It's nesting time, you don't have to read her stories, as soon as she sleeps sleep. feed her well, change her, she might cry when you change, you are knackered, it's normal. Some babies don't sleep at all. You will get one hour at most, at a time. It's not the time for the queen of cooking and the cleaning diva, just take care of your body and hers. have meals delivered, and go drop dead asleep when she allows you a little peace. She needs you, you body you, your smell your touch, your heart beat, your food, being wrapped up in warmth. Crying is just talking for them, it does not mean anything, it will not affect her character. She is allowed to cry in public, if you got stares just smile, nobody remember how they were at that age ( yup, we were all evil, my mum says so). The villains are the others. You will always find a mum who will smile. Each day she becomes stronger with your help, she will never need you as much as today. You will get back to work eventually and you will miss those very terrible moments. Until she has a certain weight, she won't let you sleep peacefully, so when she latches ( bottle or mum) let her latch to the brim, you might want to watch if she has reflux, the milk might be too acidic for some children, change her immediately, they poo as soon as they are fed, and then freeze to see if she settles back to sleep. If you breastfeed and you are REALLY really knackered, get a bottle, one bottle or two won't kill you : you will sleep, she will sleep and you can get to know each other in a more peaceful environment, dad can do the bottle feed, just the one, it give you three hours straight of sleep. I breastfed for two years my little ones. So I am not getting you out of your choice by saying that. If you bottle feed, change the brand. A full belly can stop a war. It's a marathon, you are qualified for the job, get your trainers on it's a beautiful ride. When you look at her face, let it sink, every cell, every gaze, every scream, everything: It's pure love, she knew you one way, now you're gone, and she has to meet you, again, and again : it takes a lifetime. She longs for you. It's nesting time, cut the stress and focus on you two, slow the beat, listen to yourself quietly breathing and slowly instilling quietness into this child. While you're falling asleep. Not a joke : Going to the paediatrician for n.1 because he was waking the entire block up, during the examination it did not fail, as soon as the thing was awake the yelling started, if I could be red from head to toe... I heard an overjoyed old man in front of me say in delight : "His lungs function perfectly ! " Yup. THAT, was perfect. She is perfectly fine, It's not a little thing nowadays. The first days of life as the last days are rarely realistically pictured. Feeling lonely is the norm now, vent as much as you need, get out of the house if need be, and don't care about others to the point were you miss the little sunshine. It's normal to feel like you feel, it will pass. Count a 100 days from the birth. At that time you will give yourself a pat on the back and feel like you have crossed a zillion bridges. Lack of sleep makes you feel weird and your hormones are crazy right now and they will be for a couple of month. That makes you a super mum, you wake up just a few seconds before she wakes up etc. Unfortunately this superpower does not last, by the time they are teenager you're always have to guess what is wrong with them Argh. Life.