Friday 4 March 2011

When it began

Round 30: March 2032 (Autumn)
Rose and Joanna Draper are both 37 and Sylvia is 6.
(Lake is 75, Kendal is 56, Amelia is 43, Wade is 42, Rob is 31, Patience and Josie are both 30, Troy is 29 and Michael is 4 months old)
Narrated by Joanna Draper

Rose and I started our first artificial insemination cycle in May two years ago and at the time, we were cautiously optimistic.

We knew Rose wouldn't get pregnant right away but we didn't think it would take this long.

I mean, Rose almost declined when Patience asked her to be her bridesmaid, because she thought there was a good chance she'd be pregnant by then. That seems laughable now. Patience and Rob have been married for a year now and we're still waiting.

If Patience gets pregnant before Rose does, I think that's going to be hard for both of us, especially Rose.

This whole ordeal has been really hard on the both of us.

I've broken down a few times over this. I'm really not a crier at all and I've surprised even myself. There have been moments where I've questioned whether I want to keep going with it at all but I really do.

I want another child for myself and for Rose as well but also for Sylvia. I sometimes feel guilty that we haven't given her a sibling.

She's a really sociable girl and I think she'd enjoy having a brother or sister.

We've brought up the topic with her and she seemed pretty keen on the idea of being a big sister.

At least, she was keen on it after we assured her she would still have her own room!

It seems like everyone else but us is busy having babies recently and it's been hard to watch. Rose's stepbrother Troy and his wife Josie are expecting a baby in July.

I'm trying not to begrudge them their excitement but it's a struggle a lot of the time. I've had to bite my tongue a few times.

Wade and Amelia had a baby in November as well, which Sylvia was pretty excited about. Michael is the first cousin younger than her, so she's enjoying not being the baby of the extended family any more.

I think Wade and Amelia having Michael has been harder than dealing with Josie's pregnancy.

We're happy for them but we're both insanely jealous at the same time.

On top of that, Michael's mere existence confirmed that everything was fine on Wade's side. Rose started worrying that maybe there was something wrong with her.

I had the same worry but I didn't say anything to Rose. What good would that have done?

Logically, we knew there was nothing wrong with Rose physically. Dr. Sitko assured as of that every time we went in to see him.

Every time we walked into that office, we were prepared for bad news. I don't think I can describe how stunned we were when we finally got some good news: Rose is pregnant!

We were stunned, to say the least. We made him repeat it a few times, because we just couldn't believe it.

Rose really hadn't had any symptoms at all, bar one instance of some slight nausea a few days earlier. Neither of us thought anything of it.

Dr. Sitko said that wasn't so unusual. Some women just display fewer symptoms than others.

I don't think either of us are going to complain about that though. We're just so excited that this is finally happening.

At the end of the appointment, Dr. Sitko congratulated us again and we headed back home to Sylvia.

We were planning to keep it under wraps for a while but we've ended up having to tell way more people than we planned to.

Lake and Kendal were watching Sylvia for us while we were at the doctor's and they basically guessed we'd had a good appointment as soon as we walked in the door.

Then we couldn't really tell Rose's parents and not tell mine, so we had to tell mine too.

Dad is beside himself. He's always been a very enthusiastic grandfather.

Wade knows, of course but he's the only one of our siblings who knows so far. He's promised to keep it quiet.

We had meant to not tell Sylvia until later but we've ended up talking about the baby a lot with her. She's excited and very curious as to how the baby got in Rose's belly.

We told her a while ago that Rose and I can't have a baby together but that a man and woman can and now she's pressing us for more details.

It's hard to know what to tell her sometimes. Once we give her as much information as is age-appropriate, she still wants to know more. It's like she never grew out of the "why?" stage.

We'll have to come up with something before the baby comes. Rose is due in December, so it'll be a Christmas baby.

After all the time it took to get here, we both have our fingers crossed that this is a completely uneventful pregnancy with a healthy baby at the end of it.
Notes:
  • Title is from When It Began by The Replacements.
  • So Rose and Joanna's number finally came up! I ended up rolling way ahead, so I could plan for this and March 2032 was when "pregnant" finally rolled up! I was very excited. I may have cheered. This just took so long! But I guess I'm kind of happy with that, because it seems somewhat realistic as well.
  • Just in case it was still unclear, Rose and Joanna are definitely not the couple who got pregnant at Aaron and Calvin's wedding. That is yet another couple, who are included in the poll options. So we have two babies on the way. :)

16 comments:

  1. Yay, a baby finally! I would love to see a screenshot of how you rolled for the pregnant/nonpregnant for them. Also, WCIF Rose's shirt and is there a RL version as well? :P

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  2. Apple Valley, oh, a screenshot wouldn't be too interesting, I'm afraid and probably not too helpful either! I just made myself a little "pregnant/not pregnant" file with Hook's Random Stuff and set the odds to what I wanted them. Then I just rolled once for each month, until "pregnant" came up.

    Heh, I can't help you with a real life version but Rose's outfit is by BBKZ at TSR.

    Thanks for reading. :)

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  3. I'm happy for them! This was a little sad in the beginning, seeing Joanna upset is a first! I'm glad they are going to have a baby, and Sylvia will be a big sister. I'm really anxious to see the genetics at play here.

    And oh man... it would have been horrible if Wade and Amelia had their son, and Joanna and Rose never had a baby. But, like you, I'm glad it took a while. It does take time, and I think things are better for it. A richer story, if you will.

    They have a really lovely home, I like this one quite a bit. The layout is nice, and the decor is very fitting for this family. The funniest thing to me is how much taller Rose is!

