Yeah, remember that happy ending for my werewolf story?

[agilebrit]

Um. Maybe not.

Part of my problem is that my female protagonist, who was not a werewolf when the story began, is pregnant.

She has now been inadvertantly bitten by her husband, who was unaware of the pregnancy. Bitten by werewolf = become a werewolf, and in this universe, it means you're a pretty regular (although extremely LARGE, and intelligent) wolf for three nights out of the month, and human the rest of the time, including during the daytime during the full moon.

Considering the differences in physiology and fetal development between wolves and people... Dude, how would a pregnancy work? Does she deliver at 63 days, if that putative due date would be during the full moon? Is her fetus a human or a wolf during the moon? What happens after the due date of the wolf, when she's a wolf again? If she delivers a full-term puppy at the 63-day mark, what happens to it after the moon when it becomes human again? Does it turn into this terribly premature baby and die? Or does it turn into a normal full-term baby, even though it's only been in her womb for a couple of months?

See, this is what I get for having a degree in biology and actually caring about this stuff.

Argh. Why did I decide to write this again? Werewolf stories = hard sell, too. *tears hair out*

Comments

[naol.livejournal.com]

If the mum is 'werewolfed', it's conceivable that her unborn child would be too, so why not have the fetus change along with her when she turns into a wolf and, while in that form, develop at the same rate as a normal wolf's fetus? Going on the rules you talk about for weres in your 'verse, that's, what, 27 nights as a wolf fetus in all, not even full days. Plus, every time she she reverts back, so does the fetus, to continue to develop at a human rate. The whole thing would speed up the pregnancy a bit, but wouldn't require much jiggering around with the time line to result in a six month long pregnancy that delivers the world's healthiest looking premature baby.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

*light bulb goes off*

You, sir, are a genius. This is why I love my flist. Thankee!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Hee - I was going to suggest much the same thing. I think that when she is a wolf the fetus is a wolf fetus but at exactly the same stage of its development as it is when a human fetus - so although for an average of 36 hours every 4 weeks (about 5% of total hours of pregnancy) the baby is developing at a faster rate, the over-all pregnancy is still going to be about 95% human length - which as we know would be well within the normal range.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

Then, there's the whole baby shower thing. Do you buy bottles or kibble? Teething rings or chew toys? Hard to know.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

*snerk* Both! I'm betting friends and neighbors would be horrified to come over and find Baby chewing on a rawhide, but I could see it...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

As I wrote in one of my stories based on the BtVS role play game, it brings a whole new urgency to 'Don't put the hamster in your mouth dear!'

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

it means you're a pretty regular (although extremely LARGE, and intelligent) wolf

The key words being 'large' and 'intelligent'. The gestation period of any given species is directly proportional to its size and intelligence. Therefore the werewolf form, if it was a species in its own right and a permanent rather than a temporary form, would not have a 63-day gestation period. It could just as well be 126 days, or 189, or any other length that you saw fit to decree.

And she would not turn into wolf form carrying a foetus at 'x' number of days' development werewolf-time anyway. She would turn into a wolf carrying a foetus at 'x'% of development, equating to a different number of days' development werewolf-time.

Remember, the world record lifespan for a wolf is 20. A 20-year old bitten by a werewolf doesn't turn into a geriatric wolf too old to hunt; (s)he turns into an active young wolf. A 25-year-old bitten by a werewolf doesn't drop dead of extreme old age at the next full moon!

Apply the same rules to foetal development and you will be fine.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Man oh man. I've been angsting about this for three days...

*looks up gestational periods for big cats* How interesting. I've always assumed that they were the same as domestic cats, but it looks like they take about a month longer to develop. Shows what I know. Pft to my biology degree!

Thank you, very much! My poor feeble brain was obviously taking far too literalist an approach to this.

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there was a discussion about this on fernwithy's blog a while ago--I don't remember if there was any consensus at all, although I think people generally agreed that the human fetus couldn't survive the wolf's transformation. But if you're making lycanthropy genetic as well as...transmitted by a bite...then I could see it working.

[mermaidrain.livejournal.com]

How pregnant was she when she was bitten?

You could go the "Blade" route, where the mother was transformed slowly but not enough that it would transform the baby in total. (Blade was born with some vampire skills/tendencies, but can walk in the day, etc.)

Or if she was very pregnant you could go the "Ginger Snaps" route where the change doesn't occur until the next full moon (or at least 30 days away) and then have your protagonist quickly give birth. If you figure a pregnancy doesn't show until at least 4 months, and sometimes not until 5 or 6, you could play with a timeline here.

And yeah, all my references were to movies, I realize that. ;)

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

What a fascinating conundrum. Puts a unique spin and sense of suspense on the story, or it could played right.