Midna,
Yeah it's alright for me - I've "experienced" childbirth the natural way - twice. I also used to be a bit of a birthing snob: stupidly believing that vaginal birth with no intervention was the "superior" way of having a baby. I also used to argue that people who had caesarians hadn't actually "given birth", but rather, had had an operation.
I'm now a lot older and wiser (and, hopefully, less of an arrogant twat). Of course you want to experience labour and having the baby naturally, but please don't be like I used to be and see it as some sort of "accomplishment" - you won't win any 'mother of the year' award for how you give birth, how you feed your baby, or how quickly you're on your feet and putting out the washing after the birth etc. Women who focus on all that nonsense have no life and are trying to feel a sense of worth through the most mundane of things (I know, I patted myself on the back for using cloth nappies, breastfeeding and only feeding my baby homemade meals, cooked from scratch). How I'd sneer at those formula-feeding mums who used disposables and dummies etc). But I didn't have a life then. I was bored and lonely with nothing else to focus on but trying to be 'mother of the year'. I'm just trying to tell you not to be as hard on yourself as I was with my first baby. Just chill out and try just to appreciate having a baby at all, when the time comes.
Having said all that (please just bear it in mind or you'll end up with bloody post-natal depression because you'll feel you've "failed" by not having a vaginal delivery), I still agree with your fears. Totally. I read that book on caesarians last night, before bed. I wish I hadn't! I remember now that I bought it for my cousin when she had her first baby by c-section. She had such a positive experience that she was adamant that she wanted another section this time around. Luckily for her, she got one and loved it. Each to their own.
Anyway, after reading the book, I was again reminded that I hate hosptials (I never stayed in when I had my first 2 and had planned a homebirth even for my first, used birthing pools both times etc) and I hate anaesthetics. I hate not being in control of my own body, the thought of paralysis, even temporary, terrifies me and I worry that I won't bond with the baby if I have to go through all that and I'm sore afterwards. Like you, I have no help at home, as well as two other kids to look after, so recovery would be a nightmare. And I'm probably at least 10 years older than you and feeling every bit my age right now...
I had also planned a homebirth and really hoped I'd manage it this time. Now, it doesn't look likely.
But if I have to have the c-section, then I have to have it, there's no point in depressing myself (although I'm prone to that, esp. with these pesky hormones). At least I'd know exactly when the baby was going to be born. That it would (touch wood) be an operation with such a positive outcome and my vagina wouldn't take a huge battering again (it's recovered quite nicely after my last pregnancy thank you, but that was 8 years ago!). Yes, we've got to try and focus on the positives.
There's no reason why if you have a c-section this time that you can't have a vaginal delivery next time. There's no reason why you HAVE to have a c-section for a breech baby either (obstetricians will argue that it's safer, but normal delivery of a breech baby is possible and used to be routinely done at home). Not many people want to risk trying a normal delivery of a breech baby nowadays though as midwives have lost their skill in such deliveries and the emphasis is always on eliminating risk.
I still think that you have plenty of time. More so because you're a first-time mum and babies don't engage till much later. Your baby will have plenty of time to turn yet and you can encourage it along with the exercises on that site I recommended and by going swimming too. My second baby was breech for ages but she turned quite late on. I've never had a baby lie across my stomach like this one though, so I don't much reckon to my own chances of avoiding the dreaded c-section. I think it's too early for you to be resigning yourself to a c-section though.
The thing is, when you've never had a baby, you can only focus on the birth. So of course, you want that to be as perfect as possible. The thing that really matters though (as you will realise afterwards) is that you and the baby make it through okay. In a few months' time, you won't care how you got your baby, just that s/he arrived safely.
xxx