Friday 12 November 2010

The good in everyone

Round 29: January 2030

last update/next update

Rose and Joanna Draper are both 35 and Sylvia is 4.
(Abigail is 47, Amelia is 41 and Wade is 40)

Narrated by Rose Draper

Before Sylvia started pre-school, I thought it would be a good idea to talk to her about it, just so she knew what she'd be in for. I thought she'd be so excited but her reaction was a little underwhelming.

She was even less impressed once she found out the school she'd be going to was not Joanna's school but a different school entirely. She didn't understand why she couldn't just go to school with her mum.

She got over it though. By the time her first day rolled around, she was so excited when we were waiting for the bus.

I was way more nervous than she was. She hopped on the bus with barely a glance behind her.

Once Sylvia came home, it was clear that she loved pre-school. All we heard about was how fantastic Mrs Gray was.

Right after dinner, she wanted to do her homework, just to please Mrs Gray. She really loves her teacher!

We've also discovered that Sylvia loves books, which we're both thrilled about.

She loves TV too but we're trying to encourage the books instead.

So on Saturdays, Joanna has been taking Sylvia to the library. Now that the library has a children's section, Lia has started doing story time. Sylvia loves it!

It does means Joanna has to socialise though, which is always a bit hit or miss.

Joanna just does better with people she knows well. She's always been a bit of a hermit and just doesn't have any interest in making more friends.

Joanna's going to have to get used to it though. Now that Sylvia is making her own little friends at school and elsewhere, eventually we're both going to have to deal with their parents.


I'd be happy to take on the bulk of that but I earned a promotion recently though and part of the deal is that I have to work weekends.

I'm supposed to be able to leave at 6 but lately, I haven't been getting out of the office until 8.

Every time I turn around to leave, Abigail is there with more work for me. I love that I'm getting to write real stories now, instead of horoscopes and sports reports but the workload is unbelievable.

Abigail says it will get easier when I get used to the workload, though there'll always be the occasional late night.

I hope she's right. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot at home.

Sylvia's already fast asleep when I get home. I miss spending my weekends with her.

At least Joanna and I still get to spend all of our evenings together.

For the past few months, Joanna and I have been talking seriously about adding to our family.

I'm so excited that Joanna's on board with this! I want to start right away. I wanted to start two years ago but Joanna wasn't sure about a second child then.

She definitely wants one now but we want to try artificial insemination this time and Joanna is a bit worried. Because we don't know how my body will react to pregnancy and because I've just started a new position at work, Joanna thinks we should wait until I've settled in for another few months.

I don't really want to wait much longer. I'm not getting any younger and I don't know how hard it's going to be for me to get pregnant.

I was pretty sure Joanna wasn't going to budge on waiting but I suggested to her that if we weren't going to start the actual process yet, then we could at least start preparing. Get all of our ducks in a row, so to speak.

Joanna was actually very agreeable to that. Joanna feels more confident planning for things in advance and the planning process makes everything seem more real to me.

We would be willing to use an anonymous donor if we had to but when we decided to try insemination this time, the first choice for both of us was Joanna's brother Wade. It's definitely an awkward request to make of somebody though, no matter how well you know them!

I was so amazed but Wade agreed to it right away. I always expect him to react to things the way Joanna would. I forget how easy going he is about most things.

We told him he wasn't under any obligation to say yes and that an anonymous donor was always an option. But he was very keen to help us and about as unfazed as you possibly could be by the request.

Amelia was a little taken aback by the request but the more we discussed it, the less uncomfortable she seemed.

We're so happy Wade and Amelia are okay with this. Joanna and I are both more comfortable with a donor we know, especially someone we know as well as Wade.

We've brought up the possibility of a baby brother or sister with Sylvia and she's not too excited about the idea. But she was very anti-pre-school when we first brought it up (like she had a choice!) and now she loves it. So I think she might come around.

As for me and Joanna though, we're both very excited (and a little nervous) about having another baby!

We have a preliminary appointment with a doctor next week and after that, we can look at what we need to do and decide when we should go in for our first round.

Notes:
  • Title is from The Good in Everyone by Sloan.
  • I've used HoodReplace on Sullivan, so if things look a bit different, that's why. I'm still placing everything just so. It's going to take a while to get it looking the way I want, so I'm just making sure the areas around the lots I play look right. I'll get there eventually!
  • Rose is not pregnant. Yet. Because I'm a nerd, I actually looked up the success rates for artificial insemination and as with everything, it depends on a few factors but it ranges between 5-30%. Because there's no actual infertility here, for Wade or Joanna, I'm imagining that the main factor counting against them is Rose's age, so I'm going to use 25% as their chance.
  • Game play wise, this is what I'm doing: every "month", I'll roll to determine whether Rose gets pregnant or not. If she doesn't, I'll try again the next month. If she does, I'll use InSimenator to have Wade impregnate her. Once she has the baby, she and Wade will be listed as the parents. I'll then send the baby to the adoption pool with SimLogical's teleporter cat and then have Joanna and Rose call to adopt it. Or maybe I'll just attach Joanna as the other parent with SimBlender. Hmmm. I'll decide when the time comes, as I'm not planning on having them start "trying" until May or June.

