So, when having an epidural, something like 20% of women experience an "epidural headache", which is apparently a result of spinal fluid leaking out and creating tension on the fibers that connect the brain to the skull. Sound painful? Yeah,...it is. Ask me, I know.
When lying down, the unbearable headache would subside, however, the resulting tension on the optic nerves showed up. So, I had to choose from feeling like my head was exploding or my eyeballs imploding. Take your pick.
The nurses told me to try the home remedies of acetaminophen and ibuprofen, plus lots of Mountain Dew for sugar and caffeine. If those didn't work, I'd have to come back to the hospital for a procedure or suffer with the headache for approximately three more weeks.
So the home remedies didn't work. I had to be re-admitted to the hospital to have a blood patch. Description is below...it's not for the faint of heart.
The person who successfully administered my epidural came to the hospital and drew so much blood out of my arm that I lost the ability to open my fingers for a few minutes. Then, he performed another epidural procedure (that's number 4, for those of your keeping count) and injected all that blood he drew into my spinal column. Then, I had to lie down in the hospital bed for over an hour to let the patch "take". Luckily, Garrett was still in his new baby coma and just slept the entire time.
Happily, after that hour was over, my headache was gone. The optic nerve pain persisted for a few more days, but the worst was over.
Since I wanted to keep spending time with my new baby during the time I had to remain horizontal, this was the best we could do. Poor guy.
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