My suggestions overall for a c-section, especially when you know in advance you're having one - write a birth plan and go over it with your OB and nurses in advance.
I couldn't try to nurse DS on the operating table (I had a warming blanket across my torso), but DH held him up by my head until he had to leave the room (just before they transported me to recovery). We were able to try latching on immediately in the recovery room. Unfortunately, DS didn't latch. One of my homebirth midwives (I'd been planning a homebirth before we discovered DS was breech) was in the waiting room, and she came into help us out - still no luck.
All in all, it was 29! hours before DS latched on and nursed for the first time. I was freaking out. Everything I'd read was so gung-ho on getting the baby to latch on right way, I thought that if I couldn't do that I'd never be able to get him to nurse. (And I already felt like a failure and was mourning the loss of my homebirth, so nursing was so important to me.) But everyone in the hospital just kept saying that really, it was okay, a lot of babies don't nurse, or don't nurse very much, for the first 24 hours! Often they're just too sleepy. I think this might be especially true for CS babies, who get plucked from the womb with no time to realize that they're coming out!
After 29 hours, many nurses and a visit from an LC, he finally latched on right away when another of my homebirth midwives came to visit - guess he liked her and wanted to show off. He nursed 8 times in the next 15 hours, then my milk started coming in and he stopped again. Turns out he had a really tiny mouth and a tight frenulum - we ultimately had to use a nipple shield for a couple of weeks. But here we are 7 1/2 weeks later, and he can't get enough boobie!
Anyway, all of this long rambling is just to say - definitely try to nurse as soon as you can, but don't get too stressed if you're having trouble - I'm sure that my stress was affecting him - he's extremely sensitive to my moods. I wished I'd heard any of this before I had him, so that's why I wanted to be sure to respond to you!
As for rooming-in - we roomed in right from the beginning. DH slept on the fold down chair and took care of DS until I was able to be up and around. It was very positive in some ways, because DS was able to build his own confidence about taking care of the baby - I think if I had had my homebirth, I would have just jumped in and not really given him a chance to do it. But it was definitely essential to have someone with me at all times. Even after I got my IV out (less than 24 hours later), I still couldn't lift the baby out of the basinette on my own.