Pete Davidson is grateful to be in a better place in his life as he prepares to welcome his first child with girlfriend Elsie Hewitt. "Thank God that I'm sober," Davidson, 31, said during the Tuesday, September 23, episode of Theo Von's "This Past Weekend" podcast, adding that he "wishes" he had "more time of sobriety because it's only been, like, a year and change." Despite wishing he had gotten sober sooner in life, Davidson said he's "very grateful that it happened now," while he is with Hewitt, 29. He explained that, in the past, he wanted to have children for the wrong reasons and wasn't actually ready to be a parent. "Because, you know, in other relationships or when I was a drug addict and, you know, very mentally deranged ... like, that was my goal. Like, I need to have a kid. I need to get married, like, because that's how I grew up," Davidson continued. "All my aunts and uncles got married at, like, 21. And they knew each other since grammar school. And they had three kids by 26. ... But I was so not ready." Pete Davidson Is 'Stoked' to Become a Dad: 'Never Been More Excited' Davidson, who has been open about his struggles with drug addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders, added that he didn't know who he was at the time and admitted that he's still "learning" about himself. "But there was no f***ing way that that was possible [for me to be a parent at the time]. And I almost think that's why it didn't happen, because I was like, 'I need to do this. I have to do this.' And no one wanted to do that with me," the King of Staten Island star continued. "But I think I knew that. And that's why it was like, I stopped dating and I was like, 'I need to f***ing get better.'" Davidson said he realized he needed to get to a place where he could be in a healthy relationship with someone and let go of the pressure of having children. Pete Davidson, Elsie Hewitt Elsie Hewitt/Instagram "So I'm really grateful it happened now, and I wasn't looking for a relationship or looking to ... obviously I wanted to, but I wasn't looking to have a baby. And it all just kind of happened at once," he added. "And it's been, like, awesome." Davidson concluded, "I'm, like, relieved it's [Hewitt]. And just it's, yeah, I'm f***ing excited, dude. It's awesome." Hewitt announced that she is pregnant and expecting her first baby with Davidson via Instagram on July 16. "Welp now everyone knows we had sex," the model captioned a carousel of photos and videos, including a snap of her ultrasound and a clip of her and Davidson at a doctor's office. Pete Davidson Felt 'Guilty' Girlfriend Had to Publicly Reveal Pregnancy Davidson broke his silence on the pregnancy in a July 22 interview with Entertainment Tonight. "Well, I honestly couldn't be more excited. As you know, it's been my dream forever since I was a little kid," he told the outlet. "The baby's mother is one of my favorite people to ever exist ever. She's going to be a great mom and I'm just stoked." Pete also remembered his own father, Scott Davidson, who died during the September 11 attacks on New York City's World Trade Center. "I hope to be ... the dad I hoped that I would have," he said.