My biggest advice is to pick your battles, losing a few battles is ok.
If you can, go and visit a courtroom proceeding in family law and get familiar with the ambience, aura, or feeling in the room. Watch the other attornies and learn to mimick them, but no pickpocketing, stepping on little children, or smiling at someone while you stab them in the back. But just get an overall feel for the room and get comfortable being there.
Going into court as your own attorney means that you have a fool for a client. But, that doesn't mean that you will lose. :-) You just have to work harder, prepare better, and control your emotions, like the character Spock from Star Trek. (you can cry later, sadness or joy, it's ok to cry)
This site has a tremendous amount of information and links to other sites that will help you to get prepared for court. Always mention the county and state when you are asking questions in order to get more pertinent information for your area.
My brother was going to go with an attorney. But the more he though about it, the more convinced he became and he decided to go pro se (pro per). The spouses attorney knew that he could barely afford an attorney and the immediately the other attorney started playing the musical court date game. Postpone, wait, hurry, wait, postpone.... on and on to make you burn through your money, and THEN BAMMMM!!! you have to drop your attorney and start solo from scratch. Instead, my brother is representing himself, and the shenanigans only hurt the other sides pocketbook. He is also better prepared from the start.
Preparation is vital. No he said, she said. No Interrupting the other liewyer or commissioner(judge?). Control your breathing, control your thoughts. There is a certain feeling that you get when you know that you have prepared as best you can, you have communicated your exact wishes to the court, and that all that there is left to do is to go into court and say simply (under 5 min., if possible) what it is that you want the court to do for you and more importantly for your children. Confidence through preparedness.
You CAN do it. YOU can do it. You can DO it. You can do IT?
What is IT? That is your biggest question. What is it, that you want?
Be as sure as you can be about what you really want and then go for it. But you have to know where you are going. You have to know what you need to get there. (This site for one)
Also, you need to care for yourself. Regular sleeping habits, regular meals, happy fun time for you to get your mind off of the stress, and pointing out to yourself the good things about you and your children's relationship. Because you know that all you are going to be reading from the other party is about how much of a devil, fiend, abuser, and/or deadbeat that you are to your children.
Fight the good fight,
Break a leg,
FatherTime