Week 44 - Girl

This was finally the week we've been waiting for forever. Of course, since this post is 2 months delinquent, I suppose you probably already guessed I was swamped in the new life of a dad. You would be correct, but I value this blog and hope some others have come to as well so here I am again to catch you back on things. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but let me tell you my story first and then you can judge for yourself.

With all of the research delays, period 2 has been a real thorn in my side and of that of the Brazilians and my summer interns. I think it is fair to say that we truly dread the fermenters and there will be a lot of reworking of the system once this project is done. But this week has been plugging along fine since the 3rd restart of period 2, when we went in for the ultrasound of our little baby. We were a few minutes late for the appointment and the girl behind the counter who couldn't figure out how to check us in did nothing for the cause. Then we waited until we could be let in for the ultrasound and things started moving along again. But I knew something was up when the tech kept trying to measure over and over again. It was obvious that she wasn't happy with the size estimates she was getting for the baby.

Sure enough, when my wife went to the restroom, the nurses looked at me and told me the real news. Not only was the baby measuring big, but it was measuring at 9 lbs, 15 oz. Holy crap! I held it in as well as I could until the OB could see her and talk things over. He walked into the room with the print out and looks at her and says, "Well, go big or go home, huh?". After she heard the weight, we were a bit afraid of waiting until the baby came on its own, especially with a full pound of flex in the estimation. So a C-section it was, after debate at the local coffee shop. We met him back in his office and he told us we were making the right decision and to plan on Friday. It was 30 minutes later that my wife called me bawling on the phone the the appointment was tomorrow!

We made the preparations, sending Betsy off to visit the in-laws and calling off of work. We hadn't been planning for something so sudden, but we were ready, thanks to her insistent urges to get everything ready "just in case". Then came the phone calls in the morning asking if we could reschedule. Mind you, my wife has called off work (a big ordeal), stayed at work until 8 to close everything up for weeks, she hasn't eaten and we haven everything ready to go. This could not be happening. Luckily it worked out that we could go in that day and so we were off to bring home Betsy's little sister.

You can see the joy in our faces in the recovery room (about 45 minutes after).

Four hours later, I was holding a crying baby in the OR while they put my wife back in order. The events of that room are a bit too personal to share with the world, but having a child is a great responsibility and bringing one into the world is a tremendous honor and wonderful moment, regardless of what process it takes to get them there. Suddenly all of the waiting was over, and our daughter(!) came out like the statue of liberty into the whole new world. She laid on the table under incubators and oxygen for a few minutes before I was allowed to hold her and bring her over to see my wife. In 3 hours I had been excited, nervous, impatient, frustrated, confused, lost,  alone, anxious, worried and then I had burst into full joy. What a wonderful gift we were given that day; she is a true blessing to us.

So tiny and helpless. She wrapped her fingers around mine the very first day.

That night while my wife slept, I hastily published 4 blog posts to get all caught up in order to put the big news out, but then I was caught up in the wonder of the girl and never looked back this blog. We had issues with the nurses questioning our intelligence and being pretty bossy and disrespectful/rude to my wife. As a father, it's hard to see your wife treated that way, and I kept looking at her to see if she would let me step in, but she seemed to want to fight through on her own. To the 2 good nurses that we had, you were shining lights in the midst of a bad recovery experience we couldn't escape from. Luckily we had great family to visit us and interrupt the "service", but I wasn't happier than the day we could bring them both home.

Our little daughter, Hannah. She slept with us in the room every night.

When we pulled up the drive, our families had been working on a few surprises per my request and as exhausted as she was, my wife lit up to see them. Her old blue spruce from home had been brought over to the house, our hammock was set in the ground and hung, and a weeping cherry tree was planted out by the old stump in the side yard. I couldn't have possibly gotten all that done and it was so great of them to get my wishes done for Amanda. So grateful.

My wife with Hannah and our new cherry tree.

Amidst all our time at the hospital, my lab team had been quietly working away without me and I want to commend them for performing so well on their own. Period 2 is well on its way to completion this time (after another crash) and then we can put the dread behind us. My wife and I capped the week off by popping open one of the "baby beers", thus named because I made them while she was pregnant so that she could celebrate in the hospital post-parturition. However, it was a few days before she finally felt up to a bottle. This was my first cherry wheat, and while I think next time I will some of the mashing myself for a slightly more unique and richer taste, this turned out beautifully. Great color, carbonation, taste and after-taste. So I'd like to briefly share what I did for anyone interested.

Cheers to the newest member of the family!

• 1) Brewer's Best Wheat Beer Kit. Follow the instructions (I used my "city" water, which is pretty hard with moderate fluorine/chlorine.
• 2) Boil 3 lbs. frozen tart cherries during the brewing in a "sock" to sterilize.
• 3) When adding the final hops, the cherries stopped boiling to cool.
• 4) Rapidly cool wheat beer, then add the cherries and the water they boiled in (would lose a lot of color otherwise) in a primary container with a wide lid.
• 5) Primary fermentation lasted 7-9 days, then I transferred to secondary in a glass container and tossed the cherries (great for attracting unwanted varmits).
• 6) Secondary fermentation lasted beyond when they were done bubbling. I had a lot of sediment which I allowed to settle out, so about 4 weeks.
• 7) Bottled with 1 cup of sugar for priming the bottles.
• All fermentation steps occurred in my basement at about 68*F. I don't like to rush things with the warmer temps.