Update: Alex and Cynthia Rodriguez welcome second daughter, Ella Alexander

Update: Baby’s name is Ella Alexander Rodriguez. A-Rod, who famously passed out while supporting his wife through Natasha’s delivery, arrived 10 minutes after Ella was born — and thinks it’s probably better that way!

The timing came from God. The first time I was therefor 2 ½ hours of pushing. This time it was 10 minutes after thedelivery. It was perfect timing. That was great.

He had been in NY receiving treatment on an injured right quad when Cynthia went into labor in Miami six days early.

Originally posted April 22nd: Alex Rodriguez, 32, of the New York Yankees and his wife, Cynthia, 35, have welcomed their second daughter. The new baby, whose name has not been released, was born last night, Monday, April 21st, in Miami, FL.  She weighed 7 lbs, 2 oz and joins big sister Natasha Alexander, 3.  Alex released the following statement,

We are thrilled with the birth of our second daughter and the blessing of having two beautiful, healthy daughters in our lives.

The pregnancy was announced in October, with the sex revealed in January. Cynthia had been due this coming Sunday, April 27th.

Source: New York Yankees’ Official Website; Peter Abraham; NY Post

Thanks to CBB reader Ellie.

Comments

Jenna on April 22nd, 2008

Cynthia is 35:

Born December 28, 1972

lola on April 22nd, 2008

awww i am so happy for them !

Mama of 1 on April 22nd, 2008

Maybe this girl will be named after Cynthia since Natasha was named after Alex? Very happy for them!! Although Jeter is still my favorite *wink* LOL!

Jen on April 22nd, 2008

Awww, I love A-Rod (such a cutie)! Congrats to them. I can’t wait to hear the name!

Jen on April 22nd, 2008

I cant wait to hear the name! Natasha is such a cutie!

J.J. on April 23rd, 2008

Aww congrats to A-Rod, Cynthia,and new big sister Natasha!! I bet the little girl will be like a mini A-rod and as adorable as her older sister!

jjj on April 23rd, 2008

Why on earth did they name their daughter Alexander? Alexandra is so pretty.

Rich J on April 23rd, 2008

Congratulations to them. In my experience, 3 years is such a nice age gap between siblings.

brooke on April 23rd, 2008

Natasha looks just like a-rod, I bet this one will too

Christine on April 24th, 2008

Peter Abraham, the beat writer for the Yankees said they released the name:

Ella Alexander Rodriguez

Rye on April 24th, 2008

Another daughter named after Alex…they will probably name their son (if they have one) after him too…? how come Cynthia isn’t getting any recognition? anyways, congrats on the baby girl!

Starlet on April 24th, 2008

Adorable name! I think the trend now is to give girls boy names, I think it works really well here as Ella is feminine and sounds nice with Alexander!

Henrietta on April 24th, 2008

“how come Cynthia isn’t getting any recognition?”

Maybe she doesn’t want her kids named after her? Besides, they all have the same last name.

I think the name is fine, but I do find it strange that they would give both girls the same middle name, especially when they aren’t twins. Oh well, it is obviously their choice. I am anxious to see the 2 girls together. I bet they are adorable!!

kim on April 24th, 2008

My husband and I made the choice to give both of our sons his middle name because it is a family name that we have been able to trace back 200 years.

sage on April 24th, 2008

I can’t wait to see ella and natasha together.With giving the girls the name alex I don’t think its to weird because both my girls have their fathers first name of james and I am completelt fine with it, and I don’t feel like I am less important because they don’t have my name. Secondly twins don’t have to have the same middle name Jennifer flavin-stalone’s daughters all have the middle name Rose.

Christine on April 24th, 2008

Henrietta, my sister and I are 2 and a half years apart and we have the same middle name.

nosoupforyou on April 24th, 2008

Is it Alexandra or Alexander?

Christine on April 24th, 2008

There is a poster on a Yankees blog who says:

“Alex’s wife is Greek, it is customary for Greeks to use one of the parents’ names as the child’s middle name, b/c it is considered bad luck to name the kid after the parents. Not saying that is why they use Alexander, but it seems like the only logically reason.”

Marissa on April 24th, 2008

Why doesn’t it suprise me that ARod named both of his children after himself haha. Congrats on the new baby, but GO RED SOX! LOL

brooke on April 24th, 2008

I don’t like both kids having the same middle name, each child should have their own first and middle name IMO. But ella is an adorable name, so is natasha.

