FAQs

The questions I've been asked the most:

"Is Stephen excited?"

I am thrilled to report that he is very excited; I think he's just as excited as I am! Yay! He's been totally enthralled with the baby ever since the first ultrasound, when he got the first glimpse of our creation and heard its heart beating. He's stoked!

"How far along are you?"

As of today, 13 weeks. Or just beginning my fourth month, however you want to look at it.

"When did you find out?"

At the end of August. We didn't have to wait long to take a pg test, because I started noticing pregnancy symptoms pretty quickly. Stephen even noticed one that I didn't see right away. He "knew" I was pregnant before it got verified because he noticed that a certain part of my body had become larger. I told him I couldn't see any difference, and he replied that I don't have the "discerning eye" that he has. Hahaha...

"How did you tell Stephen?"

Actually, he's the one who told me! Stephen and I both had a feeling there was a bun in the oven, so I picked out a morning to take the test when we didn't have a very busy day and would be able to digest whatever information it revealed to us. The night before, I set the test out on the counter so that it would be ready, but I was was so excited that I could hardly go to sleep because I was pretty sure of what would happen when I took it. When I took it the next morning, I could see the pregnancy line forming within seconds, even though you're supposed to wait two minutes to read the results. So I got back in bed like nothing had happened, talked to Stephen, then asked him to read the test after it had been a couple of minutes. He read it and made the official announcement that we are having a baby!

"Are you going to find out the sex?"

Yes! The anatomical ultrasound is usually done at 20 weeks, which will fall during the week before Christmas. What a Christmas present! I feel like an eight-year-old who can't wait for Christmas to get here. Two months seems like such a long time!

"Do you want a boy or girl?"

We don't care what it is! I eventually want at least one of each, so it really doesn't matter. We both have a feeling that it's a boy, which really doesn't mean anything, but that's our feeling right now. I am looking forward to having a girl one day so that I will have someone to do girly stuff with, and I imagine that Stephen would really enjoy having a boy to play football and basketball with. (He also has plans to turn our son into a drummer!) Either way, we're happy.

"Do you have any names picked out?"

We have a working list of potential names, but I doubt we'll start thinking seriously about it until we find out the sex. And I have always imagined that it would be necessary to know a child's personality before naming it, so we may not decide on anything for certain until we actually see and hold the baby. Stephen pointed out that it should be a word that we don't mind saying a trillion times, so we're keeping that in mind too =)

My dear friend Astrid, who is a fiction writer and word wizardress, fell in love with my maiden name, Ing, because she could think of so many fun names to go along with it. She thought of a whole slew of names to go with Ing one night in Tucson before we had even conceived, and the all-around favorite she came up with is Babble Ing Brooks (get it?). I don't think that will quite make it to the birth certificate, but it's a fun nickname for our little fetus!



This was from Babble's 9 week ultrasound. You can see the arms and legs, which we saw moving during the ultrasound, and the yolk sac is still there by the baby's head. The baby was only an inch long here! Now, four weeks later, the baby has already grown to three inches long and is about the size of a plum! I can't believe how much Babble has grown in such a short time! On the ultrasound this past week, Babble was so much bigger and so much more developed!

An Early Birthday Present

This story starts out bad, but it gets better: One day last week I had severe abdominal pains for hours. I chalked it up to super-charged preggo gas, until I realized that I could actually pinpoint a constant throbbing pain coming from two distinct places far from the usual site of gas pain (ahh, the joys of pregnancy!). It hurt so much that I could hardly walk! But after I got home and laid down, it went away after about 20 minutes. I called the doctor's office and they told me it was probably just "round ligament pains." I noticed information about those in my books, but I just skipped over them because I couldn't comprehend what they could possibly be (round ligaments? huh?) and hoped that it wouldn't happen to me.

