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i had an epidural w/ my first (v____al) but wound up getting a horrible spinal headache a few hours after delivery that lasted for over a week!! believe me, it sucked so bad. my ob gave me percocet, which did not even touch the pain and discomfort! it was very hard to manage being a new mom with this going on ON TOP of all the other recovery pains. actually, i had a very rough recovery all together... i am really terrified to have another epidural because my blood pressure plummeted right after i gave birth and then the headache... but i can'ty imagine laboring w/out one. i had a great labor, delievery was really painful and rough , but no one could have prepared me for the aftermath!

I had 1 epidural and 2 spinal blocks and did 100 times better with the spinal blocks. The epiduiral didn't take properly and with the spinals it was fine from the start. Good luck.

Thanks girls for responding. Lindsey like you I've also had a spinal headache and it is the worst pain ever. I was given morphine and demerol and neither touched it. I never want to have another one again. I'm sorry you went through that too, believe me I understand.

They can fix the spinal headache with a procedure called a blood patch. They draw blood from your arm and inject it into your spine. It fixes the headache instantly. I had a spinal headache when I had my first baby, with a spinal block. It took me four days to figure out that I had the headache...but when I did, they asked if I wanted the blood patch or if I wanted to go home and try treating the headache with caffeine and painkillers. I didn't want to cope with a new baby and the headache, so I had to blood patch done. When I had my second baby, I told the anesthesiologist about the spinal headache and she did an epidural instead...no headache and I didn't get that nasty itchy feeling that I had with the spinal.

Thanks for the info Jbear. I've heard of the blood patch, but didn't know all the info. Did it hurt when they did it? What did your spinal feel like, was it just a pinch?

i have also heard of the blood patch, but was under the impression that you had to have had a spinal headache for like months before they would give one to you!!! i'm so excited to hear that this isn't so! i was considering going drug-free this time around but i want to talk to my docs about everything... bp, headache, crazy itching and hives for 2 weeks... if i could just ask for a blood patch right when i get a headache, i would totally reconsider the epi!

When I had the blood patch, I was at a university hospital...maybe they did it so quickly so that they could practice on me :-) When they do the blood patch, they put the needle back in your spine. Whatever you felt when they did the anesthesia is what you feel when they do the patch. When I had the spinal they had to try four times to get it placed right (I'm fat...that makes it harder). When they did the blood patch they only had to do the needle once. It felt cold, and like there was a whole lot of pressure. I was a little shaky when they were done, and they kept me in the hospital for an extra night because they'd done it. I think I was mostly shaky because of the sight of that much of my blood...I'm a wimp when it comes to blood.

i had the epi w/ my 1st C, and the spinal block with my 2nd last week. I would def pick the spinal again. It worked so quickly and was pretty much just a pinch in the back, nothing like i thought it would be. I was so terrified of th