18 comments:

  1. Oh yay! Another baby for them, hopefully soonish! Sylvia has the funniest reactions, I'm glad she's enjoying preschool.

    Great idea to have Wade as the father, then you get those genes to continue on. Lucky for them he's such a laid back guy.

    I hope things get easier for Rose at work, can't help but think that adding a baby to the mix isn't going to make her less busy.

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  2. Sounds interesting the rolling of the die, so would you keep rolling the die while playing other families, or only while in thier household. Then if they get pregnant-pop in there to impregnate Rose? I wonder how the parents are going to react? It is a bit akward and I do want to know more about Amelia's response.

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  3. I'm caught up!!!

    I can't wait to see how this plays out. :)

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  4. I really love the library scene. So cute. Looks like the kids really enjoy story time. LOL

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  5. Ha, you came up with the dice rolling system! Do you mind if I use it in the future too? :)

    I loved the library scenes, the children's section looks so cozy.

    I'm so glad Wade agreed to be the donor. The baby will have genes from both families. I was thinking at first to do the same for Patsy and Camryn, to make Camryn be the one to get pregnant and Charlie be the father. I just don't see Camryn as the type to want to get pregnant so I chose Patsy as the mom and an unknown donor as the father.

    Great update :)

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  6. Great update. Sylvia is so cute and I loved her reactions to school and the new baby. Looks like she's going to be a handful in the future. And I'm so glad that they'll be adding to their family! That's great that Wade agreed to be the donor. Maybe we'll have another "pretty" boy on our hands with the cute nose! I like how you're handling the odds of her getting pregnant thru insemination. Can't wait for a surprise birthday update stating that she's pregnant :).

    I liked the library scenes too but I also liked seeing Rose when she was at work. I liked seeing the familiar faces in the background.

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  7. Hooray for another baby! I'm glad Wade was okay with it but I wonder how Amelia will feel once it actually happens......BTW, Sylvia is so cute!

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  8. Oh wow, how is Sylvia a little girl already!?! That went by so fast! So I'm glad they're thinking about having another!

    This has got to be the weirdest for Amelia, I think. Just imagine the idea of another woman carrying your husband's baby, lol! As odd as it sounds though, it also makes complete sense, so that they can add to the family in a realistic and biological way. I think it's neat! :)

    I would just use SimBlender, rather than go through that whole adoption ordeal. Though then Joanna would miss out on getting her baby memory, if you're worried about that.

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  9. Thanks for reading and commenting, everyone!

    Maisie, yeah, hopefully soonish! We'll see how the dice roll goes!

    Heh, some kids have those reactions more than others and Sylvia seems to be one of them. Caitlin does a lot of those stroppy faces too. It's too funny!

    I can't really imagine Wade being anything other than cool with a request like this. Amelia is another story. ;)

    A new baby will definitely mean Rose will be busier but Joanna is more worried about miscarriage due to stress but also because she would be considered "advanced maternal age", now that she's 35.

    Apple Valley, yes, I'll roll the dice while I'm playing other families and then pop back into Rose and Joanna's place if they're successful.

    Adam wants another grandkid, so he'll be ecstatic but I can't picture the other grandparents having any issues with this either. Amelia is not completely comfortable with it though and I'll deal with that a little later (I'll have to do some kind of mini-update, maybe when they start the process).

    Riverdale, heh, I want to actually start using all these lots I'm doing, so I thought story time would be a fun little thing. Sylvia is a Film & Literature Sim, so it's the kind of thing she'd enjoy.

    Sari, no, go ahead! It's not that revolutionary. ;) In the future, I'm planning on adjusting the odds according to maternal age and other factors.

    Wade is the perfect choice for Rose and Joanna, personality wise but also genetics wise. He and Joanna look a lot alike, apart from their colouring (Wade is one of a couple of Sims in my hood who turned out darker than both parents because of a grandparent). The main reason Rose is the one who'll be pregnant is because Wade is Joanna's brother, but I think it works out better for each girl's personality too. I don't see Joanna being desperate to be pregnant either!

    Danielle, I'm very curious to see Sylvia as a teen and adult. I'm wondering if she'll look anything like Kendal, or if Kendal would have looked like Sylvia as a little girl.

    I would love it if the kid looked like Wade! Wade looks a lot like Joanna anyway (except for the eyes), so the baby really could end up looking like a mix between Rose and Joanna.

    Ha, Steve and Anna? I can't imagine Anna being too thrilled about working on a weekend but I think she's a sports columnist, so she'd have to. Steve must have just been picking something up, because I don't think he works on weekends. LOL, it's fun for me to do those workplace scenes. I can't wait until I have more workplaces (like an actual journalism lot, for instance!)

