Hi R.,
You have gotten some great advice already. Here are my 2 cents.
I had 2 scheduled C-Sections. My daughter was born in 2003 and I was given an epidural. It was fine, but did take a while to wear off. I was in very little pain the next day because of the Morphine they put in the epidural space.
My son was born this last March and I was given a spinal. I was not given a choice and when asked about another epidural, my OB said that they primarily do spinals now. I was very nervous because it was something new.
I was lucky that I had a few friends who had had spinals and they were able to tell me what they were like. So I am happy to do that for you too. Please know that everyone reacts differently, but I had some of the same, normal reactions as my friends.
The spinal worked almost instantly whereas the epidural took a while to make everything numb. I felt a warm tingly sensation down my hip (I think it was my right hip) and then I was numb. The one thing that I am SO glad my friends told me was that sometimes the numbness can go up to the bottom of your ribs making breathing a little strange. You won't stop breathing...your lungs are not paralyzed, but you might not be able to feel yourself breathe if that makes sense. The doctors had to keep reminding me to breathe and it was fine.
The spinal wore off about an hour after the surgery whereas the epidural took a few hours to wear off. I liked it wearing off in an hour A LOT better. Something about not being able to feel or move my toes for that long freaks me out...
Now the biggest difference between the two for me was this: for some reason, the medicines they used to numb me made me VERY itchy. I mean, like bugs crawling on me itchy. With the epidural, it was bad, but they gave me some sort of anti-histamine and I was fine. Sleepy, but fine. The spinal made me SO INCREDIBLY itchy that they had to give me IV Benadryl. It took the edge off, but I was still pretty itchy until I fell asleep from the 2 anti-histamines and Benadryl. It was fine when I woke up, but I was not able to breastfeed right away and was sleeping when my daughter came in to see her little brother for the first time.
Both were great in managing my pain the next day. The drugs they give are also wonderful, but you HAVE to take them every 4 hours. Even if you are not in pain at the 4 hour mark because you know come hour 5, you will be hurting.
I hope this helps in your decision. Ask your doctor about the pros and cons too. He/she is really the best resource.
Good luck and congrats on baby #2!
N.