The birth of Guadalupe Porter Kingscote

Here is how it went down.

Because of the problems we had with Ruby's birth, which was most likely due to her size, we decided quite a while ago to have a scheduled c-section. So, back in November it was scheduled for Tuesday, March 4th. It became clear it was the right decision as the pregnancy progressed, since she was measuring two weeks bigger than expected. Two weeks. In theory, anyway, they are supposed to be growing at a rate of one pound per week at the end of a pregnancy.

That means two pounds. Well, this came as no surprise to anyone who saw Natasha since, say, October of last year. She started getting people commenting about how she looked like she was ready to pop any moment back in December. When visiting LA for Christmas, we were out to dinner with Tony & Alisa and Stephen & his girlfriend (who's name is escaping me right at the moment), when the waitress predicted it would be a girl, because it was auspicious month for girls. Natasha had to tell her that she was not, in fact, having the kid that month. Her eyes became the size Ruby's, and she obviously could not comprehend the possibility that this baby was not about to drop in the next couple of days. The waitress then suggested that the next month was good for girls as well.

At this point, Natasha was obliged to tell her that she was, in fact, not due to give birth in the next month either. Nor the month after that. Nor, for the record, the month after that.

Natasha's comment in the parking lot on the way to the car was, "I'm glad that didn't happen during my first one, or I'd be a puddle of tears right now".

The week before the appointment, the hospital left a message on our answering machine "regarding your appointment", which almost managed to bring Natasha to tears. Luckily it was just to move up the surgery by a couple of hours, so we went in at 8 am on the 4th. It took slightly longer than expected, but otherwise went perfectly according to plan. My mother had arrived a few days earlier, and was lurking in the waiting room with Ruby as he was born. He arrived at 10:51 am, and was whisked to a little table, where I helped clean him off and check him out. We then brought him over to Natasha to see, then went to the newborn nursery for the weighing and measuring while Natasha was fixed back up. On the way to the nursery, we stopped for a photo op outside the waiting room, where my mom took the very first picture of him.

In the nursery, we found out that he was 9 lbs even and 20-1/2 inches. We then went to a recovery room where we met up with a slightly loopy mommy. A couple of hours later, we moved to a regular room.

We were there until Sat., when we came home. My mother did a great job shuttling Ruby back and forth between home and the hospital while we were there. Aside from spending the time with our new little one, the best part of the hospital experience was "cookie time", which was at 2pm every day, when the most cheerful man I've ever met in my life would deliver a couple of cookies and a couple of cups of Peet's Coffee to the room.

In any case, we're home now, and all is going swimmingly. He did some fantastic sleeping last night; 11-1, then 2-5, and then 6-8. Ruby is giving him lots of kisses, and has finally started saying "Lupe Porter" instead of the "Lupe Quarter" she had been insisting on up until today. I was ready to go with her, and contemplated "Cash Money", but I suppose I'll have to drop that if she has.

As you may have heard, there is a bit of a split on the name. Before Ruby was born, we made a deal that I was to have final say on the first names in exchange for us all changing our last names to Natasha's mother's maiden name, Kingscote. Natasha had resolved at an early age to never take the name of a man, which I completely respect. I didn't really want to take Guest, as you have to repeat it endlessly in certain situations. So, we went to maiden names, and she couldn't even come close to pronouncing Aguirre, so we made this deal.

Which means that I like Guadalupe, so Guadalupe it is. Unfortunately, Natasha is a bit leery of Guadalupe as a boys name, and is afraid that he'll be as white as we are to boot. I grew up knowing only one Lupe, my great-grandfather. So, it sounds like a man's name to me. In any case, she likes Porter better, so she is calling him Porter, while I am calling him Lupe.

The upside to having such a long name is that it lends itself to endless variations. Feel free to improvise (except you, Mark). It goes without saying that he can be the toughest two week old in the hood with a nickname like G. He may also be destined to become a Cambridge educated novelist in the tradition of Martin Amos, or perhaps Salmon Rushdie, when called G. Porter Kingscote. Natasha father pronounced his name as "loopy", which may very well turn out to be highly appropriate. We don't know yet.

GP and PK both have a ring to them for me, although GPK doesn't, at least when spoken. Whatever he is called, though, he's here and anxious to meet you all.