Beautiful baby boy #1 Blake Ronald Brinton. Blake is named for his Grandpa Brinton(Steve's Dad) whose first name is Ronald. This is significant because Blake was the first Brinton Boy Grandchild. Now, I know what all you Brintons are thinking right now...what about Kaden and JT??? Well, Steve's older sister had 2 boys before we had Blake but their last name is not Brinton....they are Burgarts. Steve thought it was fitting that the first boy to carry on the Brinton name be named for his grandfather. I agreed! Actually each of our children are named for one of their grandparents. Maren Anne after my mother, Blake Ronald after Steve's father, Evy Diana after Steve's mother and Micah James after my father and also Steve's middle name is James. We decided to just play around and have fun with the first names.
Alright, alright!! Back to Blake! I had a hard time finding a belly picture for this one! I kept trying to avoid it! These are the best I could do.
I don't know why I tried to avoid the pictures so much. I guess you just always feel so huge. I was probably the healthiest when pregnant with Blake though. Maren and I would take a lot of walks and I have a trusty Kathy Smith Pregnancy workout that I did faithfully every day of my pregnancy (except for weekends) right up until the last week or 2. I think I am actually in Labor in the second picture. Well, enough about me - let's get on to the cute stuff!
Blake was born on July 10, 2000. I wish I could remember the times...and I don't know where all my baby bracelets are...I know I kept it all. I'll find it and add that info in later. Again, Shonna was there for support and to videotape, but this time my mom was able to be there. YAY!! It was a good thing too because this labor was completely different. It was, well, much more difficult and exhausting...which looking back now was kind of a 'foreshadowing' of Blakes' personality. =) Here is the Cutie!! He's just a few hours old.
I didn't have an epidural with Blake either and, looking back now, I should have. I was too much of a chicken. I thought that I would be the 1% that ends up paralyzed. Anyway, it was a loooong labor, very painful and difficult, 100 times worse than with Maren. I couldn't seem to work with it or relax. I did not progress at all, and I got increasingly agitated until I finally gave up (more like freaked out!) and let them put in an IV to give me some morphine. I'm sure Steve and my mom were getting frustrated with me. At this point I had been in hard labor for 9 or 10 hours and I was still only dilated to a 3!!!!! You women reading this will understand me. Well, the morphine knocked me out between contractions and within an hour I was pushing.
I actually do remember now that Blake was born just after midnight, because he was almost born on his due date! It was about 12:30am. I was so excited to see him, but of course there was complications. He took a long time to breathe, he had been in some distress during the labor and my fluid had not been quite clear so the pediatrician had to check him out before we could get the all clear. I think that's where a lot of his lung issues stem from.
Look at this proud daddy! There's nothing like a first son!
Blake had a rough time during his first few months of life. We were also a very busy new little family and so that played a big part in things as well. The very first thing I noticed about him was that he had a tongue-tie. I was concerned but my doctor put me at ease and didn't seem too concerned about it as long as he learned to nurse fine. Well, long story short, we finally had his tongue-tie clipped when he was 9 months old. This was after months of struggles with nursing, eating, weight issues, sleeping issues(from being hungry all the time) and many, many doctor and nurse visits. He was a different child afterward and seemed to explode in his development. His temperament was better, he ate better, he slept better and that helped me be more sane.
It was a big adjustment for me going from one child to two. I felt very isolated where we lived on the Northside, and Steve had the car all day, every day, for school and work. He worked 2 jobs and was going to school full time... even through the summer so he could finish early. He was also the YM president in our ward. It wasn't until a few years later that I realized that I went through quite a serious Postpartum Depression after Blake was born. I am glad that we all came through just fine though... and I learned a lot about myself during those hard times.
I'll post a few more picture of my little character here and then I think I'll start another one...this one's getting a little lengthy. Blake was an interesting baby. He was the absolute cutest thing. When he was happy he could melt my heart or keep me in stitches laughing. But, he has a bit of a temper which we are still working on. Most of it was because he was not eating properly because of his tongue problem, so that meant he didn't sleep well and it tended to make him a bit cranky. He did not like to be cold, still doesn't, and he hated having a bath. I'm happy to report that he has improved in that area ;)
With all of that said, Blake is my Tenderheart. He is sweet, sensitive, thoughtful and sincere. He always has been. Just look at those eyes and his cute little smile!!! He loved to cuddle... I can always count on him for a good hug!
This has been good for me! Sometimes it's easier to remember the bad things...and when I look at the pictures of my baby boy and relive the memories... all the good stuff comes back too! What a sweet spirit Blake has. He was sent to our home for a reason. I hope that he learns as much from me as I learn from him.
I'll continue Blakes' story in the next post. Evy doesn't come along until 3 years after Blake, so there is a lot to share before she shows up!