    Mizzgin03, I'm hoping Amelia can come to terms with it before the baby actually gets here. There are a few months before they even start trying, so we'll see.

    Laura, I know, crazy, right? It seemed to go by extra fast because the way I scheduled my updates, she was only a toddler for one update and lately, a lot of my toddlers have been in that stage for two.

    This is definitely strange for Amelia. At the heart of it is the fact that Amelia wants another baby and Wade does not. So this stings a little bit for her. I'll have to slot in some kind of mini-update to deal with it.

    The memory is what I'm trying to decide if I care enough about! Because no matter what I do, someone's going to have a wrong or missing memory. If I do it the long way, with the teleporter cat, Rose will have a memory of adopting the baby, when in real life, only Joanna would have to adopt it. I think...I haven't researched that, because adoption is the only way to do it in game anyway. But if I use SimBlender, Joanna would get no memory at all.

    Dammit, EA...why didn't you design the game so I could do whatever the hell I wanted, 100% of the time? LOL.

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  10. I'm so happy they are going the have another baby! And I like what you did for the donor, this way the genes still come from both sides of the family.
    You've given me an idea for my lesbian couple!

    I love Sylvia's reactions to everything! Since she likes preschool in the end, I think she will turn around and like the brother or sister too.

    That scene in the library! I love it!

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  11. Oh, funny that you wrote about a dice roll for fertility treatment - I just wrote about thinking about exactly the same thing, in my most recent update! Your system sounds good, can I 'borrow' it in future - saves me having to come up with one of my own :)

    I love that you're using a relative as the donor, too... In their situation, I probably wouldn't have thought of that, would have just used a random townie or something.

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  12. "This is definitely strange for Amelia. At the heart of it is the fact that Amelia wants another baby and Wade does not. So this stings a little bit for her."

    Oh, break my heart!!! :( That's definitely worth at least a mini-update! Sounds like you could make a good few stories out of it! Awww!

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  13. Ooh yea I forgot to comment on what you said about Amelia. The poor thing :(. Well, he's not *really* having another baby since he won't be raising it. But I can definitely empathize. They should have had a private discussion and then got back to the girls later. I vote for a mini update too (or 2... depending on how things unfold).

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  14. Looking forward to the mini-update too!

    It's interesting what you can do with the game using the different mods, I'm impressed.

    The scene in the library was simply precious, and I am going to have to borrow that idea for my hood! :D

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  15. I love how you use different characters to do the narration, really adds to the flow of the piece.
    Also I ADORE that kitchen! Can I ask where you got it?
    Lovely sets and shots!

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  16. Tanja, ah, can't wait to see how you use this in your hood! I'm considering upping the odds though because I read a little more last night and they give you fertility drugs before they try the insemination. So Rose's fertility might be boosted anyway. Hmmm.

    Well, I hope Sylvia will come around to the idea of a brother or sister. She's a little spoiled though, so we'll see.

    Thanks!

    Blackcat, I saw that but didn't say anything because I'd already seen that you'd commented here. But yeah, go ahead and "borrow"!

    I actually don't know if I would have thought of a relative myself, normally. I think Laura might have planted the idea in my head when she asked if Calvin or Aaron had a female relative who would consider carrying a baby for them (answer: no, but Maia would probably do it) and then the wheels started turning!

    Laura, yeah. :( I'll have to think some more on it to decide how I want to write it. I've never really done a non-birthdays mini-update before and I've been thinking something like this merits more than a cursory mention in one of the birthday posts.

    Danielle, true but the baby has a good chance of looking like Wade, seeing all three of their kids do (even Sophie, the only one who inherited anything at all from Amelia apart from hair). And yeah, it was quite sudden and Amelia really didn't have a chance to come to terms with the idea before Wade agreed to it.

    Kiri, it's like a completely different game, with all the mods! I could never give up all my hacks (about 400!)

    I would love to see how you do this with TS3. I find getting Sims to be in a particular area when I want them to in TS3 really hard. I've added your blog to my Google Reader. :)

    ~Drew, thank you! A long time ago, I figured out it was more fun to write in first person and over time, it's become easier for me too.

    That kitchen is by Buggybooz and you must head over to MTS right now and get it! It has lots of pieces and comes in a ton of colours. Very versatile!

    Thank you.

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  17. Another appropriately titled post! How kind of Wade to agree so quickly. I love that it threw Rose off a bit how easy going he is compared to Joanna, lol.

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  18. Lunar, Wade really wants to help his sister out here but he hasn't considered the repercussions for Amelia. But he'll be forced to soon enough. ;)

    After living with Joanna for more than 10 years, Rose would be used to coming up against opposition left, right and centre. Joanna and Wade are not quite alike in that regard!

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