I had an emergency section with my first and will have an elective with my second in December. With my emergency, hubby had to wait outside to begin with. They topped up my epidural twice, but both times it only left me numb on one side, so they did the spinal and then I was fully numb. I did have to have a oxygen mask as a precaution because I had too much anesthesia in my body, but that was simply due to the combo of the epidural and spinal. I remember being surprised by how quick baby arrived. I think the oxygen mask made me feel a bit high and I sort of forgot why I was there until I heard baby cry! Stitching up takes longer, but the whole procedure wasn't long at all.
I went to recovery and had tea and toast! Best tea and toast ever after no food for ages and got to breastfeed baby. I was taken up to the ward a few hours later and fairly numb for a while. When baby needed a feed/change, the midwife would come help. I only packed normal underwear (briefs to fit the maternity pads) and had to buy massive granny pants that went over my tummy to not lie on my scar. I had a shower the next morning which was sore, but ok. I actually found after 2 days I was getting in and out of bed quite easily and even tidying up my stuff.
I found for the first two weeks, I'd feel a little sore in the morning. It felt like I'd seized up a bit whilst sleeping. After 1 week I walked 10 mins to Tesco and 10 mins back and actually found myself having to remind myself not to over do it as I felt ok. I found a pillow placed on my tummy when I needed to sneeze or laugh seemed to help. I had a good recovery. Neat scar and no infection. I'm hoping for a similar recovery in December as we're hoping to travel 2.5 hours North post section.