I'm taking a year out to stay at home with my new kid. I'm terrified -- my wife did most of the heavy lifting during the day while I worked last time 'round. She didn't have too many complimentary things to say about the experience.
If you struggle, keep your mind open to looking for and experimenting with small tweaks. I've discovered that details such as how tightly a nipple is on a bottle (keep it somewhat loose so air can exchange), or looking for signals like thrashing legs (gas? need to poop?) can make a huge difference. Treat it like debugging code, if that's a domain you are comfortable in.
And may you feel no shame in reaching out for help. I've never understood humility in the way I do now, and I'm grateful that I do.
I wish you the best!
After that, we're seriously considering splurging on a nanny... I like to think of it as an investment in my sanity.
The time spent doing this not only builds inter-generational ties but also seems to build up our parents' health: we have found that they perk up and snap out of old age haze when their grandchildren are around. In the long run, this can only be a good thing.
Our first is due in April, and this thought bums me out a bit. But we live in different countries, and moving home just isn't an option, so, shrug.
I am fortunate in that I can take time off to meet our grandparent obligations, but damn it would be easier (and CHEAPER) if everyone was in one place!