I agree with asking the visitors to wait until you are ready. I had the c/section on a Wednesday and didn't have any visitors til the Friday, other than my mum to bring DD1 in.
Definately get up and moving ASAP and when you do, try to stand straight and tall. Painful at first but it helps in the long run. I also had a contingency plan JIC something occured during the surgery that would mean I was unable to hold bubs - no one other than DH would be able to hold her until I was able to. That was very important to me as I didn't want half a dozen people holding my baby before I did.
Find out if you will be able to have skin to skin with bubs in recovery. If you can't, do it as soon as you are able. Your milk can take a bit longer to come in after a C/S.
I've not had a section but these are tips from friends
1. BIG pants! Get cheapo ones with the low leg and the high waist for the first few days and posher support ones (also a high waist and low leg) for the weeks following that - in the early days it stops rubbing and the support ones are great for supporting tired sore muscles as they heal.
2. Nighties - several friends have told me that lifting your legs up to get trackies or PJ-bottoms on can be really hard for a few days, so take a few longish nighties to wear for the first few days too. If you're not a nighty girl then when you're getting dressed or changed roll the legs of the bottoms up and tuck the pants into them, so you're putting your foot through both the pants and the PJ's leg-holes at once and you don't have to do it all twice.
3. 2 kinds of pad - maternity pads for the obvious and normal AF pads for the suture-line - as others have said, stick them onto the big pants to sit against your scar.
4. lie flat, stretch your legs RIGHT out in bed and stand up straight. Straightening up/out for the first few times can be utter agony, but the earlier and more fully you do it the less pain you'll be in later on. You can use those labour breathing exercises afterall! Take a deep slow breath and as you straighten up breathe out slow and steady - it will hurt! Vocalise if you need to (low moans, just like labour) and focus on keeping the breathing slow and steady.
5. Follow the prescribed programme re: recovery. If they say don't drive for 6 weeks then don't drive for 6 weeks. Only one of the women i know with sections did this properly, and she is the ONLY one without post-operative adhesions/burning on activity/random pains and a raised scar. All the rest lifted too much and too soon, drove, returned to normal activities far too soon etc. The first 2 or so weeks it's easy to stick to the programme because it hurts, but then you start to feel better and the temptation is to do more and more. Most women feel this is positive - that they've recovered faster than normal, but in fact the doctor isn't telling you how to heal fast, he's telling you how to heal PROPERLY. Taking that time to heal properly and well will make future VBAC AND future c-sections easier and safer, and make your general life more comfortable (adhesions can HURT!). This is one thing with the pain-relief - it's good to take it in the early days because you NEED to get moving again ASAP, but taking it to allow you to do things you were told to avoid is a big no-no!
HTH hun, best of luck with it all, i know how hard it was making this decision, you have really done your homework on all this and deserve a great experience.
I seonds Bx advice on the extra pad for over the scar. It was really a great thing for me. I used some really thick ones, so there was lots of padding round the scar.
Also, be very careful with stretching behind you, cause for me, that really pulled at the scar, so make sure things are close by in front of you, and you don't have to reach to far.
I liked the advice from one of my midwives, saying don't lift anything heaver than your baby for 6 weeks, and I followed that and didnt have much pain at all.
Oh and the best advice I can offer, and I don't know if it is possible for you, but I had my DH stay with me, for the time I was in hospital, so I didn't have to rely on the midwives and he was my fetch and carry man. It was particularly helpful for the first 24 hrs, and he was able to get up and change DS and give him to me for feeding, and then do the walking and settling, until I was mobile enough to do it.
Another thing, I really wanted to do baby led attachment, and didnt get to for my first feed, cause I was not able to get into a good position, and didnt have much help from the midwife, but I was still able to get DS to do it on the third morning, and it worked like a dream, and we didnt have any problems feeding from that point on.
Another thing I remembered. When you do pick bubs up don't sit in your bed and lean over because that will put way to much strain on your wound. Make sure you stand up and keep your back straight, no twisting. Believe me, the temptation to stay in bed and pick bubs up when you are sore and exhausted will be there.
And as Bx said, big pants. I remembered the big undies, but brought low waisted pants. They sat right on the wound.
aww girls i cant thank you enough there are so many gems of info in there that i just know i wouldnt get anywhere else, i have started a list (must buy more undies ) to start with. i was feeling so un prepared and at least now i feel i am better informed. I must admit im really going to struggle with the not doing anything bit as i find it hard to sit still for 5 mins but i will force myself i really want a speedy recovery so i can get on with caring for DD. Again thank you
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. They sat right on the wound.
) to start with. i was feeling so un prepared and at least now i feel i am better informed. I must admit im really going to struggle with the not doing anything bit as i find it hard to sit still for 5 mins 
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