First of all,

CONGRATS!

You did what I could not do at first. I flipped over several times in June when I got my clipless pedals. My bike suffered a few scrapes, but life is pretty good.

SPD's are somewhat better than the Looks for learning. I almost wish I would have gotten SPD's, but I am used to them now. The bike is really easy to get into now, but if I get the wrong side once in awhile, I will need to readjust. It will get MUCH easier the more you do it.

As for numbness, if you have a past injury (as mentioned above) your shoes/clips may exaggerate it. Because of heavy lifting that really screwed up my feet, I have some nerve damage in a toe. I think my pedals sometimes make it worse, but overall, my feet feel TONS better with the pedals.