That was the last I thought about it until I realized yesterday that all of my pregnancy symptoms have decreased dramatically since then. I know that's supposed to be happening at the end of the first trimester, but it freaked me out because as long as I felt like crap, I knew the baby was okay. All of a sudden I feel like myself again, and that makes me wonder if the baby is still okay. Plus my stomach has shrunk in the last few days, and I look less pregnant now than I did two weeks ago. And I had a dream this weekend that I had a miscarriage (those are seriously the worst dreams!). So I called the doctor again, and instead of reassuring me that this is all normal, they told me that they wanted me to come in and get checked out. Enter panic mode. I couldn't concentrate all day at work, and Stephen canceled all of his appointments this afternoon so that he could go with me to the doctor.

After the mandatory hour-long wait in an ugly and uncomfortable patient room plastered with posters of gynecological disorders and disturbing images of breast exams, the doctor finally made her appearance. We heard the heartbeat on the Doppler (whew!), then I got my early birthday present- an ultrasound!! The baby has changed so much since my last ultrasound four weeks ago. It's over three inches long now, triple the length it was then, and it really looks like a baby! It was making lots of jerky movements, just like it's supposed to be doing at this point in its development. Ahhh... I love seeing our baby! I can totally understand why Tom Cruise did ultrasounds on Katie when she was pregnant. It's the coolest thing in the world! So that was my early birthday present, which definitely makes up for not being able to drink some delicious red wine tomorrow in celebration of turning 27. Who wants to celebrate getting older, anyways? I'd much rather celebrate the new life inside me!

Waiting the Old-Fashioned Way

Now that we've made the announcement, I am so glad that Stephen and I waited to tell our families about our baby until the first trimester was over. Since this is our first baby, we really wanted to wait until the biggest chance of miscarriage was over before sharing the news. Now that I'm almost done with my twelfth week, I feel much more confident about getting our families excited about the new addition. I would have hated to get everyone excited and then have to worry about what if something happened. I also think that if our parents had known how sick I was, they would have been really worried, which wouldn't have done anyone much good since they're hours away from us. However, had we lived in the same town, it would have been impossible to keep it a secret for so long and I would have wanted them to come over and help out when I felt so bad. I was seriously wishing my mom could just move in with us for a few of the worst weeks and take over!

But there were other perks to waiting, too. It was actually really fun to have this special secret between the two of us and to work through all the emotions of it together before getting other people involved. One of my preggo books said that no matter how much you wanted or planned for a baby, you're likely to experience the whole spectrum of emotions after you actually get pregnant. I think that's the perfect way to describe it, even for someone like me, who adores children and has wanted children forever. After finding out I was pg, I went through disbelief and shock, to fear, to stress, to worry, then made a round through the misery of the first trimester pregnancy symptoms. But at this point, Stephen and I are both just really, really excited, and hopefully our tour of the continuum of emotions is at a standstill. We have had plenty of time to adjust mentally to the change that will be coming in our lives, and have come to terms with all the things that could happen along the way. We've also had time to sort of bond with the baby and develop a loving fondness for it. It's so nice to be sharing the news now while we're excited, adjusted, and confident, as opposed to two months ago, when I was scared to death. I don't know if we'll want to wait this long to tell about the next time we get pregnant, but I am definitely glad we waited to tell this time.

Finally... Making the Announcement!

We had such an exciting weekend since we finally got to share our good news! These are some of the highlights from telling our families about it this weekend:

Our Alabama Family
We spent most of the weekend in Alabama, where my mom had invited my brothers and Stephen's parents over to celebrate mine and Stephen's birthdays with a special birthday dinner. Stephen and I debated forever over how to make the announcement to this group of people. We finally decided to surprise them by showing them a 3D picture from my 9 week ultrasound. After supper, Stephen asked everyone to gather around our laptop to see a "cool picture" he'd taken. No one suspected anything at that point because Stephen shows them pictures on our laptop all the time. Once they were all watching, he pulled up the ultrasound, and we waited... and waited... and no one said a word! It had never occurred to me that none of them would be able to recognize a 3D ultrasound because the technology for it is so new that none of them had ever seen one before!

