Andrew Firestone and Ivana Open Up About Baby Brooks
 Eric Charbonneau/WireImage |
Since becoming first-time parents when they welcomed their son Adam Brooks on March 21st, Andrew Firestone and his wife Ivana are soaking up their time as a family of three. Showing off baby boy Brooks in the May 4th issue of Us Weekly, the happy couple share that they are thrilled to be entering into this “new chapter” in their lives after having been blessed with their son.
The newlyweds dished on their son’s name — he will go by Brooks — explaining the A-B trend in the Firestone family line: Andrew Boulton; his brother, Adam Brooks; and their father Anthony Brooks, the baby’s early arrival and how dad helps out when Ivana goes to see the New Kids on the Block!
Read the full interview below! To see photos of Brooks, pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
Brooks was three weeks early. Did you panic when you realized he was coming?
Andrew Firestone: “I was in bed falling asleep, watching TV, and Ivana gets into bed and suddenly says, ‘Oh, my God, we’re going to have a baby! My water broke!’ Most of my life is calculated and planned; this was totally out of left field. I was like a Keystone Kop, running into things, picking stuff up, putting it down.”
Ivana Bozilovic Firestone: “My heart was beating so fast. You’ve waited for this moment for so long and all of a sudden it’s here!”
AF: “So we shoot down to the hospital, and I park right at the emergency entrance and run inside. I go, ‘My wife’s going to have a baby!’ And the nurse looks at me: ‘Who is?’ I go, ‘Oh, no! Ivana’s in the car!’”
IBF: “I was laughing: typical Andrew so flustered. Then, as I walked in, my water kept going … in front of Rob Lowe. I don’t know why he was there, but it was mortifying! Everything was great, though. We knew Brooks was going to be big, so the doctor decided to do a C-section. I checked in at 11:30 p.m., and before I went in for the C-section at 6 a.m., they told me I should nap. I was like, I can’t sleep now!”
And you waited to find out the sex?
AF: “When I first heard him cry, I didn’t know yet if it was a boy or girl, but I was so elated. Then hearing, ‘It’s a boy!’ — amazing.”
IBF: “Andrew was the biggest sweetheart. He was next to me the whole time, telling me how much he loved me. He was the one who told me it was a boy! Oh, I cried. It was complete love. You want to pinch yourself: Is this really my baby?”
How did you prepare?
IBF: “I read everything! I wanted to learn about it all and then figure out what worked best for us. Because every woman is different.”
AF: “It was weird that the websites would describe the child as food: Your child is the size of a lima bean, now he’s the size of a snap pea, now a kumquat. It’s like, I don’t even know what that is! So, what, I go to the produce section to figure out what my child looks like?”
And now he looks like…
AF: “I think he looks like Ivana, which is a godsend for him. His eyes are definitely her, and his chin — he’s got a little cleft chin. But he’s got his dad’s big hands.”
IBF: “He’s starting to look like a baby now. He’s so serious — like a little businessman!”
Did you talk to the baby in utero?
AF: “Every night and every morning. At first it was kind of awkward, just a little, ‘Hi baby.’ And then eventually I would just talk to it about what was going on in sports or what was in the papers. He went through very emotional NFL playoffs with me. His first full day of life, he was sitting with Dad watching the second round of the NCAA tournament!”
Very hands-on!
AF: “Ivana is breastfeeding, but she’ll pump as well, so I take the morning session. I’ll feed him, take the dogs out, make coffee. And when she and her girlfriends went to see New Kids on the Block, the boys were home drinking beer, eating pizza, and watching movies.”
Your hopes for him?
IBF: “We want him to follow his heart. We’ll support him in everything he wants to do.”
AF: “Just this morning, I was looking at him, wondering, ‘What are you going to be? The world is your oyster. Are you going to be an artist? An athlete? A scientist?’ As a parent, I guess you have to give them every single option and see what they excel at.”
Tell us about Brooks’ baby gifts.
AF: “If you give him an outfit, he’s going to grow right out of it, but a book he’ll have forever. So we had everybody give him a book and put a message inside so he’ll always know who it’s from.” (Some titles: Good Night Moon and The Cat in the Hat.)
Mom got a gift too.
AF: “I got Ivana her dream car, a white Range Rover. I know it’s a tough economy, but the sales guy was a recent father as well, and I said, ‘Get me the best deal in the world.’ And when Ivana came out of the hospital in a wheelchair, I had the car waiting, wrapped in a big bow.”
IBF: “I didn’t need a present, I had just had a baby! But that’s Andrew — he does things in a big way.”
Ivana, does the baby weight worry you?
IBF: “I didn’t want to be consumed with that, so I made it a point not to look at the scale. I would guess I gained 30 pounds. After six weeks, I’ll do a stroller boot camp, plus my trainer and Pilates.”
Have you gotten a lot of parenting advice?
AF: “My sister Hayley lives down the street, and she’s been a huge help. And Ivana’s mother has been staying with us quite a bit.”
IBF: “Everyone’s been so helpful, but they really want us to figure things out for ourselves. They’re letting us just be parents and learn as we go, which is great.”
Source: Us Weekly; May 4th issue
