Riding High on Five No. 1s, Scotty McCreery Now Awaits Fatherhood: 'I Don't Think I've Stopped Smiling'

Courtesy Gabi McCreery Gabi and Scotty McCreery

Scotty McCreery has been in quite a pickle in recent days. As much as he loves hitting the road and playing shows, he's found that he might hate something even more now: saying goodbye to his wife.

Who can blame him? She's due to give birth to their first child, a boy, in just a few weeks.

"It's getting tougher and tougher to leave home," McCreery, 29, tells PEOPLE. "My wife and my dog drop me off at the airport and we hug and kiss goodbye. And now she's got a bump, and it's like I'm saying goodbye to three instead of just two."

Jeff Ray Scotty McCreery

Thankfully, McCreery's dilemma is about to end. He'll soon take himself off the road so he and Gabi, his wife of four years, can await the birth together. And when the baby finally comes, it will no doubt be the high point of what McCreery already considers the best year of his life.

"I've known since February that I'm gonna be a father by the end of the year — and then having my biggest song with 'Damn Strait' at the same time," he says, "I don't think I've stopped smiling all year."

RELATED: Scotty McCreery and Wife Gabi Expecting First Baby — a Boy!: 'We Got a Little Man on the Way'

Indeed, the three-week No. 1 song — his fifth chart-topper in a row — has been McCreery's biggest hit to date, and the singer-songwriter has been feeling its momentum begin to shift his career into a higher gear.

"The crowds are bigger, they're more energetic," he says. "This has probably been the best summer we've had as far as headlining shows. As soon as we tease 'Damn Strait' with the music, everybody's up. Their phones are going up. They're smiling. They're elbowing their neighbors. It's been pretty cool."

On Nov. 18, he'll take a victory lap with a deluxe edition of his latest album, Same Truck, which will feature six new songs, including his latest song release, "Nothin' Right."

It's an uptempo laid-back jam that reflects McCreery's always-on-the-sunny side: "Got nothin' to do / Got nothin' but time / If we're gonna do nothin' / Then we're gonna do nothin' right." But those lyrics, which he co-wrote, also seem at odds with his relentless drive.

Says McCreery: "I mean, it's easy to sit back, and you want to celebrate success — and it's been fun with 'Damn Strait' — but now, it's like, what's next? You know, let's keep the train rolling. How can we keep it going and try to come back bigger and better?"

He's been on that train since winning American Idol, at age 17, in 2011, but it's only been in recent years that he feels he's hit his stride as an entertainer and songwriter.

Now he has more than enough radio hits and fan favorites to pack into his concerts. "Before," he says, "it was like, what covers can we do to fill in this whole thing for an hour and a half?"

He also is enjoying a growing confidence as an artist. "There was a time back in 2014-2015 when I was maybe trying to figure out what's hot at radio and how I could get in there," he recalls. "And now it's like I'm just gonna do what I love and hopefully people love it, too. And luckily, it's been connecting."

Over the past few years, McCreery has increasingly put his own experiences into his songs, and he's finding out, of course, that the more he lives, the more he has to write about.

RELATED: Scotty McCreery Demonstrates a Growing Maturity on New Album 'Same Truck' : 'I Had Nothing but Time'

"I remember when I first started, people would be like, 'What's he gonna write about? He's so young,'" McCreery recalls. "That used to really get under my skin. But now I look back and I'm like, what was I gonna write about? Now I've lived a lot of life. I've been doing this for over a decade. I was single when I started, dated for a while, been engaged, been married, and now I'm having my first kid."

That latest life stage is McCreery's overwhelming preoccupation at the moment. "It's constantly on my mind," he says. "I'm so excited. I'm so nervous. I'm so everything. Every feeling that's out there, that's what I'm feeling right now."

Sidney Ashton Photography Scotty and Gabi McCreery

McCreery says his wife broke the news of her pregnancy to him a day later than she'd intended. Her plan was to tell him when he returned to their Raleigh, North Carolina, home from an out-of-town concert, but his flight was delayed several hours, and they had to rush off to a hockey game. Later that evening, he spirited her off to surprise his pal Chris Lane, who was in town for a show.

