To my husband, that meant a lot," said his wife

In fact, the news of the baby's arrival came at an appropriate time for Randy Goldberg, who had recently lost his sister, Lynda Goldberg, and his mother, Jacqueline Goldberg, in June and August 1998, respectively.

"To my husband, that meant a lot," said his wife. "His mother always wanted to see him happy. He said his mom had something to do with it."

Jacob Louis Goldberg, who was named after his aunt, his paternal grandmother, and his late maternal grandfather, Louis Nicole, was born at Plantation General Hospital on May 14.

"We thought it was going to be a girl at the beginning, so we were going to name her Jackie," Vivian Goldberg began, "but we had to change quickly when we found out it was a boy. I got my father's name, and I got the initial for Randy's sister and the initial for his mom."

The baby is the grandson of Lourdes Nicole and Jorge Zayas of Plantation, and Erwin Goldberg of Sunrise.

"I love being a mom, but it's exhausting," Vivian Goldberg said. "It's the greatest experience that I've ever had and the greatest accomplishment that I've ever done. It was also the most painful experience that I've gone through, but the most worthwhile."

The baby's father, who also has an 18-year-old daughter, Shayna Goldberg, from a previous marriage, says he can't wait for the day when he can take his son out golfing.

"He likes watching the golf channel with me," Randy Goldberg said. "He watches it and he doesn't get bored so it's a step in the right direction. We're looking forward to playing golf together. He has his first set of golf clubs, although he still has to grow into them.

"We just want him to be healthy and find happiness, to find a good belief system and to be true to himself. Once you have that, the rest of life is easy."