People often talk about the difficulties of new motherhood, you know, sleep deprivation, sore nipples, and having all your time be taken over by the baby. I'll admit that there have been some real challenges such as the sleep deprivation, initial difficulties breastfeeding, sore breasts, occasional evening crying marathons, and the overall feeling that my body is functioning about as well as a broken wind-up bath toy. One month into it, I'm finding that the greatest challenge for me is not so much caring for the baby in and of itself but all the stuff I can't do- or at least is much more challenging to accomplish- as a result of all the time and energy consumed by baby care.

For example, I wasn't a great housekeeper prior to his birth but now the challenge of keeping any semblance of cleanliness and/or order in the apartment is tenfold. I probably wouldn't care so much if I wasn't home so much of the day, every day, witnessing dirty dishes in the sink, cluttered kitchen table and the explosion of baby clothes in the living room from all the new stuff that's been given to us since he was born.

Every time baby is asleep and not in my arms, I feel the pressure of deciding what to do with those precious minutes. Sleep? Shower? Eat? Prep dinner? Do yoga? Clean? Organize new baby clothes by size? Do laundry? Most often, I get as far as showering and eating and even then, I often feel lucky to get that much done.