mary poppins by way of jamaica

well, i've been slacking the last 10 days, and therefore, no posts. part of the reason was mary poppins (of jamaica) showed up on the 7th, 2 days after my last entry. and, because i've been getting so lazy since the 5th, that i don't get out of bed for the night feedings any more and just pull the peewee into my bed. so, alas, no midnight entries in the blog.
why i didn't figure out this baby nurse thing earlier is a mystery to me? actually, that's a lie as i know part of the reason is because i breastfeed (so i figured i'd have to get up anyway) and the other reason was it would really drain the bank account. but, it really is sweet relief. so, i saved up all my credits and cashed in for one the last go-round and, boy, i am already dreading her departure (which isn't for a month). since i have all c-sections, we have to have round-the-clock help anyway to pick up the swanky-do. on my 2nd section, i tried picking up powell early and it took way longer to heal, more bleeding, etc. it just wasn't worth it. so, i've learned. so, it's nice to have someone here, so E. doesn't have to rush home from work, and he can go on biz trips (preferably kept to a minimum as it's still 3 kids under 4.5). she takes care of the baby and helps with the kids. but, the biggest coup de grace by far is she gets up for the 3am feed and feeds him pumped breastmilk (from earlier in the day), so i get to sleep for roughly 6 hours! the other day it was even 8 hrs, but we've regressed last 2 nights which is hopefully a growth spurt. i feel like a semi-normal person - except that i breastfeed all day long. can't wait to get on the 4 feedings/day every 4 hours as that's way more manageable. i know why people quit breasfeeding so early; it's a pain in the butt to work into your daily routine amongst other issues. yesterday, i had to breastfeed at the plastic surgeon (P. getting his stitches from monday checked on), and was scheduled to do so at susan at the lanvin trunk show and called to change my appointment because i was NOT about to do that.
great news was we found out yesterday LC's carnitine level had improved with the meds which is a positive indicator he does NOT have the disease. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! i'm really psyched. small bad news is i have low carnitine, but i made it this far, so how bad can it be? kara said it could just be low because i was preggers and your carnitine gets depleted. i had to get more blood drawn yesterday and again, in the future. if it continues to be low, they will do an echocardiogram to make sure my heart's ok. and, they said it could be something to watch if i got prego again, but i assured her that was not the case. overall, i'm elated about LC.
swanky is rounding into the terrible 2's at 20.5 months. he's throwing food/toys on the floor if he doesn't get his way, and/or banging head on floor and tantrums. nice. but, he's really funny when he dances (we gotta get this on video) and when he wants to kiss baby on head all the time (a little too much and open mouth kiss where he leaves a lot of spit and/or food residue).
powell was on playdate with nick silva monday and fell on the bus and got stitches. he was so brave and didn't even cry. dr friedenthal (mom pulled out all the stops to get him in plastic surgeon so LC didn't have to sit in ER waiting room and chance getting sick) did 4 internal stitches and dermabond glue on the outside. he did a show n tell about it thursday at school.
maybe we can actually try to unpack more as i feel we're at standstill and/or straighten house. E. goes to monterey for 3 day conference tomorrow.