The first six months to a year are hard. Catering to the every need of a helpless being incapable of expressing what it wants while you're spinning from sleep deprivation is no walk in the park. If the going gets tough, seek help from family and friends—and rest assured that by the sixth month, things will ease up.
You will experience anxieties you've never had before. Even fearless femmes will tell you that motherhood comes with a surprising side effect of vulnerability—about the welfare of your new child and yourself. Don't be surprised if you are more white-knuckled when flying or driving at night, for example. It's just you protecting your new higher purpose.
Transitioning with your partner requires patience, understanding, and negotiation. Becoming a threesome is about more than setting an extra place at the table. It usually includes dramatic relationship shifts that take some getting used to. Keep communication channels open, remember that you're not the only one undergoing change, and know that with practice you and your partner will achieve newfound balance.
Making time for yourself and for you and your partner will help you maintain the stamina required for caring for a new baby. The key to taking good care of others is to take care of you first, so create opportunities to rejuvenate through exercise, a pedicure, a massage, or a visit with a friend. Setting aside time for your partner, provided you have someone to watch Baby, will energize your relationship as well—and perhaps make you both a little kinder toward each other during grumpy mornings after sleepless nights.
It only gets better—and better and better. Yes, it's a cliché reassuringly doled out by every parent on the planet, but the fact is it's true. With each milestone, the joys of parenthood become more gratifying. Before you know it, the bumpy road to toddlerhood will be a distant, if not completely erased, memory—just in time for you to consider doing it all over again.
