First time fathering

 When is the right time to have a child? I always planned out a few things that are not super compatible with having a child: Starting a company Riding a motorbike from London to Sydney Riding a motorbike across Europe into Mongolia via Iran Flying the first hydrogen powered aeroplane from Australia to Europe While some of these can still be done with a child the motorbike trips and flying are a bit too risky. So we have to bring some kind of ordering into this decision making process. We can fly planes when we are 60, we can ride motorbikes at 50 if we look after ourselves, having a child has a shorter timeline that if missed is not reverseable.

 This just feels odd, the thought of it feels like we shouldn't be.

 Having a child brings up a lot of really random thoughts, this one came up when listening to a podcast, and at the end the podcaster had a few rapid fire questions, and ended talking about working on being somebody others would want to date being good advice to a younger self. I thought about my relationship with my girlfriend, and wen't through all the things I like about her.  We help each other grow as people We communicate openly and honestly She is smart and thinks differently to most people, not following the crowd or consensus

Keeping this a secret is kind of hard, friends planning yacht trips in Greece for next summer, people wanting to organise motorbike adventures, not telling them means they likely waste effort planning for me to attend, but telling them early on means having to tell them it didn't work out if there is a future issue that results in a miscarriage. I guess this comes from having to tell people you subsequently had a miscarriage if things do not work out, or if the test for down syndrome comes back positive. Currently the plan is to not tell anybody till after the dating scan, which should give some idea of health and then tell people it will affect such as the ones planning sailing trips we will never be able to make till after the downs syndrome test comes back negative around week 12.

Even before the last few weeks my girlfriend has brought up the prospect of having children, I never saw myself as a father, I am not sure why, any other girl who brought this up I would have instantly told them a hard no. This girlfriend is different, I can spend 2 weeks on holidays with her and enjoy her company the whole time, if there is a right person to be with it is definitely her, if there is ever a right person to have a child with it is definitely her. But even with that I just never saw myself having a child, I am not sure why, is it the feeling of being tied down, of less flexibility in doing what I want whenever I want? Is it the holidays, motorbike trips, adventures that I can't do with a child? I am sure this is a new adventure in it's own right, but it is definitely going to be different. Am I just scared of change? Or is it the time commitment? Realisticly 18 years where more of my time is going to be devoted to selflessness instead of just being focused on wha

6 weeks in and today we had the first doctor appointment, pretty seamless overall but the doctor did ask a few very detailed questions on period blood quantities and dates of conception, I felt my girlfriend was a little awkward with one or two of these. Went directly from the doctor to the pathology lab for a screen of tests, first to confirm pregnancy, then a number of vitamin levels, a full sexually transmitted infection test, and to determine my girlfriends blood type which she didn't know. This is starting to seem more real, more concrete. Girlfriend also has a tiny pot belly at about 6 weeks in, but our current timeline is a guess.