Just a very quick reply - but should you require support post surgery, your partner would be entitled to carers leave if you have a doctors' certificate. He should also be entitled to parental leave if he has been at his job longer than 12 months (assuming that it is a full time and not contract position). So perhaps look into your entitlements.

I had an emergency c/s last time - this one will be an elective (for reasons not germane to this thread), so we are able to plan for it. My partner is taking parental leave for six weeks which will be a great help. Last time I found it extremely hard to manage as it was a difficult surgery and recovery, and my DP went back to work four days after I came home from hospital. He didn't drive then, and we didn't have local support so we were literally in the worst possible situation for recovery. I got a certificate to say that I could drive after three weeks. Even though I was 'functioning' properly well before then, I was still in quite a bit of pain two months later, although my recovery was not a typical one.

Even if you don't intend to have a c/s I don't think it is defeatist to plan for the possibility of having one. I didn't, and it made it so much harder as we had no support in place. If your husband cannot take time off work, organising a support person to stay with you for a while would be of most benefit, especially with two other children. Then you can focus on your recovery as well as your newborn.