On the mend ....

Today Kristen was 1 week old and its been an interesting week. I opted to have an epidural during labor and had a leakage of spinal fluid as a result. Apparently this happens in 1 to 5% of these procedures. The side effect is a wicked intense spinal headache that is only relieved by laying flat. I was able to manage the pain in the hospital but when I got home it was not so easy to stay flat. Yesterday, Paul left work and came home to take me to the hospital for a blood patch. They basically give you another epidural and then draw blood from your arm and inject it into your back. The pain went from a 10 to a 3 while they were injecting the blood and was completely gone this morning. I have a slight backache from the patch, but it is nothing compared to the pain that I had been dealing with. We opted to leave Kristen with Carol and Brooke to avoid the exposure to all the germs and interesting characters who hang out in ER waiting rooms in the middle of the afternoon. Kristen was great for Carol. Here's a shot of her on her first baby-sitting adventure.