Hi Beema,

I wouldn't say I achieved an empowered caesarean (I have had 3 now) but I must say a few things that I did with my third that I believed helped me to bond a little better where;

* I was the first to touch my baby without gloves and before he was cleaned so we was still gooey
* My DP got to cut the cord....well not from my belly but once the baby was taken by the paed to the table to be checked they let him cut some of the cord that was still attached to the baby
* Due to lack of staff he was not in recovery with me but they brought him to me right away when I got back to the ward and I put him on the breast to feed straight away

I had no issues with breast feeding but from what I have heard from other woman it seems to be luck with supply and good attachment of the baby because I have had more friends not be able to breastfeed who have had VB than caesreans. You mentioned you BF DD so I dont think you should have any problems if you were to have a caesarean.

A couple of tips if you do have a c/s, TAKE the camera, we were allowed to take heaps of photos of the birth.
Also, if have some time in your hospital room before the c/s make sure you unpack everything and keep things above waist height so you dont need to bend and keep things you think you will need in the first 24hrs in easy reach from the hospital bed because they wont let you stand for a good 24hrs (depends on the hospital but I have been to 2 different hospitals and both were about 24hrs)

Good luck , I think getting your head around possibly having a c/s now is a big step towards dealing with it if it happens.
Stay positive it sounds like you are doing everything possible to get that little bubba to turn and I hope it does.