Finally, mom's boyfriend, who's a paramedic, looked at the picture and exclaimed, "That's an unborn baby!" Still, no one said a word, so I blurted out, "That's our unborn baby!" I had expected something like screams and jumping up and down, but they were all so shocked that they were speechless! I guess we surprised them a little too well... I thought everyone knew we wanted to have kids and that we wanted to have them soon, but looking back on it, I don't remember ever talking directly to our parents about it. Most of our friends and family have been asking us forever about when we're having kids, but our parents never did... they probably just didn't want us to feel like they were pressuring us, which I certainly do appreciate. But I really thought they would kind of be expecting us to get pregnant... I mean, we've been married for seven years, we're done with school, we've moved back to the South, we're getting closer to 30... But when I think about it, they probably expected that we wouldn't have a baby until we had a house, and a dog, and a garden... That definitely would have been my preferred progression of events in an ideal world, but Stephen and I took so long to get through with school that we decided to buck convention and have a baby instead. So... I wanted to surprise our parents, and we apparently accomplished that! I didn't mean for it to be that much of a surprise, though! Once it sank in, they started to get excited, and started asking us questions, and checked out their little grandbaby's picture up close.

My brothers, on the other hand, have been asking us about babies for quite awhile, so they weren't shocked speechless. They immediately gave us both enormous hugs, which meant a lot to us. I think they are as excited as teenage guys could possibly be about a new baby in the family.

Dad and Sonya
Dad's reaction is probably the most memorable of all. I called him Sunday night, and after saying hellos, the conversation went something like this:

L: What would you say if I told you that you are going to be a grandpa?
D: No way.
L: Well... you're going to be a grandpa!
D: Yeah, right.
L: No, really!
D: You're just pulling my leg.
L: Seriously! I've heard the heartbeat, I have pictures... haven't you noticed how tired I've been lately?
D: What?!?! Oh my Gosh...

Now, imagine Sonya being in the room with Dad and listening to what he's saying, but not knowing what he's talking about. I could hear her in the background, and her reactions to Dad's reactions went in a progression like this: "What?" "What?!" "WHAAAAT?!?!?!" Imagine her voice going from normal to screaming through the progression, and that's pretty much what happened. It drove her crazy not knowing what Dad was finding out, then when she got on the phone with me and I told her news, I got the screams that I'd been hoping for. It was hilarious.

Once the news sank in with Dad, the first thing he wanted to know was if "the apple has a stem on it." After being informed that it's too early to tell, Dad said, "Not if it's an Ing, it's not!" Only my Dad... apparently he's ready for a boy in the family! Dad asked me lots of questions, besides the one pertaining to the stem, and he seems really excited about having a grandbaby. He even thought to advise me to raise our grocery budget since I will need to be eating more food now. It was very sweet.

Memaw
I will never forget telling Memaw the news. Memaw loves babies. She loves them so much that she had six herself. She was so happy to hear that we're having a baby that she stayed on Cloud 9 for the entire 30 minutes I talked to her. I felt like I had just told her she'd won the Texas Lottery Jackpot. I've never seen or heard her be that excited before, and it was really special to me that she is so happy for us.

Meme
Stephen's grandmother, Meme, also loves babies and when she got the call that we're having one, she was elated for the entire time she and Stephen talked. Stephen had just seen her the previous day, but decided not to tell her then because we hadn't told our parents yet and he didn't think she could keep the secret from them. Meme cracked us up when she lovingly called him a "Booger" for not telling her the previous day. It's so much fun to bring joyful news to Meme. I don't think we've ever had such good news that made so many people so happy, and it's really cool to bring this kind of happiness into someone's life.

