Yipes- c-sections hurt!

When I had my emergency c-section with Avery, I was petrified about recovery. But from what I remember, it was so easy and I was feeling good less than 2 weeks later - walking around the mall, going shopping at Babies 'R Us, etc. I remember the first day getting up was pure torture and it was painful during the hospital stay, but that's it. I either didn't have a lot of pain or I blocked it from my mind. Because this time.... oh, this time.... is much, much different. And much, much more painful. Ouch.
Here's my take on why it's so much more painful this time:
When I had Avery, after my 2 hours in recovery (lying flat on my back, just lying...) they wheeled my bed down to the NICU to hold my baby. That would have been probably around 6:30pm. Then, they took me to my room, hooked me up to a nice morphine drip and I slept most the rest of the night. They didn't get me up until the next morning.
With Hadley, she went to recovery with me, where I immediately started trying to breastfeed. So, I was already sitting up (with assistance from the bed) just an hour after my c-section. Then, they took me to my room and we had lots of visitors, and continued to feed Hadley, which means a lot more sitting up. And 6 hours past my c-section, they had me walking to the chair and the bathroom.
When I had Avery, I had to walk down the hall to the NICU to see her, but then I just sat there and didn't move the whole time I was down there. The nurses did most everything else. I also slept alone in my room at night.
With Hadley, I had to get up myself at night and pick her up to feed her. Things I wasn't able to do with Avery.
When I was released from the hospital with Avery, I went home empty handed. Not ideal, but that meant no newborn to take care of while I was at home (usually just the evening and night).
I have major bruising all around my incision and had some intense pain the day after. My guess on this is that they use the exact same original incision the 2nd time. Avery was 5 pounds and 5 ounces. Hadley was 8 pounds and 1 ounce. I think they had to pull on the incision a lot more to fit her "big head" out.

So, the problem here is that I got about a week of only half taking care of a newborn, while still being able to heal as necessary. With Hadley, I started taking care of her more like 75% of the time (Andrew is an immense help) right off the bat. I'll take the pain over the NICU stay any day.
But it sure is hurting. I'll have sharp pains that take my breath away. I still can't move like I think I can, and I'll yank something (probably stitches) in there from the way I move. Luckily, an ice pack and pain medication help a lot.
Andrew thinks I'm doing too much too fast. He's probably right, but with a 3 year old at home it's really hard to just hang out on the couch and not do much. Although quite the independent 3 year old, she still needs a lot of help when she goes to the bathroom (thank goodness I'm not having to change diapers though!) and when she wants a snack, or to watch a movie, or play with certain toys and games that are put up out of her reach. I still have to get her outfits out and assist her with putting them on, help her brush her teeth, fix her hair, etc.

So, in saying all that, I must say I'll take back my previous statements about how easy c-sections are. Maybe in a month, I'll be back to saying it again, but for now... I'm recanting that statement. And saying that c-sections really, REALLY hurt.