​If you were to believe the media, baby books, your well-meaning but forgetful mommy friends … bringing home a new baby would be a gauzy, happy, blissful experience. It would be the best time of your life. You and your partner would spend hours gazing lovingly upon this new miracle you created as you lounged on the spotless, new, pastel nursery furniture. 

Guess what? Nuh-uh. Not even close.

Yes, having a child is an awesome and miraculous thing. Yes, you will love that little baby with all your heart and soul at some point (and that may not even happen right away!). But here's what they don't tell you. In between those fleeting moments of awe are a whole lot of I'm-so-tired-I-want-to-Die and Oh-my-gah-why-won't-he-sleep/eat/stopcrying?!?! 

I'm taking a tongue-and-cheek to the whole thing, but here's the kicker… the last thing a new mom needs is a whole lot of pressure to be HAPPY. 

Take that away, and maybe, just maybe, we set up a situation that is not so jarring. Maybe we prepare new moms (and dads for that matter) for the fact that this is going to be really hard. That they are probably going to scream at each other over dirty bottles or dirty diapers or who forgot to mark down the last pee. And that they're going to be terrified, and their moms are going to be overbearing, and that they're going to feel overwhelmed, incompetent and unhappy sometimes and that is totally and completely okay. 

It gets better. I promise.