3w5d old

rishi rode in a stroller for the first time today. it was such a lovely, sunny day. we walked over to summerlake park. rishi was bundled up in a kinda dorky, but sweet outfit that my mom gave him. it was nice and cozy and kept him toasty! we played on the structure awhile, sanji got to swing & we blew bubbles and said hello to the ducks. it was wonderful to see my two oldest, holding hands and walking together, while rishi and i strolled behind them.

3w4d old

doing this daily post and typing in rishi's new age everyday just makes it feel like time is flying. he will be one month old next friday, how could it be? we are having another quiet day at home. daddy's going out of town so he's doing alot around the house to help make my week easier. tried getting pics of the kids in their valentine's outfits, it is no easy feat capturing the 3 of them. you can't even see sanji's outfit but it's super cute, i promise. rishi is getting so big and after his bath today he had so much cradle cap. i can't resist picking at it, even though it makes it worse, eek!

3w3d old

everyone is at home in comfy clothes today. rishi is having regular, long periods where he is awake now. he just looks around and nurses most of the time. as luck would have it, his awake periods are at the times i'd hope he'd be sleeping so that i could do things like get sanji down for her nap and bedtime. but we will all fall into a new rhythm and it will constantly change and we will just go with the flow. he spends most of his morning in daddy's office on his chest while he works. rishi has been in his swing a few times and doesn't seem to love or hate it. he'll sit in it long enough for me to throw dinner together or empty the dishwasher, which is just long enough for me because by then i'm so ready for him to be back in my arms!

3w2d old

rishi has a stuffy little nose. he has since he was born. i was told that it is a result of all the 'stuff' not secreting out during birth since he came out at warp speed (1 minute and 3 pushes and my sweet boy was laying on my chest). yesterday, for some reason, i suddenly became very worried about it. i think it was a combination of my husband constantly asking if he was ok, being tired and knowing so many people with under the weather kids right now. plus, with deepak in school all day, who knows what germs ride in on his coattails. dee never catches anything, he has immunity of steel and i swear it's from spending his first few years in a warmer climate. anyway, rishi is fine, the pediatrician was surprised to see me, he knows i'm not a run to the dr. kinda lady. and i am always the one telling people that more often than not, the doc can't do anything for your child that you can't do yourself. yet i went out, skipping a fun playdate, with my two babies and went to the doc's office. the fun part was rishi was weighed and he is 9lbs 8.8oz. he is getting SO big!

3w1d old

rishi went on his first official walk today! i put him in the moby and sanji in the stroller and of we went to summerlake park. it is a gorgeous day today and you really have to take advantage because it can suddenly rain for weeks on end. once we got to the park, sanji wanted to walk & was so good at staying with me and holding my hand when i asked her to. i had worried i'd be chasing her to stay away from the ducks & geese since she is so used to feeding them. rishi slept thru the whole thing but i'm sure he enjoyed the sunlight and fresh air.

3 weeks old

my sweet baby boy is 3 weeks old today! he's so fresh and new but my heart has always loved him. yesterday he was awake for the longest period ever, 2.5 hours. the other kids had just gone to bed so we had a sweet, quiet night together. i am so in awe of how our family has changed in the most wonderful way. he had his foot poked for the LAST time today. even if his level had stayed the same, amit was not going to tolerate another foot poke for him. and not one drop of formula ever played into the equation. i am so relieved that despite my almost fear of 'disobeying' the docs orders, i stuck to what i wanted for my son, which is breastmilk only. i am so relieved to be done with all of this. rishi is TWO pounds over his birth weight, gaining one ounce shy of a full pound over the past 1 week. 9lbs 4.4oz

2w6d old

rishi met ms. achala today and her sweet son cole. his older sister, lauren was busy at school but hopefully he can meet her soon too! they were so sweet and brought us a yummy thai lunch. rishi wore a 0-3m set today and i think besides his jammies, his NB size days are over. wow, that was fast! he really is just the sweetest, most amazing little guy.

