They’re Not Just For Breakfast
So what does a homebrewing hubby do when his wife has lots of oats lying around?
He makes Oatmeal Stout.
It’s good for the soul.
Category: Homebrewing
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Archive for » 2009 «
Pumpkin Ale
The Dubbel was a dud.
The Weizen was a waste.
But the pumpkin is looking sweet! My last two attempts at all-grain brewing were less than spectacular. The beers had flavor, they had aroma, but the mouth-feel was empty and dry; totally lacking substance. I blame it entirely on my mash set-up. The wort came out weak and watered down. I wasn’t pulling enough sugars out of the grains. But persevere I shall. Behold, the improved mash tun:
At the bottom of this cooler just above the spigot is a false bottom I created out of a used food pail I picked up at the HEB bakery for free. I totally lucked out. When inverted, the 2.5 gallon bucket squeezed right in down to the correct depth. I cut the top section of the bucket off with the lid attached and evenly drilled many holes to create the adequate grain filter. Now all the wort drains evenly from the grain before exiting the tun.
Loaded with grains:
From the mash tun to the kettle:
The 2 lbs of cooked pumpkin flesh was totally overwhelmed by the grains. Oh well. I’m told that pumpkin really doesn’t add much flavor any way. What really counts is the spice:
I used whole spices crushed and placed in the boil using a couple tea infusers. Worked like a champ.
Here we are, yeast is pitched and we’re ready to ferment.
The original gravity is a whopping 1.058 which is further evidence that the mash tun is doing the job. The wort came out quite a bit darker than I expected, not that I’m complaining. I’m going to be total bummed if this is another dud but so far it looks quite promising.
Yes, that’s not very much beer in there. With extract brewing I could get a full 2.5 gallons into the small carboy. With all grain however I’m severely limited by the size of my kettle since I have to boil the entire wort and you lose quite a bit to evaporation. Me thinks it’s time for an upgrade…
Category: Homebrewing
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Unemployed
We made a solid go at it but there isn’t enough work coming in to further sustain our company. We will be closing our doors at the end of the month so that we remain in the black. This means of course that presently I’ll be unemployed come the first of November.
I’m searching for a Flash/Flex/ActionScript Developer position in any industry. Please let me know of any leads you come across in the Austin area.
Thank you all for your prayers and support.
Category: Work
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Progress
Today we had our 2 week well check with our pediatrician. I was a bit apprehensive about going into the germy doctor’s office. But good news came from it. Cecilia is up another half pound. She weighed in at 8 lbs today. That makes a weight gain of one pound in a week’s time or about 2 oz per day. She also grew 2.5 inches since she was born. Now she’s up to 20.5 inches. Our pediatrician was pleased with her progress as was I. Since the average weight gain for infants is 1/2 to 1 oz per day, he gave us the green light to lay off the formula a little bit. He just said to watch her feeding cues and ‘maybe’ go to supplementing every other feeding. He also said I let her sleep longer at night instead of waking her every three hours! Alleluhia! I don’t have set the alarm anymore–Adam will be very pleased since it’s on his side of the bed. This was also more or less the opinion of the lactation consultant when I talked with her yesterday to update her on everything.
In other news…our bathroom–remember that huge mess?–is almost fixed. The tub was installed earlier this week. Wednesday and yesterday the tile was put in. Today, it was grouted with the most amazing grout–one that we never have to maintain, regrout, or seal EVER for the rest of our lives! It was worth every penny. The walls were patched up. The grout should be dry by Sunday and the guys are coming back out to finish the last touches on Monday.
Category: Family
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On My Own
Today was my first day on my own. So far I survived. Talk about small successes…I managed to take a 20 minute power nap while I was nursing Cecilia after lunch. Therese and I managed to do quite a bit of school. And I bathed all the kids before Adam got home! I can’t take credit for dinner because Mrs. Dobson dropped a delicious meal off.
Category: Uncategorized
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Endocrinology update
Well, I almost felt I wasted $20 on the copay to visit the endocrinologist. She said it looks like I have post partum thyroiditist. AND I have hyperthyroidism instead of hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is underproduction of the thyroid which can lead to low milk supply. Hyperthyroidism doesn’t. Post partum thyroiditist can work itself out sometimes and other times it can be an indication of long term thyroid problems which will require medication. The doc didn’t want to medicate me since the meds are all bad for a nursing baby.So she’s running more lab tests and I have a follow-up in 3 months to see where my thyroid is at.
I’m somewhat disappointed that this wasn’t the answer I was looking for. I’m somewhat relieved that I probably don’t have anything seriously wrong with my thyroid since as she confirmed I really don’t have any of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism.
So this still leaves me with less than adequate milk supply. I’m still supplementing and taking the herbs. I’m pumping less especially if I feel Cecilia had a good feeding. I think it just boils down to an anatomy issue. The right breast just doesn’t work. It’s still possible to build up the left to provide the entire supply. But to what lengths am I will to go and put the rest of the family through to satisfy my pride?
Category: Family
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Cecilia at 2 weeks
Cecilia turned two weeks old yesterday. We went in to the birthing center for a 2-week well check and she was up to her birth weight! The herbs, pumping and supplementing is doing its job.
