I expected it to be. The local stings, but it does its job well, and you really only feel pressure. And again, it wears off in a few hours. They use cold to check that you really are numb (if you can't feel cold then the pain-fibres are also knocked out) and also to monitor the return of feeling.

The "it shouldn't happen this way" is a difficult feeling to deal with. You're not going to be having a Caesar for fun - it's going to be because it is in the best interests of you or your bub. So in the end if that's what's needed you have to accept it as something that just has to be got through.

There are C-section preparation workshops at some hospitals too - it might be worth attending one of these later on.