They only put you under if there is some sort of medical need. Otherwise you are awake and aware the entire time. My Mister has been there each time. He also is a lookey-loo. Me? You couldn't have paid me cash to watch my loved one cut open, but he found it fascinating. He also cut the cord.

I go in Friday morning for my preplanned c/s. I have a stubborn breech baby that just won't turn. I will not be out, the hospital I am using does a spinal not an epi. Once that is done and I am on the table ready to go my husband will be allowed in. There will be a drape up so he cannot see the actual surgery, but he asked if he could stand up and watch her come out. I'm not sure where the idea comes from that they remove your internal organs. The uterus is in the front, there is nothing to move out of the way.

I based my c/s birth plan on this video. It made my husband much more comfortable with how a c/s can go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5RIcaK98Yg

I am from NZ but I assume it will still be relevant? I had a C-Section with my first, and I was awake. They gave me a spinal block and was numb from the breasts down. They had a sheet placed in front of me like a 'wall' so I couldnt see anything. My partner was sitting next to me but he stood up to video the actual birth for me (some may find this crude but i wanted to see my little man enter the world!)
They don't put you under unless it is completely necessary, as this would mean no instant bonding with your child which is quite detrimental if you think about it. (I was able to hold and feed my son within 15mins of the surgery) his dad got to cuddle him for the first 15 mins

They gave me a spinal right before mine. Wide awake and able to see that little cutie right after they pulled her out. My husband watched them perform the c-section and thought it was pretty cool.

I am from NZ but I assume it will still be relevant? I had a C-Section with my first, and I was awake. They gave me a spinal block and was numb from the breasts down. They had a sheet placed in front of me like a 'wall' so I couldnt see anything. My partner was sitting next to me but he stood up to video the actual birth for me (some may find this crude but i wanted to see my little man enter the world!)
They don't put you under unless it is completely necessary, as this would mean no instant bonding with your child which is quite detrimental if you think about it. (I was able to hold and feed my son within 15mins of the surgery) his dad got to cuddle him for the first 15 mins

I wouldn't say it's detrimental at all. I was put compeletly under for my csection, my husband wasn't allowed into the room and by the time I woke up in recovery our daughter had already had her first bath and everyone but me had seen her, but I wouldn't say it hurt our ability to bond. She still came from my body, we bonded for 40 weeks, she knew who I was even though I wasn't able to hold her until 3 hours after she was born.

I was awake for both or mine (1x emergency c-section and 1 x scheduled c-section). I just had a spinal block for both.
Hubby was with me both times, he sat up the end where my head was an held my hand.

This is my first pregnancy and I haven't delivered yet so I can't speak from actual experience but in the childbirth education class we took at the hospital where we are delivering, they said that they either give a spinal if mom hasn't been given anything or just up the dosage of the meds through the epidural if she already had one placed. They told us that moms are awake the whole time unless something is terrible wrong (God forbid). They put up a sheet that acts like a wall blocking everything and your husband sits next to you not being able to see what's going on. One of the ladies in my class asked if dad is allowed to get up and look and the nurse/teacher said if he gets up he will promptly be told to sit back down. She said whether the dads listen or not is at their discretion but this particular hospital prohibits dads to get up and watch as there have been too many instances of dads passing out in the operating room. Let's hope that doesn't happen to any of us.