the preggy report: February 2087

Lisa Sanchez: 5 weeks

As little Julian Sanchez nears his second birthday, Lisa and Carlos are beginning to dream of a sibling for him. The timing could be better, to be honest. Money is tight, even though Carlos just landed his dream job as a game programmer for the brand new Gamers Den arcade and development company. But they want a big family, and they think a humble upbringing will hearten their children ... or at least they don't feel like it should keep them from going off birth control while they wait to see what happens.



When she almost spewed her breakfast all over the avocados at the farmer's market, Lisa knew that she wouldn't have to wait very long to see what happens. Baby Sanchez can be expected later this fall.

—

Tessa Morton: 10 weeks

Nausea came as a huge surprise to Tessa Morton. She and Sheldon had tried and failed to conceive many times since Reid was born. Reid was a blessed fluke, they knew. A one-off consolation prize. However their stars had aligned that year, and even though they would have loved another addition to their family, they understood that it would probably never happen for them again.

Having lost pregnancies before, at six weeks, at seven, at eight, Tessa knew better than to get too excited so soon.


Starting over with a new baby after a thirteen-year gap would be difficult, but they were open to the idea. Reid never wondered for a moment whether his parents wanted to add another child to their family, but approached with the idea now, he accepted the news with the standoffish enthusiasm of a typical teenage boy.


Tessa followed her doctors orders with cautious optimism, knowing that her age, thirty-nine years old, and previous history of miscarriages would put her at a great risk that this pregnancy wouldn't last long.


At ten weeks, just before she was due for her first prenatal appointment, she woke up to cramping and her greatest fears were realized. 


Although she never had much hope for another child, she would have been elated if it were to happen. Instead, she now knew with certainty that their family of three was as complete as it would ever be.

—

Aliyah Sylvester, 25 weeks

In her second trimester, having regained her energy and not yet feeling uncomfortably large, Aliyah felt like it would be a good time to secure herself a suitable nest before the baby came.

Problem was: the charming duplex she had her eye on was now off the market, and none of the other rentals looked good enough. In the end, she convinced her parents to loan her a down payment so she could browse the homes for purchase instead.

On the outside, this home looked fine enough.


On the inside, it was pretty average in all regards. Aliyah wasn't very impressed. It was small, with narrow hallways and tight corners, and the tiny kitchen made her sad.

"I just don’t think I can host a dinner party here," she told her real estate agent.

"Sorry to break it to you," her realtor said, "but I don’t think you’ll have time for many dinner parties once the baby comes. Playdates, maybe, but toddlers don’t care how big your kitchen is."

"Toddler?"

"Before you even know it! They grow up so fast!"

That was how much and how fast Aliyah's life was about to change.


In the end, this house had a nice balcony off the master bedroom, it was in a safe and quiet neighborhood, and it was even nearby Angelo. The only other alternatives were right next to the train tracks and covered in coal dust, in the sketchiest part of town. No thank you. Or else in the glitziest part of town with a view of the bay and a built-in pool and an exorbitant HOA fee. Wouldn't that be nice some day?

But this would have to do for now. It was the best starter home in the district, and rumor had it the playground would get a revamp in the coming year. 


A playground for her soon-to-be toddler—things like that were what mattered now.

— 

Blossom McCarthy, 38 weeks

Blossom went into labor a little sooner than expected but with no cause for concern. As first-time parents, Blossom and George arrived at the hospital quickly and full of anxieties. But the intern on duty told her that it wasn't time to call her doctor out yet—her contractions would need to come a lot closer first.


The intern left them to let her labor progress. George timed her contractions by the commercial breaks between breaking news cycles.


When night turned into morning, her sister-in-law Amy came along for the next day's shift. Blossom was happy to have another familiar face at her side for the delivery.


After eighteen long hours, it was finally time. For real, this time.


At 10:33 a.m., their baby boy finally made his debut!


Welcome to your life, Abraham George McCarthy!


Blossom was exhausted from the long labor, but otherwise in good health.

Abraham got a visit from Aunt Vicky. 

And Grandma came to show everyone how to change his diaper, since nobody else could figure out why he was so upset.


After a short and restful hospital stay, mother and baby are happy to be back home and settling into their new routines together.

—

Welcome (sort of) baby Hope!



Adorable Hope Phoenix is bub #2 to Piper and Hayden Phoenix, littlest sib to Summer and Ryanne. She was first born in that muddy time when I was transitioning all of my sims between the future and current timelines, and I eventually settled on a "birth" date for her in February of 2087. (Hence the reason why Ryanne was spending some extra time babysitting Luca.) However, we can't age down toddlers to babies, so she'll just have to endure a very long toddlerhood. (Better than an extra long babyhood!)

She is pictured here with her big brother Luca, age 2. The two of them together are like a mini Piper and Hayden, even down to the eyecolor, I think, lol!

—

gameplay/story notes: I installed a miscarriage mod by Little Ms Sam a few months ago, the version with super low odds. I'm not looking forward to ever having a truly unexpected miscarriage in my game, although I suppose it will happen eventually, but I wanted the mod to add gameplay for when a sim has rolled an ROS miscarriage in my gameplay. That is kind of what happened with Tessa. 

I usually roll my pregnancy ROS when my sims are around 6-10 weeks, which would be about the time of the first prenatal appointment, but a week or two after the positive pregnancy test. To be honest, I had completely forgotten to turn off Tessa's fertility, and it was a bittersweet moment to see her get pregnant by accident. I considered the surprise happily at first, knowing that she always wanted another child, while also knowing that I'd have to write knots around the future stories to explain how and why Reid suddenly had a sibling. Then there was another sad relief to know I wouldn't have to alter the future stories after all because there wouldn't be a second child. A sad sad story. :(