Babies by the Numbers : Timely Births on 8th Day of 8th Month of ’88

When Denise and Courtney Mark of El Toro found out that Denise was pregnant, her doctor immediately scheduled her Caesarean-section delivery for 8 a.m. on August 8, 1988.

And so, with a nurse designated as timekeeper and Dr. Robert Greenburg watching the clock, Lindsey Renee Mark made her debut as scheduled, at 8:08 a.m. at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach.

“It was really something because (Greenburg) was eyeing the clock like Pat Riley does with one minute left when (the Lakers) are four points down,” new father Courtney Mark said Monday.

But the Marks weren’t the only parents celebr- eighting at Hoag on Monday.

8 Pounds, 8 Ounces

In a nearby operating room 80 minutes later--at 88 minutes past 8--Kirsten Lynne Maxwell weighed in at 8 pounds, 8 ounces.

“I’m going to go to Del Mar right now and bet on the eighth race,” a beaming John Maxwell said as he and Mark exchanged congratulatory remarks outside the hospital nursery. The Maxwells, of Irvine, found out only three weeks ago that Terry, 33, would have to deliver by Caesarean section.

At the time, their doctor told them the baby would weigh about 8 pounds and 8 ounces, so they scheduled the surgery for Aug. 8, said John Maxwell, 31, a wine sales manager.

“We tried to get 8 o’clock but he already had it,” he said, pointing to Courtney Mark.

Dr. Greenburg, who engineered the delivery of Lindsey Mark, said it takes the right sense of humor to go along with such a timely birth.

“They are a couple of real characters,” Greenburg said of the Marks, who are each 28 years old. “When I told them their due date was around August 8, 1988, they said ‘Wow,’ and Courtney said, ‘Why don’t we try for 8 o’clock?’ I took it a step further and said how about 8:08.”

The Marks said that as long as everything was medically safe, they would go along with the idea.

“Childbirth should be fun,” Greenburg said. But he was quick to add: “This was not joke time. We were in total control. Everything was perfect. It was just a matter of when we had our coming out party.”

So, with eight medical personnel in the operating room--including the timekeeper--everything ran according to schedule.

“I’ve done this operation enough, so I knew the timing involved. Just as the nurse said ‘OK’ I lifted the baby out,” Greenburg said.

The Marks and Maxwells said they aren’t superstitious. The number 8s involved in their daughters’ births just make the birthdays easier to remember, they agreed.

“Denise’s father has 13 grandchildren, all under the age of 6,” said Courtney Mark, a commercial real estate broker. “He told me he at least has one now (for whom) he’ll be able to remember her birth date,”