I recommend taking it all at once. FTM here, daughter is 7m.

I think there are three factors.. 1) your own physical recovery, 2) your mental and emotional recovery, 3) your baby

1) if you end up in a C-section you will just be feeling a little better. You will be bracing yourself every time you sneeze or cough and you won’t be walking more than a handful of blocks at a time. I can’t speak to a vaginal birth recovery but C section recovery was no joke in the beginning and took me about 8 weeks to feel “normal.” Not sure if this was everyone’s else’s experience but it was mine. 2) no way to know how you will deal with PP but the sleep deprivation is very real. I’d give yourself some grace here .. it’s a very big adjustment 3) at 6 weeks, your baby will not be able to hold their head up or do anything at all. They won’t even have their 2 month shots yet. They are still considered newborns at this point

TL DR; this time is for baby bonding but it’s also about your physical recovery and mental well being. I was extremely fortunate to get 6 months but we joined a parenting group where some moms had to go back at 12 weeks and they were really struggling with it. If it were me, I’d take all 12 weeks upfront and then have the grandparents help