C-section or Natural?

A few people have asked me which I would prefer, a c-section or natural birth. Of course, I would prefer natural birth. Don't get me wrong, it has it's own pain to recover from, but I would still take a natural delivery over a c-section any day. With my first c-section, I was in a great deal of pain afterward and took a good 6 weeks to recover. I was so drugged up when Kaylee was born that I can hardly recall seeing her for the first time. I don't even think I was awake in our first "family photo". They whisked her away and 4 hours later I could see her again. I wanted to nurse her but I couldn't even move because of the pain. Recovery was slow and awful.
With my second c-section, which was a planned c-section, I had virtually no pain afterward. In fact, I came home from the hospital on a Saturday and did a load of laundry. I remember being disappointed that Brian wouldn't let me go to church that Sunday. The birth, however, was probably one of the scariest times of my life. The spinal didn't take, and I could feel the doctor start cutting me open. I hadn't found out the sex of the baby before hand because I wanted to have some sort of special moment during his birth. Little did I know they would have to put me to sleep, and again, I would be the last to see my baby, and the last to know the sex. I had to view pictures of him before I ever met him because, again, they took him for 4 hours before I could even see him. I was pretty much heart broken.
This time I was the first hold my baby. I was the first one to feed him. Brian and I got to spend  precious moments with our baby before the nurses took him away and cleaned him up, and even before family came in. The experience was indescribable. I am in pure awe of God's handiwork. While I'm holding my baby I think about how he, just a little over a week ago, was curled up inside of my tiny abdomen. How God has designed a woman's body to carry a child, and then give birth, it is a beautiful experience. Only a Perfect, Holy God could create something so beautiful.
I am thankful for all of my babies, and their births. I am thankful for my c-sections because they have made me appreciate the beauty of natural birth that much more. I am thankful for doctors and technology that when things go wrong, they no longer have to choose the mother or child's life, but through a c-section can most times save both. But I'm thankful as well for the beauty of giving birth without a scalpel. Given the opportunity, I'd gladly choose a natural birth any day.