I recently read this article and thought it did a great job of summing up the feelings you have when you have a newborn:
Life with a newborn: 10 things I didn’t expect
by Emily Achenbaum Harris1) The sentence Holy crap you’re my baby! crosses my mind every day.

2) I feel an awful lot like the same person I was before.

3) Calling her my baby or my daughter feels natural, but calling myself a mother still feels a bit like I’m talking about someone else.

4) I actively avoid talking about the baby much with people who don’t have kids (or people who don’t go out of their way to ask about her) because I’m afraid of being That Parent — we all know some.

5) I worry about money more, in a nebulous, ‘what if’ way. Me eating rice and beans? That’d be O.K. if it had to happen. But not being able to provide for her? A scary thought.

6) Weirdly, I’m more social than before. Before, if we were invited out, I’d weigh whether I felt like going, liked the other people who were going, I’m tired, it’s hot, that restaurant is too expensive, what to wear, blah blah. Now? Oh, I’m in and we are getting out of the house.

7) I can get errands, cooking, cleaning, and the business of life done. House Beautiful isn’t coming here for a photo shoot or anything, but things are not a complete disaster, thank God. I’d been braced for me = BP, house = Gulf Coast. If anything, clutter, noise and dirt — that includes from the dogs — irritates me more. That’s probably not a good thing, as things are only going to get messier and louder.

8. The first three months of herlife weren’t easy, but they were less stressful than the last three months of pregnancy.

9) I’d thought breastfeeding would irritate me in a personal space way or something. It’s not nearly as big a deal as I’d expected.

10) She helps me be the person I want to be – believe it or not, a baby is helping me simplify. Simplifying your life has a lot to do with cutting out crap, and that includes unhelpful messages in our own heads: My waist is wide and I don’t know if I can lose the weight. I don’t know “where I’m headed” in life. Wow, they can afford such a big house! Before the baby, when I’d have those thoughts, I had a mental list of mantras and quotes that I’d dig up help remind myself that stuff doesn’t matter. It was an exercise of sorts. Now, I just have to look at her and I just don’t care about all those other things. Cliché. Oh well.

What hasn’t been a surprise? That I’m absolutely crazy-stupid-fierce-wild in love with her.