My Sisters
I thought it might take me days to get in touch with Jennifer and Emily, but they both took time out of studying for midterms and working on projects for school to talk to me on the phone Sunday night. They were both really surprised, excited, and happy, and Jennifer stayed on the phone with me for an hour to ask me all about how my pregnancy is going. Their support for us is so sweet, and meant a lot to me.

Leslie
Stephen's cousin Leslie probably had the most touching reaction of all. She has always been incredibly sweet and loving to us, and she had already told us in August that she was ready for us to have a baby. When Stephen called her Sunday to tell her the news, she was so happy that she started crying! She was so happy about what a blessing the baby would be for the family. Sweet Leslie!

Jenny and Inna
Over the weekend I saw my best friends from high school, Jenny and Inna, at Jenny's baby shower. They are probably the only friends who I'll have the privilege of telling in person, face-to-face, since all my other friends live so far away. I loved their reactions to the news. I had gotten to the baby shower early to help set everything up, but I wanted to wait until the end to tell Jenny and Inna about our baby. After it was over and people had started leaving, I sat down with Jenny and handed her a card for her baby, Isaac. Inside the card, I had written a note from our baby to hers that said something like this: Dear Isaac, I am really looking forward to playing with you and growing up together. I know we are going to be good friends, just like our mommies. I'll see you in May. Love, Baby Brooks. Jenny read it, and looked a little confused, then read it again, and started squealing, bouncing up and down, and hugging me. Inna read the card and had the same reaction. I will never forget the looks on their faces, it was priceless to see my friends so genuinely excited and happy for me!

We've also gotten many, many sweet and thoughtful messages from our friends and family online. Thanks so much to everyone for the good wishes!

The Bump

It's growing! Last week, I had to start unbuttoning my pants if I wanted to sit down after I ate. Like what happens when you eat five plates of food at an all-you-can eat buffet. Except this happens to me after I eat a meal small enough for a first grader. It was lots of fun to come up with subtle ways to undo that top button while sitting in a room with 75 other people at work. But this week, things have already changed and my pants have to stay unbuttoned at all times (thank God for long loose shirts!). Even my "fat jeans" don't fit anymore. However, yesterday I had my second OB appointment and found out I've lost three pounds since I got pregnant, thanks to two months of nausea and food aversions. So... why don't my pants fit? According to my preggo books, I should have gained about two pounds of fun stuff in my abdominal area by now. Apparently I've gained that, but lost about five pounds elsewhere in my body. Strange. But I don't think losing weight will be a problem anymore, because in the last few days my appetite has been reappearing with a vengeance. Instead of waking up nauseous, I've been waking up hungry, and have been getting hungry every few hours. This could wreak havoc on my already fragile clothing situation... maybe I can start threading a string through my belt loops and tying it together to hold up my pants, covered by a giant t-shirt...?

The sudden inability to wear my pants comfortably has led me to seek out every clothing store Athens has to offer, only to find that this town is seriously lacking in maternity wear. Target had a tiny maternity section, but of course none of their pants were long enough for my 5'9" self. Old Navy has a great selection of maternity wear online, but my order from them won't get here for at least a week, and I can't bear this wardrobe crisis much longer! In desperation, I found one decent second hand store in this town, and found two pairs of maternity pants there that fit me. Ahhh.... relief! Hopefully no one will notice I'm wearing them everyday! Some of the best advice I've gotten from a preggo book is to start looking for maternity clothes before you actually need them so that you won't panic when the day comes that you can't button your pants. I'm really glad that I started looking two weeks ago, when my amazing elastic abdomen started to enlarge, but I wish I'd put in that order at Old Navy sooner!

Pregnant at Oktoberfest

We recently met up with my mom and her boyfriend at the country's longest-running Oktoberfest in Helen, Georgia. This was our first Oktoberfest and it was certainly a unique experience. We made last-minute plans to go, and we decided not to tell Mom our news in Helen because we want to tell her at the same time as Stephen's parents, who we won't be seeing again for two more weeks. (Dad will just have to be told on the phone at the same time.) Plus this was our first time to meet Mom's boyfriend, so we thought it would be a weird time for the announcement... "Hi, it's so nice to meet you! Well... guess what, Mom? You're going to be a grandma!"

