My breastfeeding attempt (and failure)

I know this is a little late considering Keaton is now 16 months old but this discussion came up with some of my friends on Babycenter today. Typing out my story and sharing it seemed to lift a weight off of my shoulders, a weight that I didn't realize was there anymore, so I decided to share it here as well.

When Keaton was born I had every intention on breasfeeding. Sadly with a lack of knowledge and support it was a very hard experience for me. I could never get him to latch, I never imagined I would have problems so it's not like I did any research or anything. I pumped for a month but despite pumping multiple times a day I could never produce more than 3oz a day, of course that wasn't nearly enough for Keaton. He was eating 4oz every 3-4 hours. The emotional strain and physical pain (my nipples were cracked and bleeding, I cried every time I pumped) were taking a toll on me so I stopped. When Keaton was almost 6 weeks old he came down with RSV. I was convinced it was because he had a weak immune system from being formula fed but at that time I didn't know anything about using donated milk. He continued to get sick once a month and would be sick for atleast a week, sometimes two. I felt as though he spent more time sick than he did healthy.

I met my wonderful friend, Kristie, when Keaton was 4-5 months old. She is a crunchy mom and has a son 2 months younger than Keaton, we hit it off right away. In this time I learned about donor milk, that she had donated to another family and the idea started forming in my head. I didn't ask her though, I mean, how are you supposed to ask someone if you can have their breastmilk?! lol. When Keaotn got sick at 6 months old she asked me "have you ever thought about using donated milk? Would you use donated milk?" I told her yes but that I hadn't known how to bring it up to her. That same night she filled a lunchbox full of milk she had stored in her freezer and drove it over to us. Believe it or not, Keaton recovered from that cold quicker than he had recovered from any of his previous ones. She continued to give us milk for the next 6 months. He still got formula, but I would say probably 25% of his milk intake was breastmilk.

This time I know that I will probably have issues breastfeeding so I have armed myself with lots of research and have a great support system lined up, ready to help me through my problems. My advice to those who want to breastfeed but may have some problems is DON'T GIVE UP! I have so many mixed emotions and regrets about not trying hard enough, even to this day. There is a ton of help and support out there, contact your local LLL, find a lactation consultant, talk to other moms, someone can (and will) help!

Strawberry Syrup

Since I have a ton of pancakes in my freezer and a ton of strawberries in my fridge I decided to make strawberry syrup. If I had known it was so easy, I would have been making fruit syrups all of the time!

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup mashed strawberries

Heat the water and sugar together until boiling, stirring occasionally to ensure all the sugar is dissolved. Slowly mix in strawberries and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

This didn't get as thick as normal syrup but was so good on my pancakes for lunch. :)

Lemon Zucchini Bread with Lemon Glaze

Bread Ingredients

1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon zest


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.
In a bowl, beat together the zucchini, sugar, egg, and oil, and vanilla In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder; stir in the cinnamon and lemon zest. Stir the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from heat, and cool about 10 minutes.

Glaze
1/4 cup lemon juice (my lemon wasn't very juicy so I used a little less)
1/2 cup sugar

While bread is cooling, heat lemon juice and sugar together on stove top until boiling to melt the sugar. Remove bread from pan and move onto a plate. Pour glaze on top.



This was soooo good! I will definitely be making it again. You can, of course make it without the glaze to make it better for you. You can also use shredded carrots instead of zucchini.

Squash and Zucchini Casserole and farm trip

Yesterday my mom and I went to an organic farm to check out their produce selection. We ended up getting 35lb for $35! That is a good deal for regular produce, let alone organic!

This picture was taken after we used 5 zucchini and 5 squash in the casserole.


Ingredients

* 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 cup chopped onions
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 2 pounds summer squash (about 6 medium), sliced into thin rounds
* 2 pounds zucchini (about 6 medium), sliced into thin rounds
* 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
* 3 large eggs
* 1/4 cup heavy cream (I used whole milk)
* 1 cup crushed butter crackers
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with 1/2 tablespoon butter.

Heat the olive oil and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, salt, and black pepper and cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the squash and zucchini and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Stir in the thyme and remove from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to the prepared baking dish, reserving the cooking liquid.



Combine the eggs and cream in a medium bowl and whisk to blend. Gradually whisk the reserved cooking liquid into the egg mixture. When all the cooking liquid is incorporated, pour the mixture over the vegetables in the baking dish. Using a spoon, gently shift the vegetables around so the egg mixture is evenly distributed. Bake until the mixture sets, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle first with the crackers and then with the Parmesan, if using, and return to the oven. Bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

Meatballs and the conclusion to my crockpot week

I forgot to take anything out for dinner for Thursday so I went with something super easy and quick (while still managing to use the crockpot). I dumped half a bag of frozen meatballs into the crockpot along with 1/4 cup grape jelly (nobody told me we were almost out or I would have used more), 1/4 cup ketchup, and about 1/2 cup barbecue sauce. Chris and I didn't eat any because we weren't home but my dad and Cody enjoyed them.

Friday I spent the day at my mom's so I ate dinner there, my dad and Cody had a frozen pizza (I think). My goal was 5 days of crockpot meals. Even though I only did 4, I'm still proud of myself. :)

Today my mom and I are going to a farm that sell 25lb of organic produce for $25! I just spoke with the owner and he told me that they don't have many strawberries or blueberries but they do have squash, zucchini, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a few other veggies. I need to stock up on vegetables for Keaton. He does not like baby food purees, he does ok with the fruits but just spits the vegetables back out. I've been doing some baby-led weaning with him and he like veggies when they are in large pieces that he can pick up so I think I'm going to stick with that. Broccoli seems to be his favorite so far.


He's now crawling (not scooting anymore)all over the place and pulling up on everything.

Barbecued Roast Beef

Another from "Fix-It and Forget-It..."

4lb beef roast
1cup ketchup
1 onion, chopped (I only use 1/2 an onion because we aren't huge onion fans)
3/4cup water
3tbs Worcestershire sauce
3/4cup brown sugar

Place roast in cooker.
In a small bowl, mix together all remaining ingredients except brown sugar and pour over roast.
Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.
Approximately 1 hours before serving sprinkle with brown sugar.

Yum! You could taste the sweetness of the brown sugar on the roast, it was so good. I'd like to try and make this using a pork roast because I prefer pork over beef roast. I made sure to keep an eye on it after the rice incident last night. I'm glad I did because it was done it like 4 hours.

I had everything for this at home! :)

Pork Chops and Rice

Another recipe from "Fix-It and Forget-It..."

1.5 cups dry long-grain rice
2 cups water
4 pork chops
salt and pepper to taste
10.75oz can cream of celery soup
1tbs. chicken or beef bouillon granules (or 1 cube)

Spray interior of slow cooker with non-stick spray.
Place rice and water in cooker and mix together.
Place chops over rice, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl stir together soup and bouillon, pour over chops.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat and rice are tender, but not dry.

My crock pot is evidently on steroids, after 3 or 4 hours my rice was so overcooked, it had turned to mush! The pork chops were still good. My dad ate quite a bit of the rice, but then again I think I could have served him dried rice and raw meat and he would have eaten it, lol.

I had the rice, water, pork chops, bouillon, salt and pepper all at home. All I had to buy was
$1.35 cream of celery soup