First of all, a massive congratulations to you and 
Okay, now for my take on it, as I went through this joy about 8.5 years ago...
I constantly worry about SIDS
Me too, the amount of times I held my own breath so that I could properly hear hers was just remarkable. Sometimes I would do it five or six times a minute... The feeling passes, especially when you realise the odds of it happening are way larger than winning the lottery.
As far as the waking up thing is concerned, it feels like it lasts for ages, and then one day it is over and you can actually laugh at it.
For me and my girlfriend, the way we dealt with it was like this; maybe it will work for you, maybe not...
First of all we had a sofabed, so for the first seven months or so I slept on that, while mummy and daughter were in bed together. This was great for two reasons.
Firstly, baby could sleep right next to her source of food. Babies are remarkable, and if they are lying near your breast, they can use their neck muscles to wriggle closer and latch onto the nipple. So often mummy could stay asleep (practically) through this process.
It did mean that mummy had to sleep in a bit of a weird position, with arm stretched out.
We were a bit worried about squashing the baby, however we realised this would probably only happen if mummy got drunk, which was obviously never going to happen.
The second reason it was great, was because I got a full night's sleep and in the morning, when she came and put my daughter in my arms with the words; "she needs changing" I was fresh as a daisy and mummy could go and get some sleep (there's no point in both of you being tired at the same time).
We did this right up until she went from breast to bottle and then shared the feeding duties and took turns sleeping on the sofabed.
Eventually we got her cot and put it next to our bedside. It was one of those with a drop-down side and adjustable height. So it acted as a mini extension to our bed. Slowly, over what was probably weeks, we got her more and more used to sleeping in the cot.
Then when she was about 14 months we moved her into her own room, and the rest as they say, is history.
The best quote I have heard about bringing up children is;
"The days go slowly, and the years pass quickly"
You'll notice this in a month or two, when you hear a newborn baby cry and realise how different that cry is from your own cherub's.
Enjoy! Keep talking to parents and friends, and be extra patient with each other.
Much love @Cryptogee.
Oh by the way, I've written a book about fatherhood which I hope to publish soon. If
Bessos! XxxX
RE: 6 weeks in ... the new neurotic me.