The midnight baby meme: surviving internet chaos and newborn life
Listen. The absolute worst thing you can do at 2:42 AM when your infant is staring at the ceiling like they owe it money is open a sleep training forum. I used to do this. I'd sit in the dark,...
Surviving the Pretty Little Baby Connie Francis TikTok Trend
It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and the nursery was running at an good 69.4 degrees Fahrenheit. I know this because I check the smart thermostat logs when I can't sleep, which is always. My wife was standing in...
Dear Priya, it is totally normal to think your newborn looks weird
Dear Priya from six months ago. You're currently sitting on a plastic-covered mattress in room 4B of the maternity ward. The fluorescent lights are buzzing in that specific, anxiety-inducing pitch that only hospital fixtures can manage. You have ice packs...
What Is a Rainbow Baby? The Complicated Truth
The monitor is beeping a steady, boring 145 beats per minute, but the woman on the paper-covered table is still holding her breath. She has her eyes squeezed shut, her hands gripping the plastic edges of the bed so hard...
The Midnight Panic: When Your Kid Finally Starts Kicking In There
It was exactly 2:14 AM. I know this because I was staring obsessively at the red digital clock on our microwave while sitting cross-legged on the kitchen floor. I was wearing my husband’s oversized, threadbare college t-shirt, crying softly into...
Surviving the Heartbreak Nobody Wants to Talk About
Don't bring a grieving mother a tuna casserole and tell her that God just needed another angel. I was standing in my kitchen, wearing the same stained sweatpants I’d had on for three days, holding a lukewarm Pyrex dish while...
Late Night Monitor Glitches and the Truth About Ghost Babies
My mother-in-law told me to burn sage and recite a specific prayer in the corners of the room because the house was clearly occupied. My old charge nurse from the pediatric ward texted back at three in the morning to...
The Real Lesson Behind the Bhad Bhabie Baby Daddy Drama
When I was pregnant with my oldest, Maya, my grandmother sat me down at her kitchen table, pushed a cup of extremely weak Lipton tea toward me, and told me that a mother's only real job is to keep her...
Dear Past Me: Surviving Your Husband's Grumpy Anime Dad Phase
Hey Jess from six months ago. I know exactly where you're right now. You're hiding in the laundry room, sitting on top of the humming dryer for warmth, stress-eating a bag of stale Goldfish crackers you found in a toddler's...