Why I Stopped Breastfeeding

(Are you caught up? Read part 1 and part 2 of the story first!)

I stopped because nothing was working.

We kept going back and forth to the lactation clinic 2 or 3 times a week to get Baby Doc weighed and to do a before-and-after feeding weight. He was gaining great (once we got over that initial big loss). But I still had no more than 1/2 ounce of milk for him at any one time. (By this point, he was taking 2+ ounces of formula at every feeding.)

How I Tried to Breastfeed

(If you missed last week’s installment, here’s how the story began.)

And oh, how I tried.

First and foremost, we had to feed the baby. I started with this crazy contraption called a Supplemental Nutrition System. It sounds fancy, but it’s really not. It’s this very long, very thin, very flexible tube. One end goes in a bottle of formula. Once the baby latches on, the other end of this tiny tube goes into his mouth, alongside the breast. So while he’s trying to nurse from me, he is also getting some formula from the bottle.

Sound simple? It’s not… quite. There is a definite trick to it. You need to hold the formula bottle just right. Hold it too high and it acts like a siphon and formula pours through the tube and into kiddo’s mouth, too fast for him to swallow. Hold it too low and it’s too hard to suck the formula through the tube and he doesn’t get any.

Then there’s the placement of the tube in his mouth. That also has to be just right… not too far into his mouth, but just far enough. And turned just the right way so the three teeny-tiny holes on the sides of the tube aren’t stuck under his tongue or against his cheek or the roof of his mouth where the formula can’t come out.


Can you tell I was a bit frustrated with that gadget?

Organized Pantry

Not too long ago, we had a mouse in our pantry. I needed an excuse to clean out and reorganize the pantry anyway. So I jumped on this project one night after Baby Doc went to bed.

During our home remodel, we put in a very large pantry. It’s huge. And awesome. And easy to get filled up with stuff that (1) has been around so long we won’t eat it anymore and (2) doesn’t belong in the pantry. I’m really liking the way it is set up now, so I’m hoping that will be incentive enough to keep it looking (close to) this way!

Right on the back wall is the cereal section. I’m a big breakfast eater, so it’s important to me that the breakfast stuff is front-and-center, so to speak. On the next shelf is a collection of things like soup, tuna fish, and peanut butter. They… sort of… go together… but it seemed to make sense to me when I set it up.

Why I’m not Breastfeeding

Here’s the super short answer:

I tried. Really hard. I couldn’t. So we stopped.

Well, that was boring. Do you want a little more of the story?

Baby Doc was a pro at nursing, right from the beginning. (It must be a guy thing.) He never had any problem getting where he was supposed to be or latching on. I worked with the lactation nurses at the hospital before we came home. They adjusted how I was holding him a little bit, and they gave me suggestions to help him get an even better latch.

Surprises About Labor and Delivery

Sure, I went to the childbirth classes. And I watched the videos. I’ve seen lots of labor and delivery on silly TV shows. And I’ve seen plenty of animal babies born, naturally and by C-section. Heck, I’ve even helped with lots (and lots) of animal births. But I was still surprised about plenty of things during my labor and delivery with Baby Doc!

Spuds and Sausages

Since Baby Doc was born, we have been living on crockpot meals and easy one-dish meals. Easy prep means easy clean up and less time in the kitchen!! This one-dish meal fit the bill for everything I was looking for!

I adapted this recipe from one I found in Gooseberry Patch’s “Autumn with Family and Friends”.

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

The first few months of motherhood have been about easy meals for me and Farmer Doc. The crockpot has featured prominently in our meal planning (or lack thereof) since October. These Crockpot Chicken Tacos are the perfect recipe – it takes less than 5 minutes to prep, and then you can walk away and forget about it until you’re ready to eat! (Thanks to my good friend Dani for this easy meal idea!)

Verizon Wireless G’zOne Phone

Farmer Doc had the chance to test drive this Casio G’zOne phone from Verizon Wireless. This is a rugged, nearly indestructible phone as-is, without an extra case. Because it doesn’t need a protective case to keep it safe from the occasional drop, Farmer Doc was much happier with the size of this phone.

Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie

Are you looking for some easy comfort food to keep you warm and toasty during this arctic cold snap? Who isn’t? This crockpot chicken pot pie definitely fits the bill!

