AceShowbiz - Eva Longoria is finding it difficult to strike a balance between motherhood and work.

The actress and her Mexican TV executive husband Jose 'Pepe' Baston welcomed their first son, Santiago, in June and have been enjoying some much-needed time off work to care for their new child.

As her new comedy movie, "Dog Days", gears up for a U.S. release later this month, the star's maternity leave is coming to a close - and she's struggling to deal with the transition.

"You know what, it's been (seven) weeks, he's seven weeks old, and I've been with him day and night, not working for seven weeks and it's been the best seven weeks of my life. I just miss him so much," she gushed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

"So now comes the part where, as I start returning back to work slowly, (I'm asking), 'How do you balance it all?'" she continued. "Everybody used to (ask) me, 'How do you do it all? You do so many things!' And I was just like, 'Because I don't have kids.' I mean, every project was my baby and now I actually have a baby."

The "Desperate Housewives" star went on to reveal that it's been particularly challenging to leave her baby because she's been with him for 24 hours a day since he was born, and joked that he hadn't recognised her when she put make-up on for the film's premiere.

But the 43-year-old is certain she will be able to cope with the trials and tribulations of motherhood as she confessed she has been preparing for the role for years.

"When people go, 'Your mother instincts kick in,' that's true. I mean you become a natural. But I've been a mom to so many in my life already. My nieces, my nephews, girls through my foundation," she smiled, referencing the Eva Longoria Foundation which supports Latino women through education and entrepreneurship.

"I'm very well educated in this arena. I mean, I made sure I was, I took every class you could take, I read all the books I watched all the videos, and I still continued to learn."