Magazine

First time dad looking confused holding a maternity dress in a baby nursery

Debugging The Maternity Baby Shower Dress Meltdown In Real Time

Exactly forty-five minutes before our backyard celebration was supposed to start, I found my wife stress-crying in our Portland bathroom with a humidity sensor from my server rack sitting on the counter. She was 31 weeks pregnant, and the highly-rated,...

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Pregnant woman looking annoyed while holding up an uncomfortable maternity dress

Finding a maternity dress for baby shower events without losing you...

I'm trapped in a zippered velvet prison. It's mid-July in Chicago, I'm thirty-three weeks pregnant, and the zipper on this supposed dream dress is stuck right over my left rib, which my daughter currently uses as a kicking bag. The...

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A messy living room floor with a half-written baby shower card and coffee cup

How to Write a Brilliant Message For Baby Shower Cards

I'm currently staring at a pastel yellow card featuring a deeply anatomically incorrect stork, my pen hovering over the paper as if I'm diffusing a bomb rather than preparing for my cousin's Saturday afternoon tea party. There's this pervasive, slightly...

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Wooden easel holding a matte baby shower greeting board draped with a purple organic blanket.

Why Your Baby Shower Entrance Doesn't Need A Giant Plastic Poster

There I was, thirty-two weeks pregnant with Maya, standing behind the dumpsters of a suburban Italian restaurant with half a lukewarm iced coffee in my hand. I was wearing this floral maternity wrap dress that aggressively rode up every time...

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A tired mom looking at baby shower invitations for a girl on her laptop

The brutal reality of picking baby shower invitations for a girl

I was twenty-six weeks pregnant, eating fruit antacids like they were candy, staring at my laptop at two in the morning. The screen was a sea of aggressively pink digital paper. The search query was simple enough. I was just...

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A stressed dad looking at baby shower invitations on a laptop.

Surviving the Logistics of Boy Baby Shower Invites

It was 11 PM on a Tuesday. I had a Google Sheet open with column headers for "Paper Weight (GSM)" and "Postage Cost Variance." My wife, Sarah, who was seven months pregnant at the time, walked into the kitchen holding...

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Mom holding a floral baby shower guest dress next to organic baby clothes

What to Look for in a Baby Shower Guest Dress (Without Losing Your ...

Dear Jess of six months ago, currently standing in front of your open closet, sweating into a stained Target graphic tee while trying to figure out what the heck "garden casual" means. I see you, I'm you, and I need...

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Pregnant woman sitting in a floral maternity dress looking exhausted with coffee

Finding A Baby Shower Dress That Actually Fits (Without The Tears)

Dear Sarah from six months ago—wait, no. Maya is four now. So, dear Sarah from four years and six months ago. Whatever. Time is a completely meaningless construct anyway when you haven't had a full night of uninterrupted sleep since...

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A messy kitchen counter covered in icing, sprinkles, and half-decorated cookies.

Surviving the Late-Night Chaos of Baby Shower Cookies

It was 2:13 AM and I was standing in my kitchen wearing my husband's college sweatpants and a nursing tank that definitely smelled like sour milk, holding a piping bag of pale yellow icing that was supposed to look like...

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