the lactation consultant I visited preferred the Medela nipples over the Born Free because they are softer. I personally like the Dr. Brown's bottles and they come in glass and polypropylene (which is supposed to be BPA free). From what I could tell the Medela nipples and the Dr. Brown's nipples seem to be equally soft, and both seem softer than the Born Free.

I think I had both. I had the epidural and the spinal administered at the same time -- the spinal was for the surgery and the epidural was for the recovery overnight. It really was not bad - and I say this as someone who planned to have a natural, vaginal birth, in great part because of the fear of getting an epidural in the first place (the c-section was unplanned). I did shake during the surgery and for a while afterwards, but by the time they brought in my DS post-op the shaking had sufficiently subsided so that I felt comfortable holding him. I did get a bit uneasy from a psychological standpoint thinking about what was going on on the other side of the curtain during the surgery, so after the baby had been born the anesthesiologist gave me something to relax me and that worked well, too. Hope this helps and good luck!