As a baby, DD would not sleep unless she was literally on DH or myself. We had to do everything in shifts. Eat, sleep, everything. DH was unfortunately unemployed by the time I gave birth, things were hard financially, but I think I'd have gone mad through sleep deprivation if he'd not been around as much. She wouldn't tolerate the pram, she'd only settle in the sling when we went out.
We tried to get her to learn how to settle in her cot - we tried laying next to her, putting a hand on her tummy to calm her, sitting on the floor next to the cot. In the dark in the light, noise, no noise, putting a piece of our clothing in with her. Nothing worked. She'd scream for hours, literally. I think 7 hours was the record (& I think that was with us mostly holding her to try to calm her). She'd scream so long & hard she'd vomit. And then it then took ages to calm back down - she often went to sleep still half-sobbing, sometimes we could hear the occasional sleepy sob 20 minutes after she'd gone to sleep. This was when she was still a baby, BTW - she figured out a Makaton sign (from Mr Tumble on CBeebies!) & her behaviour changed dramatically within a week). We were desperate & just glad of anything to help. We eventually managed to start getting her to go to sleep on her own when she was nearly 5.
She dropped naps completely by 13 months, unless she was ill. She is the most energetic child her nursery teachers, & school teachers have ever met. They all said, on first meeting her, that she'd sleep well that night, etc. Nope, we told them that was her "normal" state, she runs rings around everyone, she's absolutely exhausting. You would think she was hyperactive, except she can (sometimes) sit & concentrate, when she's motivated to. She eats a massive amount, more than me - people are astonished how much she can put away, until they see how energetic she is. She costs a fortune to feed. She's spot on the middle line for her height (which is bloody tall for her age).
My house resembles an absolute bombsite the majority of the time. By nature, I am a neat freak, but DH & DD are of the "drop it wherever" mindset, & I absolutely cannot spend my life picking up after them. I am disabled & it would be nearly a full time job...
Due to the continual untidiness, the house is also less clean than I'd like. I'm pretty severely allergic to dust. They are both aware of this. I have to take antihistamines all year to cope with the consequent allergy response.(I am also allergic to animals, mould spores, pollen etc - it's not just them causing it!)
DD has been water phobic since birth. Literally, since the pethidine wore off. She's now 7 & it's only since we've been able to coax her to go for swimming lessons that bath time has stopped being a tremendously stressful job. Up until a few months ago she had a weekly bath, as the bathroom would just be soaked due to her thrashing about, trying to escape. As a baby & toddler it was honestly a 2-person job - 1 to hold her in & comfort her, & 1 to wash her. Washing her enormously thick hair was a nightmare. Bear in mind, she's big for her age.
Potty training took over 6 months until she was even vaguely reliable. And we started late (about 3.3 yrs) because she'd flat refused at 2.9 & 3yrs - epic, epic tantrums. We had to have fleece blankets everywhere for months because of the constant failures. Even now, at over 7, she's not 100%.
She is now under investigation for ASD.
Also - finances, pelvic floor, lack of privacy, personal time, difficulty in getting pre-baby body back, etc. Plus family issues with both mine & DH's side. I never would have believed 10 years ago I would have felt like this.