Me and boyf have been together 3.3 yrs. A month after we got together I found out I was pg with someone else's child. Amazingly boyf stayed with me. We have remained very independent from each other, me living as a single mum, him getting on with his life. It has been very hard and a roller coaster ride but he has been fantastic and neither of us would have it any other way...
But, we recently had a proper concrete conversation about our future and living together etc, and having children of our own. It has completely freaked me out (I had no idea boyf had been thinking about it) and got me thinking about all sorts of things that could go wrong, and am very reluctant to give up my independence! The main problem is, under normal circumstances I don't think we would be hesitating at this point to think about moving in together, and I am really wishing that we had that transition period that most couples have, to live together for a while with no kids/commitments/financial responsibility etc into the bargain. But we aren't ready yet to become fully fledged partners or parenting team (because of his busy life, he is only over 2 times a week at present so our lives aren't very integrated in a lot of ways), but our relationship does need to move on i think somehow before we do live together. We cited 2 or 3 years before we do it, so I was wondering how you others made that transition, to help me figure out how to do it in next few years with boyf?
Having read my preview, i am struck by the fact that this won't happen for 2 or 3 years, you'll be saying you've got loads of time to think about it, loads could change, why are you worrying about it now! Have I answered my own question? 
It's just that the last 3 years have flown by so i know these next few will too! I know i am an excessive worrier about the future!