choose your options
First-time parents treat the relationship like it can wait. It can't. The kid will be fine if dinner is late. They will not be fine if the two of you stop talking.
Three things that actually hold:
A 10-minute debrief after bedtime. No logistics. How you are.
One decision owner per domain. Sleep, feeding, in-laws. Split them. Stop negotiating every hour.
A weekly "we're a couple" block that is not a date night you cancel. Groceries together counts.
Coparenting is not a custody word. It's how you stay a team while the house is loud.