When her daughter Blair was born, Vicki Glembocki experienced the first blast of maternal bliss that she assumed would carry her through the next nine months of sleepless nights and all the challenges that come with a new baby. So why was the transition into motherhood so hard? Because no one told her the real deal about what lay ahead.

Finally, one mother gives the unvarnished truth about those first months, from the worry over whether you’re bonding, to the suspicion that you’re the only woman on earth who lacks the “maternal gene.” Funny and brutally honest, Glembocki lets new moms know they’re not alone and reassures them that when someone coos, “Aren’t you just loving every minute?” it’s perfectly normal to think: “No, actually, I’m not!”

And you and your child will still turn out just fine.