I had an emergency section last time, 6 years ago, and Im in a bit of a quandry about this also. Ive been told to try to for vaginal birth this time, which is fine, just scared about it ending up like last time! The C-section itself was fine, yukky feeling, but ok, was up and about the next day, at a very slow pace mind you! But I did end up with a pretty bad infection which meant a week in hospital afterwards, just bad luck I suppose.
Having been through the recovery process for a C-section, and having spoken to friends who had vaginal births however, I would say, unless there is a specific medical reason for needing one, dont have a section.
EDIT: and about the cut, my scar is pretty small, you are stretched a fair bit to get the baby out (mine was 9 pounds 11) but the scar itself isnt huge.