"Funny enough, that night Chris told me, 'Don't tell anybody but Lauren's pregnant again — we just found out yesterday,'" McCreery recalls. "I was like, 'Congrats, man,' and little did I know, my wife was standing right next to us, thinking, 'Oh, so are we.'" (Chris and Lauren Bushnell Lane's second child, another son, is due a week before the McCreerys'.)

RELATED: Chris Lane and Wife Lauren Bushnell Lane Reveal Second Baby's Sex: 'We Can't Wait to Meet You'

The next morning Gabi finally revealed the positive pregnancy test to her husband while he was still in bed. "And I was like, uh … are you serious?" he says. "I mean, it's something we were wanting. It wasn't a surprise. But the rest of the day, my jaw was just on the floor. I was like, oh my word."

McCreery says the months have flown by since that day, and he and Gabi are now in a bit of a rush to get ready for the baby. He reports that the nursery, with a Winnie the Pooh theme, is almost done (and he expects fans will get to see their efforts in a music video one day).

"We've been painting away, and we just did some board and batten on one wall," he says. "The crib's up, the dresser's up. If the baby came today, I'd feel comfortable with the nursery."

Sidney Ashton Photography Moose, Gabi and Scotty McCreery

RELATED: Who Is Scotty McCreery's Wife? All About Gabi Dugal McCreery

McCreery also reveals he and his wife have settled on first and middle names, but they're waiting for the birth to announce them. He does hint a family name could be in the mix. He also shares what the name won't be.

"I did have an offer from Darius [Rucker]," he reveals. "He said if we name him 'Darius,' he'll pay for college. I mean, I was kind of tempted, but I don't think that name won out!"

McCreery says he's been getting some guidance from The New Dad's Playbook, a how-to manual by former NFL standout and father of seven Benjamin Watson. But so far, the McCreerys haven't put birthing classes on their schedule. His wife, he says, plans on a natural birth.

"I feel like I want to get in there [the delivery room] and just be like, 'surprise me,'" he says. "If she wants to do classes, then that would maybe help us get prepared, but I don't know. I feel like it should be like an 'oh my God' kind of moment."

One reason McCreery is feeling so confident is the fact that his wife is a pediatric nurse, so she knows her way around babies. "I tell her all the time I'm thankful," he says. "I'm gonna do my part, but if the baby coughs, I'm gonna be like, are we OK? And she'll be like, we're fine. She'll be able to calm my nerves, I think, more than anything."

McCreery says he's been leaning into his own skill set: He assumes his son is well acquainted with his singing voice by now since he loves to use it so much around the house. "He's been to a few of my shows in the belly," he says, "and whenever we're in the car and one of my songs comes on the radio, Gabi will always be like, 'Hey, that's Daddy on the radio!' So that's been kind of cool."

McCreery is already imagining his new role, he says, and he intends to be "a fun dad."

"I want to strike that balance of he's my best friend, but I'm also his father," he says. "I'm there to help him, try to raise him to be a strong, respectful man."

Gabi Dugal McCreery/Instagram

For his first months of fatherhood, he says, he's just looking forward to lots of snuggling. "I love to cuddle my dog [3-year-old yellow Lab, Moose], and I'm sure the baby will be even that times a million," he says. After that, "I cannot wait to take him to the ball field," says the former high school pitcher. "And I want to just do all the little things: take him fishing, take him to church on Sunday, all the things I grew up loving. But he's gonna be his own person. Whatever he loves, I'm gonna be his biggest supporter."

RELATED: Scotty McCreery and Wife Gabi Add a Puppy to Their Family: 'This Is Great Training for Kids'

He and Gabi also plan to outfit his tour bus with a crib so they can take the baby on the road. McCreery says he's already received some guidance from Brett Young, who has adapted his bus for his wife and two daughters. "It's doable," says McCreery. "We just have to find what works for us."

In between concert dates, McCreery also will be working on his next album, which he expects to release sometime next year. These days he has no shortage of song ideas; his marriage, of course, continues to be a constant source of inspiration.

"I think we're more in love now than we were four years ago," he says. "I think that's gonna be the case every day."

And rest assured, McCreery adds, "This next record is gonna have a baby song or two."