I don't know how y'all's undergrad experience was, but the worst, hardest day of college is at least ten times easier than an average day of having a baby.
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.
The terrified feeling... yes. We have three under two (twins and a singleton), and I felt that way both times. Especially right before the birth. Both times I was relieved to realize that things became more predictable and manageable than the worst-case scenario I had in my head. Every situation is different, but I sincerely hope yours is similarly manageable.
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.
The one thing we learned with the first one is that it takes a tribe to deal with a newborn: I simply don't understand America's desire to go it alone with newborns. I've got a list of grandparents, siblings and other assorted people coming through and staying with us for the first six months after her arrival.
After that, we're seriously considering splurging on a nanny... I like to think of it as an investment in my sanity.
My first child is three weeks old and I have a very similar support group in place. Yet even with all the help, I too, am strongly considering a nanny - I feel the thought alone is an indication that I've already lost my sanity haha
We did not have support or family close by, I deeply regretted this, doing it all our selves has been really hard, and our kids don't know their grandparents, aunts uncles cousins. It's sad really.