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The total lack of routine really threw me in the first six weeks. Learning parenting skills and dealing with the hormones/lack of sleep would have been easier to cope with if I'd had some normalcy to cling to!

My biggest surprise was that babies don't just fall asleep when they're tired, they need lots of coaxing and hand-holding. I didn't know that "over-tired" was a thing.

And I second @hilsy85 on the anxiety. It's always something - "Sh*t, breastfeeding didn't work out. Am I dooming him to a life of subpar health and intellect?" "He's only kicking his left leg. What's wrong?" "He's babbling but in a weird and different way than yesterday." "He's not sleeping enough." "He's sleeping too much." "Can he sense my anxiety?" Basically it's a lot of wondering whether his behavior/sleep/bodily functions are normal because I really have no idea. I do a lot of googling which can be alternately reassuring and terrifying!

The constant state of being 'on' (I'm a SAHM). Feeling like I'm on the clock from the moment she wakes until she goes to sleep, even when my husband is home.

This is probably random but for me it's meal times. I feel like I spend so much time making food, cutting it up, sitting with LO while he eats, helping, cleaning. It's such an ordeal every time!

Lack of sleep and tantrums. Mostly at the same time.

@autumn865: Yeah, that's the part that really gets me. I always laughed it off when people said that being a stay at home parent is the hardest job in the world, but now I get it. The work isn't that hard, it's that you do it from the moment you wake up to nearly the moment you go to bed, and sometimes overnight. Even people who work crazy hard jobs get to come home and put it down. I find that part really overwhelming, to be honest. I'm really excited for my girl to start preschool in the fall and have a bit of break.

not being able to go out. I thought we would be able to take her to restaurants but she will not sit still and start crying. One time I missed dinner because she had a fit in the restaurant and I had to walk her around.

Worrying! I know all about how kids hit milestones differently but I worry. And my LO has such a temper at 4 months old I can't help but have anxiety about what kind of kid she will be!

@WinnieBee @FutureMrsMcK: Ditto. Although I hate to know that others struggle too, it makes me feel a little better knowing that I am not the only one that feels like this.

@FutureMrsMcK: Little did I understand that everyone would look to me, a FTM, for *all* the answers (and all the tough stuff!) when it comes to BabyGloss.

@SaraC: I wish it were possible to put work down when I leave for the day . . . being at home makes me more anxious about work (because I feel like I am always behind), and being at work makes me feel more anxious about leaving BabyGloss (because I hate not being with her during the day). Add to that answering emails during post-midnight nursing sessions and dictating while I am getting ready for work in the morning, and . . . *augh*

@FutureMrsMcK: I worry about our LO hitting milestones on time. At times, it feels like he's behind other babies. We're still waiting on teeth and he's close to getting up on all fours. It makes it feel like a mommy competition, but he's doing stuff at his own pace.

Discipline is my least favorite part. I wish I could relax a bit but I a, trying to raise courteous, weel mannered, self sufficient members of society. It's not an easy task. I also get very tired of making decisions. I am the decision maker all day for myself and four little people. One night I almost cried because I just wanted my husband to pick what we watched on tv. I could not make one more decision that day.

@NovBaby1112: this. All this. The worry and vulnerability are the worst. I want to cry when J has a tiny bit of gas. I can't imagine something worse happening !!

@winniebee: this. although DH gives me a nice amount of breaks, it is never a true break because i still can't take an entire day off because i have to pump.

Worrying.

@sorrycharlie: man, E has a wicked temper already too, I'm in for a rough go when she is a teenager.

For me it's the constant cleaning. I've alway been a tidy person, but now I feel like all I do is sweep, mop, wipe, dust, scrub and repeat. I've been home for the last 11 months and so I feel like it's my duty to keep the house clean and I'm just so sick of it. If I never scrape a piece of dried food off the tile floor again it will be to soon!

The lack of time off and the fact that so many of my normal coping strategies for stress or anxiety are no longer options. I work, and DH is great about helping me get some time to myself, but I can no longer decide to just work late if I feel like I'm behind at work (have to pick up LO, or want to be home for dinner and/or bedtime), and I can't just spontaneously go to the gym, or hole up in my room and read a book, or sleep all weekend. I get tired, and I still haven't figured out good ways of recharging myself that are compatible with working and parenting.

I think not having time sometimes to meet my own basic needs... Like right now, I need to use the bathroom SO BAD, but as I was going upstairs making a beeline for the toilet, DH brought her to me and she was clearly hungry, so there was not 10 minutes to wait for me to go to the bathroom. So I'm sitting here, totally uncomfortable, holding it in while I feed her!

And sometimes I'm jealous that DH can do whatever/whenever. I feel guilty saying that bc he helps as much as he can, but if he needs to go take a poop, he just goes and takes a poop! Without a second thought!!! I have to put pooping on the back burner!!! Everybody gets to have bodily function time but Mommy!!!