I'm still trying to decipher what normalcy is now — my priorities are so different. I'm totally engrossed in raising a child, yet I'm sort of nostalgic for my previous life. I didn’t realize that a lot of friendships wind down or fizzle out completely when you have a baby. I thought my daughter would be surrounded by tons of aunties (my girlfriends) and they would be showering her with love and attention. Not so much. I also thought I’d still feel close to my friends, despite having a kid. But I don’t really get invited out much and no one really contacts me to come visit us. I kind of fear that my single friends feel like I’m out of their club, because I’m not dating or partying anymore. So, I kind of had to mourn the loss of that old part of my life. But I’m old as hell and I dated and partied a lot, so I know I’m not missing much — but I do miss the intimacy of good girlfriends.I'm trying to connect with other parents now. One way I'm doing that is through my podcast . I like the idea of sharing trade secrets, and talking to my guests also helps me realize that truly every kid is different. One told me she cuts her baby’s nails while she’s asleep. I was totally dumbfounded! We can’t even flush the toilet while our kid’s sleeping!I had a pretty quick and easy recovery after birth. No peeing when I laugh. I love what my body can do, and did do, for me: a quick and relatively easy, unmedicated birth and provide nourishment from my breasts for the past year. I hate the way it looks. I look like a brown, stretch-marked Grimace from McDonald’s. I’m a solid 20 pounds overweight and I have to roll up my pendulous boobs to stuff them into my ugly-ass nursing bra.I barely have any sex drive whatsoever. My husband and I had a whirlwind relationship that was heavily based on sex. Now, that's not the case. I informally schedule sex two or three times a week just to make sure that when my sex drive does finally come back (hopefully after I'm finished breast-feeding), we won't have lost our comfort level. I don't know. I really don't want to be in a sexless marriage. I may not have a lot of carnal instincts lately, but I have a ton of emotional needs and regular sex helps me feel connected to my husband so we can keep on keepin' on.I honestly expected to feel more torn about being away from my baby all day, but I have no guilt about being at work. I know she's in good hands. I also thought that I would be a terrible mother and that I was too selfish to have a baby, but it turns out that I'm pretty good at it. I'm a total nervous wreck — I'm constantly thinking that every tiny decision we make will have a huge impact on our baby, either detrimental or beneficial; I don’t know which — but at the same time, I take things in stride and just do what needs to be done. Pumping at work, middle-of-the-night feedings, not washing my hair for days, making sure my partner is truly being a partner and not just "helping me." Being a mother really forced me to prioritize what is actually important to me. I'm surprised I can do any of this!It comes and goes, honestly. When I’m dealing with her babyness, I don’t really think of myself as a “mom,” because it’s all still a novelty. But when I think about the longterm-ness of parenthood, I feel terrified. Like, is she going to rely on me the way I rely on my mom? Who authorized that? There must have been a mistake.Names have been changed.