My Mum swore by BF and said 'it's so easy I just roll over in the night, grab baby and latch on'. But I had twins and they were early, my milk never really came in properly and they weren't strong enough to suck. After three weeks in NICU they came out on a lovely routine of bottle feeds 6 times a day, every four hours and I was told never to deviate from that. I didn't - and it was all incredibly easy and stress free.
But each to their own - and as Mum said, clearly BF is great for a lot of people.
But if you aren't going down that route - here are some tips:
1/ Use online shopping. Those formula tins are huge and I couldn't fit two babies and all the formula and nappies (even though I did use washable nappies as much as I could) in a supermarket trolley, and buy any other food! One baby will be easier - but who needs the hassle?
2/ Buy a steriliser bucket and keep it full of Milton by the sink. Wash and sterilise as you go through the day. Microwave sterilisers are actually more faff.
3/ Make up all your bottles in the evening and put straight in the fridge. The formula instructions tell you to make it all fresh, but the nurses will tell you that 24 hour batches is fine. For night feeds, get one out and stick it in the bathroom sink in warm water for a few minutes, then you're good to go.
4/ On that note - and controversial, especially if you are my MIL - but feed at room temperature or a bit above. The nurses in NICU don't have time to heat bottles and they are looking after really small and poorly babies. They told me that tip and it worked a treat! I mostly did heat a bit more than room temp (depends on the time of year) but was flexible about the warmth, and if we were out and about we just took a thermos of water to take off the chill. It really doesn't have to be body temperature.
We did also use ready made cartons of formula when out of the house (occasionally - it's not cheap) - and just fed it straight from the carton (via a bottle), as it doesn't need to be refrigerated.
5/ I had a c section and it all went smoothly. The first few days you are sensitive around the scar but after that if yours goes well you really can do most things - such as picking up the baby. You can also drive - nurses may say not for 6 weeks but I rang my insurers and they said those aren't their rules, and you can drive if your doctor says you can. My doctor said it was fine - I just needed to be aware that if I did an emergency stop I might hurt my stitches. So I was driving after three weeks, no issue.
I agree, it's all about keeping things easy. My babies came home trained up on four hourly feeds and we stuck to that, using a dummy to keep my hungry boy happy until the next feed was due (his sister was smaller). With formula you know how much they've had so a routine is possible. It depends on you and your baby, but I do recommend this if you can make it work for you?
We didn't co-sleep or baby wear, although my DS loved being strapped to me in a harness as I did stuff around the house. Obviously with two you have to be less flexible - but I do feel that too much contact, while lovely - can make it harder for you to get your baby to settle without you. Of course it's totally your choice - but if you're trying to make things as 'easy' as possible, I would recommend letting your DC learn to sleep alone and relax without contact from you, as soon as you can.
(Waits to be shot down in flames by the whole of MN..........)
Hope all goes well, and enjoy your new arrival.