This recipe is slightly adapted from a recipe in one of my all-time favorite crockpot cookbooks – Gooseberry Patch’s “Slow Cooking All Year ‘Round”.

Baby Doc has no snooze button

Seriously. I’ve been looking for one!


At one month old, Baby Doc was still pretty floppy. We plunked him down for this picture, and then had to worry about him toppling over. In November, he was still getting up 2-3 times a night. Ick. Luckily for me, Farmer Doc was helping out. We alternated middle-of-the night Baby Doc duty, so neither of us got too ridiculously exhausted.

Molasses Cookies

I first posted this cookie recipe almost exactly three years ago! While there is nothing magical about baking theses cookies in the fall, it has become a sort of tradition for us. I don’t use regular molasses in these cookies – I use sorghum syrup. And we just happen to know some people who make sorghum syrup. And that always happens in the fall! So, every time we get a fresh batch of sorghum syrup, you guessed it, I bake these cookies!

Welcome Baby Doc!

Wow… what a couple of weeks it has been! Right on the heels of saying goodbye to our favorite Martin cat, we welcomed our son into our lives.

Baby Doc was born on Friday, Oct 18. He weighed in at 8 pounds even, and was 19 inches long. Frankly, we expected him to be closer to 10 pounds. He was almost a runt!  

Missing Our Martin-Cat

We lost a very important member of our family on Monday night. After 5 months of dealing with kidney problems, invasive surgery, a handful of complications, and a whole lot of ups and downs, Martin died on Monday night.


There aren’t quite the words to express what Martin meant to us…

Decorating for Fall

I love fall. It’s my favorite season! The weather here in Indiana turned to fall about 2 weeks ago, and then it warmed right back up again last week. (Dani came to visit from New Hampshire, and thought it was still summer here!) This morning, it was pretty cool, and I’m hoping it stays that way for the rest of the season! (It gives this 9-month pregnant lady a nice break from the heat!)

Last year, my fall decorations were all about the mums. This year, we had a phenomenal year for pumpkins in our garden, so it’s all about the pumpkins!

Stay or Go Burritos

The fall tends to be a busy time for farmers. It’s harvest season! This means lots of long days, complete with very early mornings and very late nights. No matter when harvest starts, it always seems as if farmers are in a race against the weather to get the crops in and stored before it gets too cold or too wet.

Lucky for me, Farmer Doc and I don’t raise crops. We raise cattle, and run a veterinary practice. So this time of year isn’t quite so busy for us. But, we do get hit in the spring and summer when it’s time to work the cattle (vaccines, deworming, artificially inseminating, checking for pregnancy, and later working the calves) and harvest and bale the hay all at the same time!

Butternut Squash Soup

One of the yummy vegetables we planted in our garden this year was butternut squash. (Actually, technically, I think these are a fruit? Ah well. It doesn’t really matter.) Our butternut squash plants didn’t fair too well… they got attacked by some strange wilt disease. But we did manage to get about 6-8 squash to play with. I tossed one into this Garden Veggie Stew, and made most of the rest into soup!

Spinach and Egg Casserole

We love breakfast for dinner around here. This Spinach and Egg Casserole (with some sausage thrown in for fun) was fantastic for dinner, but would also be great for breakfast!

Mini Calzones

Are you getting ready to host a football party? Need some snacks to serve? Or are you just looking for a fun twist for an otherwise boring weeknight meal? Try these mini calzones!



From Gooseberry Patch’s new cookbook, “Hometown Harvest” these mini calzones are sure to be crowd pleasers! (Don’t forget – I’m giving away a copy of this cookbook this week! Stop by this post to enter for your chance to win!)

Baby Bump 36 weeks

I can’t believe there’s only one month to go before we get to meet Baby Doc! The time has been going so fast…


(Don’t mind the dust bunnies in the photo. I can’t bend down to pick them up anymore. Someday I’ll vacuum again…)

Garden Veggie Stew

I was recently asked to cook a recipe that somehow relates to my connection with farming and agriculture. My first thought was, “This is easy! We raise beef cows, and I cook with beef all the time!” And then I thought to myself, “Self, you also have all that yummy produce from your garden this summer – why not experiment with it a bit?”

And that’s exactly what I did. I call it Garden Veggie Stew. Farmer Doc has been calling it Feutz Farm Stew. Make it your own, and call it whatever you want!