Ceasarian v Nasty Natural

From the number of enquiries I've received it seems it's not only me wondering about this one. Which is worse, a natural birth gone wrong or a Cesarean perfectly executed?

Going into the Caesar I didn't think the recovery could be worse than my recovery from Euey's birth. When I was told I'd had a 4th degree tear after Euey's birth my first question to the doctor was 'How many degrees are there?'. I wasn't all that pleased to learn there are 4 degrees of tear and 4th is the worst. It is a tear from A to V. So it's pretty understandable that I thought 'major abdominal surgery' (as the midwives kept putting it) would be a breeze. It aint! As far as I can see, they are both bad, the difference is in the timing and the activities.

The Caesar was the worst for the first 2 days. I couldn't get out of bed for a day, then day 2 the move from the bed to the shower nearly killed me. Even by day 5, when I went home, it wasn't looking so good - the walk from hospital room to car made me realise that all the 'walking around' I'd been doing in my little hospital room didn't cut it in the real world. Now, a week later, I'm doing okay. I can get out of bed without screaming on the inside and my meds are purely over the counter.

The tear was bad too, but for the first 2 days they had me on a morphine drip! After that I was on Panadene Forte for about a week, and my god did it hurt to walk and pee. I had to sit on a cushion with a hole in it for at least 2 weeks. It ached to walk for months.

I think this time I will be mobile, in terms of walking, much sooner than with Euey. It is the other activities that are a problem. I'm only just beginning to understand that the tummy muscles I thought didn't exist actually get used an awful lot. Pushing, lifting and sitting up out of bed all won't be easy for awhile.

So which would I prefer? Neither of course! Ideally, if there is a next time, I'd love a natural birth with as little intervention as possible. But considering the first two, that's highly unlikely. I guess it comes down to this:
I elected for a Caesar this time because there was a high likelihood I would tear again and then be incontinent. If that risk still stands 'next time' then I will elect for Caesar again. It doesn't matter what the recovery time is - wearing nappies* is not a risk I'm willing to take!

* that's diapers for my Nth American readers :)