The Oh Baby Illusion And The Messy Reality Of Your First Year
I was standing in the kitchen at half-past three in the morning, staring blankly at the leftover winnie the pooh baby shower invitations still pinned to our fridge. They were beautiful, really. Pristine cardstock, muted pastel colours, a delicate little...
Navigating infant developmental timelines without losing your mind
We were sitting around a cramped dining table in Rogers Park when the unsolicited advice started rolling in. My mother-in-law casually mentioned that my husband was walking independently at nine months, heavily implying my ten-month-old was somehow defective for still...
A Letter To Myself About The Baby Humidifier Situation
Dear Jess of last November. You're currently standing in the baby aisle of Target at two in the morning, staring bleary-eyed at a wall of plastic water-blowing machines while your four-month-old sounds like a tiny, asthmatic pug in the shopping...
A Letter to My Pregnant Self About the Great Baby Beanie Deception
Dear Jess from six months ago, You're currently sitting on the living room rug, sweating through a maternity tunic in 80-degree Texas autumn heat, crying over a tangled skein of expensive organic yarn. You spent three hours last night hunting...
Truths About the RSV Vaccine for Babies (And Surviving Winter)
There's a spectacularly dangerous lie told to first-time parents by well-meaning older relatives, usually delivered over a lukewarm cup of tea. They lean in conspiratorially and tell you that a mild winter cold is actually brilliant for building up a...
How to Actually Do a Target Baby Registry Search Without Tears
When I was about seven months pregnant with Maya, three different people gave me three completely contradictory pieces of advice about how getting people to buy us newborn gear actually worked. My mother-in-law insisted that guests just walk up to...
Surviving The Baby Phase When Everyone Has Different Advice
I was thirty-eight weeks pregnant with my oldest, waddling through the aisles of our local grocery store just trying to buy some Tums, when a woman I had never met in my life stopped me to say I needed to...
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 Will My Baby Look Like (And Other Late Night Mysteries)
I was thirty-four weeks pregnant, sitting in the dark at two in the morning, paying a sketchy app five dollars to merge my face with my husband's. The result loaded on my phone screen and I just stared at it....