Fantastic guy, baby fever, and trying to figure life out. 😅

So I've been talking to this guy since the beginning of January. I met him online, and then talked to him on the phone, then met him in person. He opened doors for me, didn't make any moves before asking permission (I really appreciated this because I had just gotten out of an abusive relationship in October), spoke about deep topics at length with me, and was completely genuine and amazing. He left a few days later on deployment and we spent 6 months emailing each other every day, calling/face timing as much as possible. We talked about everything... our pasts, our hopes, our favorite and worst memories, different preferences for our future like kids, religion, lifestyle, our weaknesses, etc etc. he came back at the end of June and we have been together since then. I have felt a deep connection with him from the moment I started talking with him, and adjusting from long distance to in person has been interesting, but I still think it's worth it because of everything I've gathered about him. He's handsome, open-minded, wants a big family like I do, I can tell him when I'm upset and he is excellent at calming me down and talking things out. We have our hurdles to jump, of course. He has Aspergers and I have Bipolar, so we are learning to effectively communicate these things to each other, and there are a few small differences in lifestyles, but nothing deal-breaking as of yet. Both of us want to build a stable, fulfilling future together. We're still pretty damn crazy about each other 9 months into this.

Soooo... because I've found someone like him, who I think I could actually build a solid future with and be happy with, I have ridiculous baby fever. It doesn't help that literally four of my coworkers have gotten pregnant this year and are popping out babies now/soon. I'm 22, about to be 23. I work full time, and he's in his last year with the Navy, and working towards a job in real-estate investing. I want to go back to school, and switch from working in a shop to going mobile grooming for now. Eventually I'd like to switch careers after I'm educated and maybe do something else that is more lucrative and can allow me to be able to not only help put food on the table but be there to eat it too. I know I have steps to take to reach that point, but in my current situation, if I had a kid with this guy whether planned or not, I'd want to keep it and try to start a family with him. This baby fever gets out of hand sometimes, and doesn't matter where in my cycle I'm at. Last night I cried in my car heading home from work because how much I'd love I'd imagine I'd have for my future child haha. I always wanted to be a younger mom, but I know that in doing that I'm sacrificing a good chunk of time for my personal freedom and growth, especially while the kid is really young.

My question is what do you ladies think? I feel like I'm in a really good place currently, and that I have found a man to build a future worth chasing with. I have areas left to improve in myself, would having a baby mess all that up/delay it a lot? What was your experience if it was similar? I know I'm still young, but this is also around the time I've wanted to start having kids. Gah. Thank you for taking the time to read all this 💕