I got married 4 years ago, my wife's last name was the only thing that changed. It may not be true for everyone, but ring or no ring, the relationship is still the same. Starting our family was a bigger change and raising a baby without any support during lockdown wasn't the easiest thing, but it's so rewarding.
It seems pretty normal to be anxious about those changes, personally I was glad to get the wedding day behind us and life got back to normal pretty quick once we didn't have to worry about planning an event.
Children seem almost temporary, which sounds weird, but we had a pregnancy, then we had this fragile little infant, then a baby who cold roll over, a baby who could crawl, a baby who could stand, then a toddler, now a toddler who keeps learning new words and always wanting hugs. Having an infant was tough, but that time flew by, then we started getting smiles and some real interaction, we got to know her and it has been fantastic. Then we had to do a bunch of extra child proofing because she was crawling everywhere, then she started standing and we had to find more stuff that needed child proofing, then she started climbing and running, more child proofing. You just take it one day at a time, some are easy, some are hard, but they're all rewarding. I've been going through a tough time lately and my family is the best way to keep myself together, sometimes I want some alone time, but more often than not getting a hug from my little girl is the thing that pulls me out of anxious thoughts.
It's also amazing watching how naturally people take to being parents and the amount of resources available throughout the process is amazing. When you're worried about something in the middle of the night you just call any one of a long list of 24/7 support services and they'll help you every step of the way.
Best of luck with everything, if you're anything like me, you'll probably do a few swaps between anxiety and excitement, it's a lot to have going on in your life.