I had a very difficult time finding something to wear that did not showcase my growing tummy. I'm already suspicious that Mom is suspicious that I'm pregnant... that is, if she's noticed anything unusual about how I have nothing to say when she asks me what I'm cooking for supper, or how I am usually yawning or freshly wakened from a mid-day nap when I talk to her on the phone, or how I have turned down every offer of alcohol every time I've seen her in the last three months. (At a dinner party in August she gave me a glass of wine even though I told her I'd just have water, so I had to slip it to Stephen when no one was looking!) And I was the only one not drinking in Helen. Luckily, I had the "designated driver" excuse to bail me out!

My First Trimester Top 10

Top 10 Pregnancy Joys
1. Watching Stephen become excited about being a father.
2. Seeing our baby and hearing its heart beat via ultrasound.
3. Learning about our baby's amazing weekly growth and development. (This week, it's forming skeletal bones, buds for teeth, and producing 250,000 neurons every minute!)
4. I have a completely valid excuse for surprise hormonal attacks. Yay.
5. My everyday bra is capable of producing results that could rival a Wonderbra.
6. I finally have a justifiable reason to buy some new clothes.
8. For the first time in years, I can eat fast food without feeling guilty about it... hey, at least it's getting something in my stomach.
9. I can let myself rest and be unproductive for large spans of time without feeling guilty about it.
10. Seeing adorable children in public and knowing that one day soon we will have our own adorable child to love and enjoy.

Top 10 Pregnancy Annoyances
1. Afernoon, evening, midnight, and morning sickness.
2. Indigestion, and all the unpleasant conditions it causes.
3. I was prepared for the alcohol abstinence, but not the deli meats. Nine months without a Subway sandwich is cruel and unusual punishment.
4. Not being able to cook due to lack of energy and inability to withstand the smells of cooking... hence way too much fast food eating.
5. The list of foods I can think about eating without feeling queasy is even shorter than this list. Food aversions stink.
6. The return of my high school complexion.
7. The return of my middle school hormonal roller coaster.
8. Feeling like I haven't slept in days, even if all that I've done all day is sleep.
9. Worrying about the financial stress that our little bundle of joy is going to bring with it.
10. Seeing crying children in public... and knowing that is going to be our reality very, very soon.

Ultrasound Elation

I'm at nine weeks now, and this week's ultrasound was so exciting for both of us. First we could see the baby's heart beating, and we heard it beating at 162 beats per minute. It was music to my ears! We could clearly distinguish the baby's body, head, legs, and arms. Then the baby put on a special show for us and started moving its body! I could have watched that for hours. Our baby measured 2.58 cm, which is about an inch. That's right on target for nine weeks, and confirms the due date for May 6, 2010! We are ready to tell our families about the baby now, but we aren't expecting to see them again for three more weeks! This is a tough secret to keep!

These pics from our second hike in Georgia, which will probably be our last hike for awhile =( I realized during this excursion that walking on uneven ground probably isn't the best thing for a preggers to be doing. I'm so thankful for all the hiking we did in the desert mountains while we lived in Arizona, which was infinitely more interesting than the hiking here anyways. I suppose it's time for SEC football game viewing (as in the Southeastern Conference, the college football conference for Auburn University along with all the other major teams in our region) to replace hiking as our favorite Saturday activity. Not such a bad activity, really, since all I've wanted to do is sit on the couch and yawn for the past month. This is the first time in my life that I have actually been excited about the idea of devoting my Saturdays to football. In my pre-pregnant life, I thought it was mostly a waste of time except to watch the big games. Now, it's the perfect excuse to recline on the couch and rest, and this is the only way I could possibly get Stephen to sit on the couch with me for hours at a time on a Saturday afternoon. Hurrah for the SEC.