2w5d old

rishi had a lazy sunday today. he was probably tired from changing jammies 3 times before bed last night. after peeing on us both during a diaper change, he decided that one nightly spit up was not enough, and added a second just for kicks. we also tried to get some sibling pics today. NOT an easy task with a newborn and toddler. love their matching tops though!

2w4d old

rishi had a few firsts today. he had his first trip to costco, his first time wearing a hoodie and his first real bath. he had been having sponge baths as well as quick shampoos in my arms where i would just squeeze water from a washcloth on his head over the sink. he slept thru costco in the moby and when we came home we hung out outside for awhile because we were blessed with another sunny surprise. not expecting too many of those in the coming weeks! he was skeptical in the sling of his bathtub but he didn't mind his bath too much. he reminds me so much of deepak, it really makes my heart swell. he is looking around so much and holding on to my shirt. sanji kisses him every chance she gets, poor baby, the things she's going to put him through!

2w3d old

rishi hosted a full house of friends today. ms. joy came to visit with her 9 week old lukas, bringing along his older siblings (and deepak's classmate) ethan & malia. he had two other classmates over as well and they all had a blast, snacking and running around like crazy while us mamas chatted and hung out with the babies. even sanji got in on some of the big kid action. today rishi also decided to mix things up and instead of the once daily spit up occurring around 10:30pm like it usually does without fail, today it happened at 1:30pm, so i am hoping this means i am off the hook for tonight.

2w2d old

rishi went to the portland children's museum for the first time today, out of the womb at least. i spent alot of time waddling after sanji there during my pregnancy. it was my first solo outing with both babies and it was great. this is probably as easy as it will ever be. we were treated to sunshine as we left and enjoyed some outside time once we got home and spent a few hours rocking in front of the window, soaking up the rays.

rishi is so small that more than one person came close to ask if i had a tiny baby in there! they thought maybe i was wearing the moby to put sanji into, lol.

2w1d old

it was another playdate day at the kaushal house. it's commonplace for us to have friends over to play, either to play with deepak, sanji or both. but today, rishi had a playmate too - baby emma. her older brother is 3 months younger than sanji and she is exactly one month older than rishi. one of us was always nursing or wrangling a kiddo so i didn't get any pics of them together, next time though. here's rishi in sanji's snuggle, love his uni-dimple!

2 weeks old

wow, rishi is 2 weeks old today. it feels like he's always been with us. we started off the morning with a little shampoo and sponge bath, that full head of hair was looking a bit greasy. his belly button had been oozing, a result of having to be swaddled so tightly while on the phototherapy. i applied ointment to it for a few days and now it is healed very nicely. at his well baby visit, the nurse practitioner felt his color had improved but then the pediatrician came in and thought he was still very yellow, he IS asian so he's going to be more yellow than your average baby. i am anxiously awaiting the results of the billirubin test. i'm almost in tears imagining a call with not good news. if it isn't good news, the pediatrician said that we would have to get aggressive. please, please let rishi be done with this. i almost feel like i am on hold in some ways, waiting to know that he is just overall ok. i will update this when i get the call with the results. weighed in at 8lbs 5.2 oz, which is one pound and one ounce over his birth weight!

*in the past week rishi's level rose from 15.1 to 15.7, this is not said to be an alarming number but the doc is acting like it is. he'll be tested again in one week*

1w6d old

rishi watched his older brother and sister have playdates with their friends today. he got some cuddle time with ms. allegra, who is expecting her own sweet boy in just a few more months. his big sister did a good job of looking over him while mama was cooking. rishi looks apologetic for the massive spit up he deposited on said mama's shirt last night :) tomorrow is rishi's 2 week check up and hopefully we learn that this jaundice situation is all over. i am nervous how the doc will treat me after i refused to switch to formula, let's see if i end up coming home ready to find a new pediatrician. just for fun, i'll guess an 8 lbs 2 oz weigh in.

