Magazine

Dad looking bewildered while trying to diaper a baby boy in a leg cast

A Letter to Past Me About The Baby Boy Cast (And Pee Fountains)

Hey man. It's you from six months in the future. You're currently sitting in room 3 at the pediatric orthopedist in downtown Portland, sweating straight through your flannel shirt, watching a technician wrap your five-month-old's lower half in what looks...

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Exhausted dad holding a baby while looking confused at a laptop

Troubleshooting the Baby Boo Phase Without Losing Your Mind

I was holding exactly 14.5 ounces of lukewarm formula in one hand and a screaming, rash-covered 11-month-old in the other when my mother-in-law casually suggested I just rub some whiskey on his gums. The biggest myth about this whole parenting...

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A tired mom holding a chubby cheeked baby while drinking coffee.

What No One Tells You About Your Newborn's Literal Baby Face

It was 2016, and I was sitting on my incredibly disgusting beige couch at 3 AM. I was seven months pregnant with Maya, wearing a pair of maternity leggings that had a questionable hole in the crotch, and I was...

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Dad carefully applying thick ointment to a baby's dry cheek patches

Troubleshooting Baby Eczema: A First-Time Dad's Bug-Fixing Guide

I was sitting at our kitchen island at 2:14 AM, staring blankly at a massive Excel spreadsheet I had built to track every single thing my wife had eaten over the past 72 hours, alongside every spoonful of pureed sweet...

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A tired mother looking at her baby's mouth in a dimly lit nursery

A letter to myself about thrush in babies and the white spots

You're sitting on the edge of the glider at 3 a.m. with your phone flashlight pointed into a sleeping mouth. You're trying to pry his tiny jaw open without waking him, which is as impossible as it sounds. His lips...

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A sleeping newborn baby wrapped in a soft blanket

What no one tells you about bringing a jaundice baby home

My mother-in-law told me to put him in the living room window like a houseplant. The hospital lactation consultant told me to feed him until my nipples literally fell off. My deeply sleep-deprived husband downloaded three different tracking apps, poking...

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Marcus troubleshooting the slippery infant bath setup in his Portland home - KIANAO

Debugging the Infant Wash Cycle: A Letter to My Clueless Past Self

You're currently holding a screaming, soapy five-month-old over a stainless steel kitchen sink while the water temperature wildly fluctuates between Arctic runoff and molten lava, and you're terrified. I know this because I'm you, writing from six months in the...

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Exhausted mom in stained sweatpants holding a baby with dry skin

Surviving The Ash Baby Look And Other Sweaty Newborn Disasters

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was staring at Leo under the harsh bathroom vanity light, wearing a nursing bra that smelled aggressively of sour milk and my husband Dave's oversized college sweatpants. Leo was three weeks...

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Sarah holding a subtle terracotta rainbow blanket in a dimly lit nursery

The Terrifying, Beautiful Truth About Having a Rainbow Baby

I was wearing this absolutely hideous mustard-yellow maternity sweater that I hated but wore anyway because it was clean, and I was squeezing my husband’s hand so hard in the ultrasound room that his knuckles were actually turning white. It...

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