Reece's Tanning Bed
The fun didn't stop once we got home. We had a few "adventurous" incidents once we got home. Since it was New Year's Eve, a few of our friends actually stopped by to see our new family addition and celebrate with us. I missed my "Happy New Year" kiss from my husband because I was feeding my son when 2010 arrived and I was not disappointed at all!
Friday we had to go back to the hospital to do Reece's lab again, so we pack up and take off. The tech drew his blood and Reece didn't even wake up! His bilirubin level was still borderline but low enough stay home again, but we had to repeat the process again the following day. We return home to the wonderful smell of homemade chicken and veggie soup cooking. Tyler takes off to run a few errands while both grandmas, Reece and I are relaxing at home. Around 4:00, the carbon monoxide alarm goes off. Since everyone feels fine, I check the batteries in the alarm, reset it and open a few windows just in case. Then I call Tyler who is on his way home. We decide that when he gets home, he'll check with the fire department next door (we happen to live next door to a fire station). As we are waiting, the alarm goes off again. So, when Tyler checks with the firemen, they get all suited up and come over with their meter and ask all of us to go to the fire station. When we get there they check our carbon monoxide levels and everyone except for Tyler is high. Unfortunately there was no way to check Reece's level, all of the meters were too large for his finger. Around 45 minutes later they check everyone again, and everyone's level has decreased except for mine! My CO level actually increased. At this point paramedics arrive, take my blood pressure and give me an oxygen mask to use. My blood pressure was somewhere around 170/130! Since my blood pressure was so high, the paramedics were required to offer to take me to the hospital. I declined, and after another 30 minutes or so my CO level was normal and my blood pressure had lowered significantly. Meanwhile, the firemen in our house determined that the stove was the source of the CO. After a little research, Tyler learned that when you don't have forced air and are using a gas range for an extended period of time (my mom spent all day cooking the delicious soup) you should have a window open or provide for some sort of ventilation. We did call a technician to check our stove just for peace of mind and everything was fine. What an exciting second day home!
Onto Saturday! We go back to the hospital to do the bilirubin test again, and again Reece's level was borderline. After talking to the nurse, we all decided to have a bili-light delivered and try to be more aggressive about reducing the bilirubin. So, Saturday afternoon a bili-light was delivered. It looked like a tiny tanning bed. The directions were easy, Reece had to lay in the bed with a little eye patch in only his diaper as much as possible. A home nurse was scheduled to visit us on Sunday afternoon. So, for 16 hours Reece "tanned" only coming out to eat or for a diaper change. When the nurse arrived at 2 on Sunday, Reece's bilirubin level dropped significantly enough to no longer need the tanning bed and no more blood tests! Finally, everyone was healthy. We were looking forward to an uneventful, maybe even boring day.
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