Last Monday afternoon we welcomed Annika Jane and Sabrina Joanne, both
7 lbs.
OH YES.
No wonder I was so freaking uncomfortable those last few weeks. That's a lot of baby poundage to be hauling around.
The night before my scheduled induction I had so much anxiety. I had a weird dream in which Ashton Kutcher did my final ultrasound and told me one of the babies was in a "diarrhea position, so we can't induce you today." Ooooohkay.
Once I was admitted and situated in my room, I started having consistent contractions- before the Pitocin was even started. Power of suggestion? I got an epidural and took a nice li'l nap 'til it was go time. Both babies had been head down for some time, but the fear was that once A (Annika) was born, B (Sabrina) would flip and I'd need a C section. For that reason I was brought to the OR for delivery. Both girls came out just fine- 7 minutes apart.
Once we were moved to our post partum room, my husband ran over to Burger Moe's for some wings and a chocolate shake for us to split. Treat yo'self.
Our time at home with the babes has been so nice. My husband's at home for the duration of this week. Big brothers are adjusting...well...decent. Mac is thrilled to have sisters, and the second pic accurately sums up Fred's thoughts.
We tried to do our own newborn photo shoot. NAILED IT. Thanks for nothing Annika.
Since coming home I haven't been doing much cooking of course. Friends and family have been super generous with bringing meals and groceries. That being said, our boys are always wanting snacks- especially right before bedtime. Imagine that. Today I made some Instant Pot Greek yogurt. I've actually never blogged about it, but we've been making our own yogurt for months now.
Why yogurt? Of course it's easy to get store bought yogurt. The advantages (for us at least) of making our own is that we can be creative with flavors, and more importantly we can be in control over how much sugar is added. An exercise I often did with my patients is practice reading labels on various yogurt containers. Some yogurts contain an excess of an entire day's recommended added sugar intake. Today's flavor? Pina colada!
Pina Colada Greek Yogurt (Instant Pot)
-1 gallon whole milk
-1/2 cup yogurt (we use plain Greek but you really could use any kind)
-1 20 oz can crushed pineapple
-3 tablespoons cornstarch + 3 tablespoons water
-1 can coconut cream
-1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
-Stevia (either granules or liquid) to taste
Ok, so a quick tutorial on making yogurt in the Instant Pot. There is an automatic setting for yogurt. The premise is that you pour in the milk and the machine will boil it. You will cool the milk, then whisk in existing yogurt- this will introduce the live bacteria into the now sterile milk. The Instant Pot will cook the yogurt at just the right temperature so that the bacteria will multiply and you get yogurt. The optimal cooking time is 8-8 1/2 hours. Make sure your vent setting is closed- not on "steam." We usually make ours overnight. I like a really thick yogurt (Greek style) so I bought a specific strainer on Amazon. I like it, but it only has room for about half the yogurt. The other way I strain it is basic- I line a large colander with 3-4 coffee filters and place over a large bowl. Both ways work just fine- after 4+ hours (I've strained as long as 24 hours) you have strained thick yogurt and you're ready to add whatever fruit or flavors you'd like.
While yogurt is being strained, pour crushed pineapple (along with the juice) into a small saucepan. I added 1/2 cup water to mine as well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. In a separate small bowl, stir together cornstarch and water. Stir into pineapple. You'll notice it start to thicken up within a minute. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
When you open the can of coconut cream, you'll notice the top portion is the solid cream, and then underneath is the coconut water- we just want the cream here. I removed the cream from the can and vigorously stirred it together so that it'd blend well into the yogurt.
To finish yogurt, stir in cooled pineapple, coconut cream, coconut flakes, and Stevia to taste (I used 3 quick squirts of liquid).
Makes 3 quarts. This will keep in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks, though we always end up finishing it well before then. It'll be a perfect snack to have on hand for fueling newborn care times two!