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  4. Maisie, it did start out sad but Rose and Joanna waited for a long time and they were pretty disheartened. I'm excited to see the genetics too. I think the baby has a good chance of looking like what a child of Rose and Joanna would. Even if the baby gets black hair like Wade, that's still totally plausible as Joanna has a non-expressed black hair gene.

    Oh, I think that would have been heartbreaking, if this didn't work out for them. I think they would have given up, eventually. It's been a stressful time for everyone but I'm happy to have been able to include that. But I'm also happy that now they're getting some happiness.

    And thanks. I've been wanting to redo the bedroom in the same warm colours but may not bother. We'll see.

    Rose and Patience are both tall - they get it from Lake. Rob is only a smidge taller than Patience, if I remember correctly.

    Thanks for reading. :)

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  5. I'm so happy for them! I love it that you made it so real, that it took some time. Just the other day I heard a radio interview with a couple who went through fertility treatments for 8 years before finally having a baby. It was so heartbreaking to listen to them telling about those years when they kept trying and trying.

    I've never seen Joanna so upset, she's always hidden her feelings so well. I'm glad it all turned good in the end.

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  6. Oh yay a baby for these two!! I'm so happy for them and so excited to see this baby!! I felt so sad for them seeing the picture of Joanna crying! It can't be easy when everyone around you is having babies, and it just doesn't happen for you! But in december they will be having their own little christmasbaby!!

    I adore Sylvia! She's so cute and sweet, and just sys what's on her mind! I like that in children because it's sweet when they do that :)

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  7. Congratulations Rose and Joanna! I really like that you showed their problems getting pregnant, it seemed very realistic.

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  8. Sari, yes, when you compare them to some real life couples, Rose and Joanna actually got pregnant pretty quickly. Fertility treatments can be very gruelling and emotionally exhausting.

    Joanna is not the emotional type but at the same time and she's not the type to want to cry in front of other people either. This is probably the most stressful time she's ever been through though, so things are quite overwhelming for her.

    Thanks for reading. :)

    Tanja, Rose and Joanna deserve a little happiness, after their long wait (which is not that long compared to real life, true!) For a long time now, there have been no babies in their family at all, so two arriving in such a short span of time has been exciting for everyone but definitely tough for Rose and Joanna.

    Sylvia doesn't seem like the kind of kid you can fob off with superficial explanations to me. She would want the details, lol!

    Thanks for reading. :)

    Sarah, I'm glad it seemed realistic. It's not something I've had firsthand experience. I've had a few friends go through similar things though and based some of it on them.

    Thanks for reading. :)

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  9. Aww! I'm so happy they finally got pregnant! All of that worrying and waiting, and now they have something to show for it. :)

    Sylvia's curiosity is so funny--I love the picture where Joanna is looking a little panicked and shrugging on the couch. :)

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  10. Rachel, I was so happy to finally roll "pregnant"! It might be realistic to go years and years but I didn't really want to, lol! They've waited long enough and there'll already be a 7 year gap between Sylvia and the baby.

    I wrote that whole scene based on Joanna's panicked shrugging! It all just seemed to fit together - child was asking too many questions!

    Thanks for reading!

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  11. Aw, they're pregnant. That's sweet! The whole jealousy and tears in the beginning was hard to read. It's realistic that they'd have trouble at first and that it'd take time. How stressful something like that must be when they want it so bad, especially when seeing that others with their new babies.

    Of course it's also tough to see Rose being sad at all.

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  12. Lunar, isn't it exciting? The waiting was difficult for them and it was hard for them to be excited about anyone else's new babies when they weren't sure if they were ever going to get their own. :(

    Rose is normally quite positive but this would probably wear on anyone. Come Christmas though, their family will be complete.

    Thanks for reading!

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  13. Oh wow, how awful it would have been if Rose and Joanna never got their baby after Wade and Amelia had another. (Dude, that's the stuff of a Lifetime movie! LOL) So I'm very glad it worked out in the end for them!

    Yay, new babies! :)

    I'm still looking forward to seeing who got knocked up at that wedding!

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  14. Laura, ugh, yeah, that would have been terrible. I took super good care of Rose because I was so worried about a miscarriage. LOL, Lifetime movie!

    Is there ever a lack of new babies around these parts? Unfortunately for my population, no, there's not!

    The poll is now closed but I promise I won't keep you waiting too long to find out who got pregnant at the wedding. ;)

    Thanks for reading!

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  15. Aww while reading this I was feeling so bad for them. But yay! I'm so happy that they're finally going to have a baby! I really like their faces when David gave them the news that they were pregnant. And Sylvia looking so confused at how the baby could have gotten in Rose's belly. But it was really touching seeing Joanna so upset since we never see her that way.

    I can't wait to see what the baby will look like. It's great that the baby will be a good mixture of the 2 of them even though they can't physically have a baby together.

    LOL @ Lifetime movie. There definitely would have been some tension if Rose never conceived, or if she conceived right away and Amelia didn't. You should submit those 2 scenarios to Lifetime TV ;).

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  16. Danielle, it's been a tough road for Rose and Joanna but it's finally paid off. They'll need to have a talk with Sylvia - maybe once the shock wears off!

    I think that's why Wade was the perfect donor for Rose and Joanna. Colouring aside, he looks a lot like Joanna. I'm very curious to finally see this baby. :D

    LOL, I bet Lifetime have already done a ton of movies with these kinds of storylines. They know how to bring the melodrama!

    Thanks for reading!

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