The Naomi Osaka Baby Era and the Absolute Reality of Motherhood
I was sitting in the dark at three in the morning with a breast pump attached to my chest sounding like a dying asthmatic tractor. My phone screen was the only light in the room, and I was reading an...
The truth about kangaroo care and why it’s not just a photo op
The biggest lie we're sold about the immediate aftermath of birth is the glowing, serene Instagram photo where the mother, looking dewy and perfectly flushed, delicately holds her pristine newborn to her bare chest. It’s framed as this beautiful, magical...
The Baby Giraffe Metaphor That Completely Changed My Motherhood
I was exactly 34 weeks pregnant with Maya, wearing these black maternity leggings that had a crusty, highly suspicious patch of dried Greek yogurt on the left thigh, standing in the middle of a big-box baby store just absolutely weeping...
Googling Baby Come Back Lyrics at 3 AM: A Survival Guide
Dear Priya from six months ago. You're currently sitting on the edge of the nursing glider in the dark. There's a fresh patch of spit-up on your left shoulder, slowly sinking into your shirt. You have one eye closed because...
When Do Babies Sleep Through the Night? The Brutal, Exhausting Truth
It was exactly 3:14 AM on a Tuesday. Maya was four months old, and I was sitting on a violently blue yoga ball in the middle of her nursery. I was wearing my husband Dave's old college sweatpants—the ones with...
Postpartum Baby Bangs: A Dad's Guide to the Hair Regrowth Glitch
Dear Marcus of six months ago: Put down the industrial drain snake and take a deep breath. I know you just pulled a clump of hair out of the shower drain that looks roughly the size of a wet squirrel,...
The Reality of Dressing a Baby Without Losing Your Mind
Within forty-eight hours of bringing Leo home from the hospital, I received three completely contradictory pieces of advice about how to dress him. My mother-in-law hovered over his bassinet, clutching her coffee mug, aggressively whispering that he needed a fleece...
A Letter To My Past Self About Surviving An IUGR Baby Diagnosis
Dear Tom from exactly six months ago, You're currently sitting in the windowless, overly warm scanning room at St Thomas' Hospital, entirely oblivious to the fact that your life is about to tilt on its axis. The NHS sonographer has...
Why a 5-Yard Baby Wrap Saved My Sanity (and My Etsy Shop)
I was standing in the middle of my living room, openly weeping, completely tangled in what felt like a parachute. My oldest, Wyatt—who's now five and still the reason I've a twitch in my left eye—was six weeks old and...