1w5d old

another rainy day in portland & another day of quick errands. rishi slept thru a trip to joann's which was crazy busy for some reason. luckily he was cozy in his moby wrap while we waited for fabric to be cut. i picked up an outfit for his first valentine's today, it says 'little heart breaker'. deepak also has a 'heart breaker' shirt and sanji has a little top with a giraffe and leggings with hearts. i wonder what the odds are that i will get a photo with all 3 of them cooperating!

no photo today so here's rishi on new year's eve.

1w4d old

today was a rainy saturday in portland, shocking! we ran some errands. checked out some consignment shops, got an amazing burger at a tiny spot called 'canyon burger' and picked up some diapers. (we are loving earth's best, at least until he's in a size 1 and we are back to huggies at costco!) rishi slept thru the whole trip :)

1w3d old

rishi had a cozy friday at home. milestone - spitting up for the first time. did i think i'd escape it somehow? he is also alert for longer periods, looking around at the world around him. he looks like a little old man, lol, when he furrows his little brow.

*iphoto issues. pics for tomorrow & today, soon!*

1w2d old

today, rishi visited deepak's school for the first time. he slept thru the noise and chaos of the k-5 heritage fair. he met his future teachers & deepak's current teacher enjoyed being his tour guide for the event. he also had his first babywearing experience in the moby. we both agree that babywearing is way better than being toted around in a bucket seat!

1w1d old

rishi's billirubin level didn't improve much. went from 15.5 to 15.1, the nurse called to tell me that the doc suggests pumping & storing my milk for a few days while i formula feed. my heart won't allow me to do this. i don't believe it is the solution and my research shows that this level is not one that warrants such a change. it isn't ideal that he is not improving with the phototherapy, but it is still early and not uncommon for exclusively breastfed babies to be where he is at. he has a well baby visit on tuesday and i am going to pray, pray, pray that this resolves itself by then. it is sinulog weekend so i am going to ask all my family in cebu to dance and pray to the santo nino for little rishi. i've been pretty distraught today but am so thankful for some really supportive mamas who are cheering me on. he's doing awesome otherwise, gaining 5oz over the past 2 days. weighing in at 7lbs 9.3 oz

1 week old

today is rishi's actual due date & here he is, one week old! today his sister had a playdate with her best guy, nate. nate's grandma came again too, and gifted him a beautiful handmade blanket. he looks so orange here, lol, but you can see how snug he is in it.

6 days old

rishi is 1/2 oz over his birth weight! he weight in at 7lbs 4.5oz at his doc visit this morning. unfortunately, his billirubin level has risen 1 point so light therapy and as much nursing as possible, must continue. it crushes me just a bit everytime i don't hear 'go ahead and take him off the light!' on the other end of the phone. if his number rises a few more points, he'll have to be admitted to the hospital. i am praying that his wednesday test shows a good decrease and that we can be done with all of this.

5 days old

rishi had a quiet, cozy, sunday at home. here's what his home looked like one week ago today!

4 days old

today rishi said goodbye to lola, who came to take care of deepak & sanji while he was being born. she got in lots of good cuddle time during her short stay. rishi's billirubin level is about the same, he has to stay on the light. also had his first public outing - to target. none of the others EVER went out this early and he probably won't be out like that again for awhile. 7 lbs 0.5oz

3 days old

rishi's first house visitors - ms. allegra w/nate & his grandma, ms. robin & aria came over for a yummy brunch of danish, coffee cake, cinnamon buns, egg rolls, rice, filipino style pork belly, chicken & shumai.

2 days old

rishi meets dr. thomas, billi level @ 12, goes on light therapy at home. mama's milk comes in. 6 lbs 12.3 oz

1 day old

rishi goes home, checks out of good sam @ 24 hours old. 7 lbs 1.9 oz

here's rishi!

rishi salazar kaushal, born january 5, 2010 @ 11:13am by vbac
7 lbs, 4.3oz, 21"long, 14"head
12 hour labor, 1 minute pushing

what it is

i thought it would be fun to create a blog where i post a tidbit or two each day about my newborn rishi. he's my third child and i don't have dedicated blogs for the others, but there is something special i've done for and/or with, each of them. this is what i've come up with for my radiant rishi.