This has lifted a great deal of stress from me and allowed me to enjoy her. She’s as delightful as one can be for being two weeks old. She’s nursing so much better. She’s still a great sleeper but easier to wake for feedings. Things are getting better!
Category: Uncategorized
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Feast Day Fun
Yesterday was the Feast of St. Therese and our little Therese’s nameday. Grandma saved the day in all our chaos. She took Therese on a mission for the family. At dinner we prayed over Therese and listened to the Little Flower song that our dear friend in heaven, Sheri Davis gave us before she passed away. Therese and Grandma bought helium filled balloons. After dinner we each tied our prayer requests to the Little Flower to the balloons and let them go up to Heaven. The kids really enjoyed it and it was something I think we all needed and appreciated. Thanks Grandma!
Category: Faith, Family
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New developments in my breastfeeding drama
Well, after 5 days up of pumping every three hours around the clock, I honestly see no difference in my milk supply. If anything it seems like I have less milk. Very discouraging for me. At Cecilia’s last weight check yesterday she’s still showing an ounce gain per day in her weight. That’s good at least. The midwife suggested we check my thyroid level because apparently abnormal thyroid levels can affect milk supply. She called today and indeed my levels are low.
So I called around and thanks be to God an endocrinologist can see me on Tuesday morning. I don’t know if this is going to “solve” my milk supply problem or if it will be too late by the time the meds kick in. This is the last thing I know to try because nothing else is working. And if it doesn’t work, I think I’ll be at peace that I tried my best to give our daughter the best.
I have to say this has been a very interesting journey. I’m thankful that I ended up at the Birthing Center. The midwives have all been great. I especially like that they don’t totally freak out about everything. I do enough of that–so do most doctors. Thyroid dysfunction was never even mentioned neither by our pediatrician nor my OB when I was nursing Gianna and she was slow to gain weight early on. So I’m glad they had the expertise to even suggest that I get my thyroid levels check.
Nothing in the last month has gone the way that I had “planned” which is why I suppose I should leave the planning to God as He knows what’s best for us. I will continue to pray for His will and the grace to endure whatever blessings He sends our way.
Category: Family, Health
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Breastfeeding Challenges
Thankfully since we have been supplementing Cecilia, she has been gaining weight at about an ounce a day. But these last few days have been really hard.
Sunday came with a lot of challenges. That afternoon Cecilia didn’t want to nurse. It was devastating for me and left me just crushed. Thankfully the midwives gave me the name of a lactation consultant, Cheryl Haymans, who works for Special Addition Maternity Boutique. I called her several times during the weekend. While I was in tears on Sunday, she finally told me to just pump and give Cecilia a bottle and we set up a consultation with her for Monday afternoon. That night went well. The feedings didn’t last an hour and she got what she needed and I got a little more rest. However, when I started pumping I realized that my right breast is not producing enough milk. Cecilia needs about 2 oz of milk per feeding and my left breast produces 1 oz. but the right only produces a scant amount of milk. This is what we saw when we had the weight gain issues with Gianna when she was 6 months old.
Adam and I realize that life cannot go on this way–with 1 hour feedings. It’s simply too much for our family. And if I can’ t produce enough milk because of a faulty breast then where does this leave us? Yesterday Adam, Cecilia and I met with Cheryl to see how she could help our situation if at all. She was so very encouraging. She actually said that one breast producing less is pretty common. And she said that we need to work up to the sum total of my milk production being sufficient for Cecilia without supplementing. She assessed Cecilia’s tongue and actually found that she has a little tongue tie–that is the membrane below the tongue is too far up causing the tongue not to be able to go out all the way. One of the consequences of this is poor milk supply of the mom and poor weight gain–also poor latch and nipple damage (which we don’t have). Cecilia’s latches were pretty good–but she was also wide awake which is not often the case. And we found that she’s probably getting around 1.25 – 1.4 oz per feeding when she’s fully alert and nursing properly. So we’re hopeful we can get over this hump. And Cheryl was hopeful too since we’re not 6 months down the road like we were with Gianna.
Cheryl wrote us a very detailed plan to get the milk supply up. It means nursing every 3 hours start to start, then supplementing, and pumping for an additional 10-15 minutes. This still makes for an hour feeding. Cheryl is hopeful that if we do this diligently during this week, we can be 100% breastfeeding–no bottles or supplementing– by Monday. Also, today, Cecilia and I made a trip to the ENT and in a couple of short minutes, snip, her tied tongue was fixed.
I will admit this is hard. At best I get 2 hours of sleep at a time. And sometimes its’ so hard to wake Cecilia. Last night it was so hard to wake myself. I miss the other kids too because during the day this really takes 4-5 hours away from them to feed Cecilia. I’m so very thankful that Adam’s mom is here because we certainly could not do this without her being here watching the kids. And I’m so thankful that we have meals coming because that has been the very last thing on my mind these day. Hopefully this will work itself out by Monday. If not, I think there will be some serious choices to make for the sake of our family.
Category: Family
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