Lynsey on April 24th, 2008

It’s also a Greek tradition that the eldest son is named for his grandfather, so if they have a boy, maybe he will be named for Alex’s father.

Karen on April 24th, 2008

Christine that post is partially correct. It is the Greek custom to give the father’s name as the middle name. A mother’s name is very rarely used. I don’t see how it is a problem that they are passing on their heritage to their daughters, and it is the mother’s heritage after all, so maybe we can give Alex a break!

Chiara on April 24th, 2008

“Vanity” middle names (middle names that are given just because the parents like them) are a fairly recent and Western trend. In many slavic cultures the second name is and always has been a patronymic — the father’s name. In many European cultures the only second name is a baptismal name after the godparent. In the greater scheme of things, what the Rodriguezes are doing is far more common than what Americans are used to.

Rye on April 24th, 2008

I guess it’s cute if it’s tradition in that sense. I didn’t think of it in that sense before though-I was more so looking at it in a “let’s name them both after me” sense and not really looking towards any national custom. I guess it’s actually quite common. Most of my relatives seem to have the same middle names for family reasons. The only thing that irritates me is when you see Michael Jr.’s or Jim VII or Marc II. I just think that is a tradition that needs to be broken…it’s a little sexist if you ask me. That’s just my opinion though! I’m one of those people who is like, “Cmon, A woman carries this baby for pretty much 10 months and she never gets a MARY JR. how come a guy gets that honor??? it should be both ways!!!” BUT THAT’S JUST ME!!

Christine on April 24th, 2008

Karen,

There is someone else here named Christine. I only posted what I read from a poster on the Yankees blog about the Greek heritage. I am not Greek, so I cannot comment. I just thought it might help.

I personally don’t care what Alex and Cynthia name their children – they are THEIR children, it’s their business.

As for giving Alex a break. THIS Christine is and always has been a Yankees fan – I give all my Yankees a break.

Christine on April 24th, 2008

Lynsey,

Alex doesn’t have a good relationship with his father – he abandoned Alex and his mother when Alex was 7. His mother raised him and he was closer to his maternal uncle, who is also credited with raising him. He died in 2005.

Therefore, I don’t think any child would be named in his honor.

Christine on April 24th, 2008

The Lohud Yankees blog is reporting that Alex said he arrived 10 minutes after the birth. Alex called the timing a miracle. He had a jet fueled and ready all last week. Monday was an off-day so it all worked out, but he was headed to Chicago with the Yankees, not Miami.

I guess I don’t have to ask if Alex passed out this time. If you didn’t know, when Natasha was born, Alex passed out. The doctors were busy fawning over him that they neglected Cynthia until she was able to get their attention.

lilly on April 25th, 2008

Natasha doesn’t look anything like Alex. She takes after her mother.

Julie on April 25th, 2008

From the NY Post:
As for the delivery, Rodriguez said he arrived 10 to 15 minutes after his daughter was delivered.
“The timing came from God,” Rodriguez said. “The first time I was there for 2 1/2 hours of pushing. This time it was 10 minutes after the delivery. It was perfect timing. That was great.”

Not sure how thrilled I would be if my husband made that statement. I’d think he’d want to be there for the actual birth and you know, supporting his wife in labor.. Didn’t realize he had passed out during his 1st daughter’s birth.

Sadie on April 25th, 2008

Wow, I’m glad the timing worked out so well for him and he didn’t have to be around for the 2 1/2 hours of pushing that his wife did. Must have been a gift from God.

Christine on April 25th, 2008

Cynthia and Ella went home on Wednesday.

Alex’s quad is fine. He re-joined the Yankees yesterday and put cigars with custom labels “It’s a girl/Ella Alexander Rodriguez 4-21-08″ on the chairs of all his teammates. He plays tonight. He planned to take 2 or 3 days off when Cynthia gave birth anyway.

As for Alex saying it was a “gift from God” regarding the timing, I don’t like the NY Post’s spin that it was because he didn’t want to endure the delivery and I would take anything they had to say with a grain of salt. Since Natasha was born 10 days early, Alex had a jet standing by to take him away and out of a game if necessary. I think the miracle was that the jet got him there within 10 minutes of the birth – he was in New York on Monday

Then again, Alex speaks so freely and lacks the ability to censor himself, but I truly believe he was glad he got there so quickly.

