It took 45 years until the blue lines appeared in front me. My partner said, “What does it say?” And I said, “You’re pregnant. Sh..t!”

The rest of it was more of the same. Sh..t! Wow! Bloody hell! We both didn’t know what to feel. We certainly didn’t hug and jump up and down. We just looked at each other and said, “Sh..t!”

It was an hour or so before we started articulating that we were actually happy about it. We both wanted to have kids but never expected to see those blue lines. In fact we tested three more times to make sure. After that we just started laughing at ourselves.

The thought of us being parents was hilarious. I’d been the fatherless middle-ager, never expecting to cross over and Emily was the not-so-long-ago crazy girl.

Once it did start to settle in, and friends and family were through patting us on the back, we began to take it on.

So many pushers. So many children. So many parents. In fact, at one stage there were no childless people anywhere. I found myself constantly dodging “Bugaboos” and infants and grinning parents, all the while trying to keep a lookout for the good ponchos and best playgrounds.

Emily is now in the final stages and has completely transformed into one fully pregnant women. I on the other hand have started to focus on my role as “breadwinner”. I never factored anyone else into my life when I made a career choice. Acting seemed like a good idea and as it turned out it wasn’t all that bad for the last 20 years – as long as no one else was factored in.

I talked about my concerns of being a provider with other men and was pleasantly surprised at how supportive and understanding most were. I was reminded more than once that babies were not expensive and that I would manage as I have always done. I was told not to worry and to enjoy what was about to happen.

A life with less sleep and constant nappies wasn’t ignored but most men I spoke to talked about something deep and meaningful entering their lives for the first time. How everything changed. How things started to make sense. Some talked about gaps in their lives being filled. Purpose and love. I was thrilled with what I was hearing because it was what I believed it should be.

This is not to say there weren’t exceptions. Some of my more independent friends warned me about the demise of freedom, the increase of aging and so on. “No more late nights for you mate.” “Thank god for that!” I said.

I still, however, run the film in my head depicting the gracefully aging actor laughing at the world with a daughter by his side. Then in the next screening the plot changes and I’m on my knees trying to control a wrecked life and a distant child. It’s all so dramatic but then what do you expect.

There are always two sides to a story I suppose, but it’s up to you which one you want to entertain. Most children are born happy. The challenge for me is to remember that.