Self whelping

Hi, I have two beautiful frenchies a boy (Loui) and a girl (Roxy) my girl is currently 7 1/2 week pregnant, i had an elective c section booked for the 23rd but have been sat reading through horror story's on the net as to why I should try and self whelp.
Now I understand bull breeds have trouble birthing pups naturally but both my dogs are from self whelping lines and I wanted to know weather anyone has any first hand experience in self whelping frenchie pups?
I have a vet booked on standby incase anything goes wrong.
How long should I expect to wait from the beginning of labour to see first pup? And how long in between pups she's due 4-5 puppies.
I love my bitch very much so want to make this as easy as I can for weather that means going ahead and self whelping or a section.
I have read c sections can cause trouble bonding, feeding and her attitude towards the pups as we'll as a long time recovering and pain.
I am between 2/3 days of when she conceived witch makes the c section a lot harder as taking the pups too early could be detrimental .
Pretty much what I'm trying to ask is what would you do given the choice, do I go for the section or do I try and self whelp and if so what are the warning signs I should be calling the vet?
Thank you for reading xx