When did things ACTUALLY get better? When did you have a little bit of a life? For moms who struggled past 6 months

Please don’t comment if your baby slept through the night early on, you lost all your baby weight bfing, your life went back to normal so easily and you have tons of help so you have a social life. I want to hear from moms who lived in the trenches a bit longer. Moms like me. I’m so sick of a million and one things, but never my daughter. My baby is 8.5mo and my life feels so small. So much is just around her sleep and feeding and bfing. I wake up with her at 5am, (sometimes can get her to do a snooze button feed till 6) she goes to bed at 7. I go to bed at 830. I’m in bed at 8. She goes to sleep independently but wakes at 2am to feed. That’s fine.

But I have zero life. I get to read in bed from 8-830 every night. That’s my fun. No movies, no tv (unless I’m bfing and she can’t see) No dinners with friends. No self care. From 7-8 each night I might get to have a bath, but in general I’m doing some chores.

I feel like from 5am-7pm I never stop cleaning/moving/doing. Grocery shopping (if I ever get to do it alone) is a treat.

And I’m just so fucking lonely. So much of this is that it’s winter and although there are moms in my neighborhood (we moved here three months ago) no one is outside.

My friends with kids live 40 minutes away, which isn’t far, but when naps don’t align it might as well be fucking mars.

I exercise an exciting 30 minutes day, and finally am losing weight from doing intermittent fasting supply be damned, but my body feels wrecked from breastfeeding. My neck is misaligned, shoulders hunched, back hurts. Do I have time for chiro? No. Massage? No. I have no time.

When did things ACTUALLY get better? I feel like every one I know with a kid 8mo or older is actually doing things, living life, looking good, feeling better. But sleep is not getting better. My boobs are still huge and uncomfortable. I’m still 10 lbs heavier. I still have zero life. Sorry for the rant but I need some glimmer of hope.