Magazine

Tired mom sitting in car holding a coffee and looking at a pharmacy bag

Dear Past Me: What I Wish I Knew About The Acutane Baby Risk

Dear Sarah from exactly six months ago. You're currently sitting in the driver's seat of the Honda Pilot outside the dermatologist's office. It's pouring rain, you've a lukewarm, half-empty oat milk latte leaking dangerously close to the gear shift, and...

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Sarah looking stressed holding a coffee cup while researching pregnancy skincare rules

The Terrifying Truth About Accutane Babies And My Pregnancy

It was 2018, I was 28 weeks pregnant with Maya, and I was sitting completely frozen on my bathroom floor. I was wearing Mark's ancient, oversized college t-shirtβ€”the grey one with a completely unidentifiable stain near the collar that I...

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A sleep-deprived dad inspecting a tiny baby gold bracelet under a desk lamp

Is A Baby Gold Bracelet Safe? My 3AM Troubleshooting Guide

Maya's mom arrived from Chicago at 7:14 PM, exactly twelve minutes after we finally managed to shut down the baby's waking cycle. She dropped her bags in the hallway and immediately handed me a velvet box that weighed absolutely nothing....

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A dad staring exhausted at a glowing smartphone screen in a dark nursery

Why I threw our smart baby heart monitor in the trash

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, raining sideways against our Portland windows, when the klaxon sounded. It wasn't a gentle beep. It was the specific, terrifying frequency of a submarine dive alarm broadcasting directly from my nightstand. My wife...

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Maya watching a baby manatee video on my phone while holding her silicone panda teether

When A Therapy App And A Literal Baby Manatee Saved My Sanity

It was 7:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was standing in my kitchen wearing my husband's ancient Boston College hoodie. The one that has a crusty, mysterious stain on the left cuff that could be hummus, could be dried...

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A tired father attempting to trim his sleeping baby's nails using a camping headlamp

The 3AM Headlamp Operation: Surviving The Infant Nail Care Phase

I'm hovering over Maya's cot like a deeply unqualified jewel thief. It's 3:14 AM. I'm wearing a 400-lumen camping headlamp, holding my breath so hard my vision is blurring, and my hands are hovering over a sleeping toddler with a...

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Exhausted dad staring at a baby monitor screen in a dark kitchen at 3 AM

Why the Baby Brianna story changed how I debug dad burnout

My Apple Watch buzzed my wrist at 3:14 AM to congratulate me on starting an elliptical workout, which was objectively hilarious because I was actually just standing completely still in my kitchen in Portland, vibrating with a level of stress...

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A dad holding a baby while looking anxiously at a laptop screen in a dark room.

What a Netflix Stalker Taught Me About Toddler Firewalls

The blue glow of the television is casting long shadows against the living room wall, and I'm completely frozen. It's 2:13 AM. My son is currently asleep on my chest, a thin line of drool connecting his cheek to my...

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A messy living room floor with wooden building blocks and a lukewarm cup of coffee

Dear Past Me: The Truth About Baby Rudin And Math Milestones

Dear Sarah of exactly six months ago, You're currently sitting on the cold kitchen floor in Leo's old oversized Ninja Turtles hoodie, aggressively googling baby Rudin while eating stale Goldfish crackers out of a plastic bag at 2:14 AM. You're...

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