Anna on April 25th, 2008

Christine, if that were true his comment wouldn’t have been preceded with “The first time I was there for 2 ½ hours of pushing.” Poor Alex, it’s awful having to sit through hours or labour. Just awful.

brannon on April 25th, 2008

Silly to assume Cynthia wanted him there, especially if he wasn’t very helpful the first time. Not all women want their partners/husbands in the room. I didn’t – and he wasn’t. Don’t forget about different strokes folks!

That said, I love the names Natasha and Ella together and I much prefer Alexander to Alexandra.

amandamay on April 25th, 2008

i didn’t want anyone but the doctor in the room with me when i gave birth – i don’t like people touching/fawning over me especially in a situation like that. i didn’t want nurses wiping my brow or anything of the sort hehe. each woman is different and since alex passed out when natasha was born maybe it IS better that he wasn’t there this time. some men don’t do well with childbirth. doesn’t make them insensitive or bad parents.

Rebecca on April 25th, 2008

When I was in labor with my first daughter I didn’t want my husband looking at me because his look of concern was freaking me out. With our second daughter he knew what was going on and was a fantastic coach, I couldn’t have gone through my med-free waterbirth of a 9 lbs 13 oz baby without him there to support me.

I can understand not wanting your husband there (like I said before, I didn’t want to look at dh with my first labor, a medical intervention fest of an induction) but it’s a little odd to hear a man say it was a gift from God that he got there 10 minutes after the delivery. Maybe he’s thinking that it’s a good thing he wasn’t there because he might have passed out again and stolen his wife’s thunder again?

Sadie on April 26th, 2008

I completely understand some women don’t want their husbands in the room but I think thats irrelevant in this situation because its not Cynthia saying it, its him. Of course, we don’t know if she had said the same thing privately to him before he said it publicly and it was something they joked about bc of the 1st time. Its just the way he worded it..

madison on April 26th, 2008

Cynthia also chose to have the baby in Miami, not New York. That tells me she didn’t have much of a concern about her husband being there for much of labor/delivery. If she did, don’t you think she would have elected to stay and have the baby in New York? Granted, if the schedule had the team out of town on delivery day, the issue would have been the same. But the chances would have at least been greater if she chose to deliver in New York. I’m sure whatever arrangement they decided upon, worked for them.

Beverley on April 26th, 2008

I would never tell my husband that he couldn’t be there for the birth of OUR child. He has as much right and obligation to be there as I do. Who am I to take away his birthing experience? That would be selfish. Unless you made the baby by yourself, it is as much him as you, and he shouldn’t be told not to be there.

We have had 2 deliveries, and my husband wouldn’t ever be told to wait outside. Seeing your new baby together as he/she comes into the world is the most amazing moment you will ever share in your marriage, and to deny him of that is wrong.

brannon on April 26th, 2008

Please remember – what is wrong for you may not be wrong for others. This may have been exactly right for them – and that’s really all that matters. To label some “selfish” without knowing them or being privy to their relationship, and what strengthens or weakens it, is really quite unfair.

Beverley on April 27th, 2008

I think “quite unfair” is to tell your husband that you want the moment to yourself.

I am not referring to broken up couples of if he is a danger to himself or others, but if you are committed to each other, it is both of your moments, not just the woman’s.

Sam on May 3rd, 2008

Beverley, I think it shows tremendous respect on the part of the man if he accepts the woman’s preference to wait outside the delivery room. I didn’t want my husband there when I gave birth either, because for one, I hate to have people fuss over me and secondly, I knew he would have been uncomfortable being there. He doesn’t mind getting shots or being in pain himself, but he cannot stand to see someone he loves go through that sort of thing – something I knew from past experience. When I broached the subject of him waiting outside, you should have seen the look of relief on his face! In my case, I ended up having to have an emergency C-Section, so he wasn’t allowed in the operating room anyway and the decision that we had made was completely irrelevant in the end.

As Brannon said, this is a decision that each couple needs to make for themselves. Don’t assume that every man has a burning desire to be present for the birth of his children, nor does every woman long for that “special time” to share with her husband or partner while she is in labor and then delivers.

christy on May 8th, 2008

wow how cute my daughter was born in feb 2008 and thats her name Ella alexandra they even weight the same. really cute