most difficult job

Why didn't anyone tell me how hard this was going to be? yes, of course I had heard countless times from mothers the phrase "motherhood is the most challenging job, but also the most rewarding." But for some reason I always thought they meant a hyperactive toddler or a rebellious adolescent. I didn't think they also meant rearing a newborn. It is by far the toughest thing I have ever done. Way tougher than labor itself. See labor was relatively easy for me because I trusted my body and the naturalness of birth, and I viewed contractions like interval training - the 1 minute of pain is bearable simply because you know you will have 2-5 minutes of rest between each one. And you know that at one point it will all be over with. Parenthood is forever. There is no such thing as a water break, or a weekend or sleeping in. Attending to and aiding little Eddie meet his most basic needs, simply put, to eat, sleep and poop, is all I do, and it has compromised my ability to attend to my own basic needs. Today all I ate was a 1/2 bowl of cereal and a vitamin water (of course that is just breakfast and lunch; once my husband gets home, I eat - we had braised lamb, potatoes and cauliflower). I know that part of my challenge is Eddie's fussiness and neediness, but mostly my own motherly instinct to respond to his every need even if it means allowing him to nap on me because that's the only way he can fall asleep.