not sure if i am of the minority or not, but i didnt think it was anywhere near as bad as people had led me to believe. yes the first week was a bit of a hassle, the first time i had to get out of bed at hospy hurt like hell, but it just got better each time. They give you plenty of pain killers in there, and i stayed 5 days afterwards so in case anything happened or the pain was just too much they were on hand to give me some relief. If i was to have another c/s i probably wouldnt plan on staying that long though, but thats just me.
i was up and showering (with help) about 40hrs after my cs, and lifting my baby a few hrs after that. i was walking the hospy floors the next day after that, albeit slowly, and on the way home from the hospy stopped to go shopping for baby clothes and a breast pump again walking slowly.
The first time i um, you know went to the loo, that hurt to use them muscles.
Really it was more of an annoying aching type feeling in my abdomen than actual pain, i came home sunday and dh went back to work monday. I had no pain relief whatsoever once i left the hospy, there was just no need.
Later when i had an infection, that hurt a lot more than the recovery did.
I hope your recovery is like mine was.
Try not to stress out, its not always what we are told it will be, usually medical staff like to give a worst case scenario, and people in general tend to fear monger