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?

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!

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.

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!