Magazine

A mother holding her newborn in the NICU

The reality of bringing home a collodion baby

The page came through right at 3 AM during a brutal winter shift at Northwestern Memorial. The attending OB's voice on the phone was just a fraction tighter than usual, which in hospital triage terms means you grab the crash...

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Exhausted mom checking sleeping baby temperature with cool mist humidifier

The Brutal Truth About RSV Babies and Surviving Winter Coughs

My mother-in-law told me to rub warm mustard oil and garlic on my daughter's chest to pull the sickness out. The mom group on Facebook insisted I needed to slice a raw onion and leave it under her crib to...

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Ultrasound showing a transverse baby position at 34 weeks

Dear Past Priya: The Brutal Truth About Your Transverse Baby

Dear Priya of six months ago. You're sitting on the crinkly paper of exam table three at Northwestern. The ultrasound gel on your stomach feels like ice. The tech has that slightly tight smile on her face as she moves...

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A tired dad looking at a baby monitor next to a pile of organic cotton onesies

The reality of raising a CDH baby when you have absolutely no idea ...

When we got the twenty-week anomaly scan results for the twins, I received exactly three pieces of advice about what to do next. My mother-in-law told us to play Mozart to the bump to encourage "internal harmony," a woman in...

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A messy pile of folded organic cotton and bamboo receiving blankets on a nursery chair

Stop Trying to Swaddle With a Receiving Blanket

It was 3 AM in late January. The wind off Lake Michigan was rattling our bedroom windows, and my daughter was doing the newborn startle reflex thing. She looked like she was trying to conduct a tiny, frantic orchestra in...

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A dad looking stressed while trying to zip a severely overstuffed duffel bag full of baby items.

What to Pack in Hospital Bag for Baby: A Dad's Bug Report

I had one knee pressed firmly into the top of a 60-liter duffel bag in the back of our Subaru, trying to force the zipper shut while Portland rain soaked through my hoodie. My wife, currently 36 weeks pregnant, was...

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A tired mother looking at her phone in a dimly lit nursery while her baby sleeps.

A letter to myself about the baby maverick internet obsession

Dear Priya from six months ago. You're sitting in the dark right now with the glow of your phone lighting up the nursery wall. Your baby is asleep in the crib, breathing perfectly fine, but you're wide awake. The algorithm...

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A soft organic cotton bodysuit next to a packed hospital bag

Baby Girl Coming Home Outfit: A Letter to My Exhausted Self

Dear Jess, You're currently sitting cross-legged on the nursery rug, 38 weeks pregnant, sweating right through your maternity bra while staring at three different browser tabs full of $80 smocked linen rompers. It's 2 AM, your sciatica is acting up,...

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Tired mom filling out birth certificate paperwork on a hospital bed

What nobody tells you about the most popular baby names 2024

My mother-in-law told me I had to pick an astrologically aligned name or my son's digestion would be ruined forever. The lactation consultant at shift change whispered that giving a kid an 'A' name makes them aggressive. Then my husband's...

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