I recently gave birth to my second child — a beautiful, smart, healthy, smiley girl who has been mastering her coos. I love her to pieces, and she charms the pants off of anyone who walks by her.

Everyone talks about how sweet and angelic newborns are. They talk about how infants will never be this little again. How this stage where they cozy up and fall asleep on your chest is fleeting.

Totally true.

So, you can imagine what a monster I feel like for saying this (publicly — on the internet — no less!):

The newborn period kind of sucks. Well, let’s face it — it doesn’t kind of suck. It really sucks!

Moms, please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way!

Right now, my precious baby girl eats, sleeps, and poops. She cries, she spits up, she has gas pains. During the day, she’ll fall asleep in my arms and need to stay there to stay asleep. Goodbye, cooking! Goodbye, cleaning! Goodbye, any hopes and dreams of getting anything done.

My life has been taken over by an eight-pound ruler. She literally sucks out all my energy, she tortures me with sleep deprivation, and she has taken over my house with all her things.

I am taking a three-month maternity leave. This means I go back to work when she will start to be fun. Daycare will get to experience most of her milestones — first giggle, first time sitting up, first time crawling, and so on. They will get to interact with her in ways I will only be able to enjoy on the weekends.

Since she’s my second, I know things will get better. (They will, right?) I know she will become more independent and she will sleep better (I hope). I know that as I distance myself from the newborn period, I will become nostalgic for it. I will miss smelling her sweet little breath. I will miss holding her when she is milk drunk. I will miss her little fingers circling themselves around mine.

But, for now, please let me acknowledge that the newborn period really sucks!