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MAKING BABIES - Woohoo and Waiting
Previously, and then some

When we last saw the Mileses, Jonah had just been promoted to Snack Hawker and Bronwen was on the verges of a promotion with a second opportunity to get a new guitar composition. It is now over a week on. Three days on and both Bronwen and Jonah have been making advances in their careers. Bronwen is now a Band Manager and Jonah is now the Toddler Sports Coach.

I was intending to give them a rest, but things have changed.

As sometimes happens when I am writing a review or series of indepth articles, something comes along to change my plan of action. Apart from offline life being quite demanding lately, my sims decide they want me to carry on paying attention to them for a while longer. Originally, it was just Bronwen but then Jonah wished for it as well. I could have cancelled these wishes but I did have ideas to look at this part in detail later on. I agreed that what they wanted is also important and can take priority. So much for my playing God.

They want to have a baby.

Trying for a Baby

Both of them, however, have wishes for their first child and Bronwen especially wants it to be with Jonah. Perhaps that might be a good job she has not met anyone else yet. They have been planning for a few days. There has been the annoying frustration of both being willing and unwilling. Let me explain. Both Bronwen and Jonah have the ability to initiate woohoo and trying for baby. This is just what they need. However, every time one of them initiated it, the other rejected it.

Finally, however, we think that they might have struck lucky. The old familiar (to me, anyway) Relax On Bed, Cuddle On Bed, Kiss, Make Out and Try for Baby sequence paid off. Sparks flew and the musical box theme announcing a successful attempt was heard.

The waiting game to indicate things may be going according to plan was a short one. Bronwen was soon being sick in the toilet, which is now a semi-transparent green. However, despite having the nausea moodlet preceding it, there was no guarantee that it was pregnancy-related or it might have been down to the charred waffles that she had made for breakfast.

Note - Sims can only woohoo or try for babies in beds. Previously, sims could also do the deed in hottubs, changing booths and cars. As there are no hot tubs yet, there are no clothing stores and the cars can only be interacted with to go from Point A to Point B, that only leaves beds, which is disappointing. I hope that EAxis will come up with more places for sims to have fun of that nature and help propagate the sim species.

Intermission - Kleptomaniac at large!

Whether she was pregnant or not, after her shift at work, pregnant or otherwise, Bronwen felt the urge to swipe something. After all, she is a kleptomaniac. In a theft that makes Bart Simpson's decapitation and theft of the head of the statue of Jebediah Springfield appear like he had stolen stealing a packet of winegums, Bronwen went into the park and stole the complete Stately Statue that was in Central Park. The whole thing. We have wondered for a while how sims can store almost anything on their person, but a massive statue is something else. I am now assuming a sim pocket is like the Tardis. You can fit a lot more in it than it outwardly appears that it could take.

And now back to our usual program.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy is quite simply confirmed. The announcement comes, the expectant mother changes involuntarily into maternity clothes and is given maternity leave for a minimum of 4 days. She also gets a positive +20 moodlet for all of the time that she is pregnant. However, this can often be offset by negative moodlets of soreness associated with the aches and pains of pregnancy.

Pregnancy does not just affect the mother. A lot of wishes start flowing in for both expectant parents. One of them might wish for a girl, the other might wish for a boy. Sometimes, both of them may wish for the same. Also, one of them may even hedge their bets and have wishes for one of each. If they have enough free wish slots, it's 5,000 LHPs. That is a big reward for a wish. It is enough for one minor reward or quite a bit of a boost towards a more expensive reward.

Other wishes include wanting to read a book about pregnancy. There are two books on the subject and are both available at the bookstore. They are "Baby Incoming: Preparing with Vigilance" and "Totally Preggers: An Expectant Mother's Guide". Be warned, they are not cheap. At ยง200/each, it's quite a hit to the family finances and for 350 LHPs, it's questionable whether it this wish worth it. However, pregnancy is an important time and you need baby's arrival to be a good one. Buying at least one might be worth it.

Listening to the tummy, stroking the tummy and talking to the tummy are interactions that can be made with the expectant mother.

Other wishes are to buy things for the new arrival. A cuddly toy is a popular one. Only 250 LHPs but it does give that fulfilled moodlet. Other things sims wish to purchase include a crib and a high chair.

At this point, I am going to voice my opinion about Maternity Wear. When a female sim becomes pregnant, she immediately loses her usual choice of clothing and gets four outfits of maternity clothing covering Everyday, Sleepwear, Athletic and Formal. I hardly think that they are going to win any fashion awards. What is more annoying is that there is no option to edit them in any way. So much for "Customise everything". I have no objections to the expectant mothers having to wear that style of clothing but I do object to them being stuck with the same colours. Personally, I think the top from the Everyday Maternity looks like a rejected submission for a new urban camouflage pattern.

Intermission - Changing the Life Wish

We again interrupt "Making Babies" for a brief newsflash about Jonah.

Jonah has now got over 10,000 LHPs and can now afford to buy the Lifetime Reward of Change Lifetime Wish. As I had originally planned for Jonah to be a Superstar Athlete, I am going to spend the points to change it. The advantage with this one is that if the chosen lifetime wish is not there on the list of available choices, the sim can turn down the change and not spend the points. It is there. The points are spent. He will probably continue gardening as a hobby, though, as it is a shame to waste what he has already done.

And now back to the "Making Babies".

Written at 03:14 on Tuesday 23 June 2009 by Andy.

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