The expectant parents had opted not to know the gender of their baby, so the 10 names on their short list included both male and female options. But when their 8 lb. 9 oz. daughter made her predawn debut on Oct. 12, actress Kate Winslet, 25, and director Jim Threapleton, 26, decided that none of the candidates would do. Gazing into those newborn-blue eyes, the first-time parents settled on Mia, Italian for "mine," a lovely sentiment that has no deeper meaning. Says Winslet's spokesman: "They just thought that it was a really beautiful name."

For Mia's mama, who was attended by Threapleton throughout her labor at an undisclosed London hospital, the birth was a bit of an ordeal. "It went on quite long," says Winslet's mother, Sally. By the time Sally and Winslet's father, Roger, visited the hospital two days later, a smitten Kate was breastfeeding Mia. The thrilled grandmother says Mia resembles Threapleton and notes, "It is the first grandchild and great grandchild in the family."

When Winslet and Mia left the hospital, it was not clear where they were headed. The new parents, who met in 1997 while working on the film Hideous Kinky and married the following year, own two homes: a $300,000 Japanese-style house in Cornwall and a $375,000 house on the River Thames. Winslet, who spent the summer shooting the Mick Jagger-produced war drama Enigma, plans not to return to work for seven months. After that, says Sally, "Jim is going to look after the baby when Kate is working, and she will do so when he is working." Sounds simple—but as the Titanic star (and every working mom) should know, even the best-planned itinerary may require some adjustment.