Dear Past Priya: You Need a Busy Baby Mat to Survive Restaurants
Dear Priya from last October. You're currently sitting in booth three at the diner on Lincoln Avenue, pretending you aren't about to cry into your lukewarm coffee. Your six-month-old just threw his wooden teething ring onto the black-and-white tile floor...
The messy reality of bringing up baby on zero sleep
I spent six years working the pediatric floor at Rush, so you'd think buckling my own three-day-old son into his car seat would feel routine. It didn't. My husband was driving twenty miles an hour on the Kennedy expressway, knuckles...
I would like to see the baby and other newborn terrors
It's 3:18 AM in a freezing Chicago apartment. I'm holding a seven-pound alien that's currently shrieking like a defective smoke detector. My husband is dead asleep on the couch, entirely oblivious. I'm scrolling a forum with my free thumb and...
How to Track an Infant Fever Without Completely Losing Your Mind
Itβs 3:14 AM on a dreary Tuesday in November. Maya is radiating heat like a poorly insulated boiler, and I'm standing over her cot, frantically swiping a sixty-quid piece of infrared plastic across her forehead like Iβm scanning a tin...
The Great 3 AM Lie About Your Baby's Sleep Schedule
I was sitting on the very edge of our squeaky nursery glider at 3:14 AM with my firstborn, glaring at a four-dollar tracking app on my phone that was flashing a red warning to tell me my three-week-old was "off...
The Day I Surrendered to YouTube Baby Videos (And Then Panicked)
It was 4:17 PM on a Tuesday in late November, which in London means it had been pitch black outside for what felt like three consecutive days, and both girls were currently engaged in a competitive screaming match on the...
The Nintendo Baby Video Chat Hack That Saved My Postpartum Sanity
It was 3:14 AM, the absolute worst time of the night, and the only light in my Texas living room was the soft, blue glow of my TV screen. My oldest sonβwho I love dearly but who is the ultimate...
The Truth About Long Baby Sherpa-Lined Cotton Coats In Winter
We're sitting in the Target parking lot on Elston Avenue, the wind is doing that specific Chicago thing where it tries to actively slice your face off, and the mom parked next to me is fighting for her life. She's...
What my pediatrician actually said about a normal baby temperature
Dear Priya from six months ago. You're currently standing in the dark next to the crib. You're holding a glowing temporal thermometer like it's a loaded weapon. Your nursing degree is mounted on the wall somewhere downstairs, but it's currently...