Playpennies

Rochelle and Marvin Humes have welcomed a baby daughter into the world and named her Alaia-Mai - Alaia means joyful, and Mai translates as ocean or elegance in Chinese

She was born yesterday morning and was clearly in no rush to arrive, as her arrival date was supposed to be Friday 10 May! No wonder it felt as though Rochelle had been preggars for ages.

Like all self-respecting socially-networked celebs, Marvin revealed the news on his Twitter page.  He's been very forthcoming and gushy about his impending fatherhood, since Rochelle tweeted the news back in November, saying things like:

"I’m feeling massive excitement. I’m definitely ready for it, it’s not anything that scares me. Rochelle is the most beautiful pregnant lady," not that he's biased, of course.  "We are both at a great point in our lives and we are in a relationship in where we both feel comfortable to extend our love. It's amazing, incredible and we can’t wait."

Rochelle's tweeted a fair bit too; by far my favourite tweet from her, though, was when she put a stop to the rumours that she'd gone into labour, writing, "Heard on Twitter that I'm in labour. Thanks for letting me know guys hahahahaha..I hope this is what it feels like cos I'm chillin!"

So that's two Saturdays babies now, and a third one on the way too - Frankie Sanford has recently announced that she's expecting too.  Three down and two to go then!

There have been a few Celebaby bits and pieces I've been meaning to tell you about - none of them are earth shattering news, but they've all made me smile one way or another, and for various reasons.

So, as we know, David Tennant and Georgia Moffatt are expecting their second baby together; well, I had to laugh at speculation in the press that the couple might have been giving clues as to the gender of baby number two, based on what they were wearing!

David was wearing a BOY LONDON t-shirt and Georia was wearing a navy BLUE maternity dress, when they paid a visit to an Early Learning Centre store. WELL, that must mean they're expecting a little boy then! I mean, surely they didn't just grab something out of the wardrobe to wear that day.  DAFT!

Britney Spears has recently revealed she'd like to add a little girl to her family of two boys, with her new man. She also mentioned that she wouldn't be surprised if they don't follow in her showbiz footsteps, saying, "They do like attention, so I think they would probably be a little good in the limelight. We're taking baby steps at this point as far as agencies and stuff like that goes, but they're little comedians, so we'll see."

Frankie Sanford (one of the Saturdays, in case you didn't know) still hasn't had her baby yet - it feels like her pregnancy has gone on FOREVER. And did you see the picture in various newspapers of Kim Kardashian's very swollen feet, bulging out of a pair of clear shoes?  It was quite gross, and enough to put you off your lunch!

Unless you've been on holiday to the moon this week, you cannot possibly have missed the news that Angelina Jolie has had a double mastectomy.

Her mother died of ovarian cancer when she was just 56; recent tests revealed that Angelina carries the BRCA1 gene which gave her an 87% chance of developing breast cancer!  So she decided to have both her breasts removed, immediately.

Michelle Heaton, of former Liberty X fame, also underwent the same operation recently, for the very same reasons.

In an editorial piece, published in the New York Times, Angelina wrote:

Before I go on to tell you about the latest Beyonce pregnancy rumour, I want to quickly ask you something: did you know that Jack and Kelly Osbourne had a sister?!

I didn't, until I read an article that featured a picture of Sharon with her other daughter, Aimee.  She's stunning don't you think? And, it turns out, opted out of appearing the Osbourne's reality show.  I think it's very cool that she had the courage to say no, when the rest of the family were in.

Apparently she's fiercely protective of her privacy and has only ever really had this to say about it all: "Mum was hurt and we definitely had a tough time with disagreements. I'm more reserved and my private life is very important."

Anyway - the 'hot' baby news of the moment is that Beyonce is, supposedly, pregnant again.  She's not said anything, neither has hubby Jay-Z, or any of their 'people', but numerous sources close to them both have reportedly spilled the baby beans to The New York Post.

So, of course, all the pap shots are being closely scrutinised for signs of a baby bump, and the merest hint of roundness is sending the rumour mill into a spin.

Then there's the 875.90 Euro Nandos bill - which was bought for everyone after a show in Dublin, but that MUST surely mean that she's craving spicy chicken and IS therefore preggars! I mean, it couldn't just mean that she bought everyone Nando's because that's what everyone wanted...could it?  NOOOO, buying Nando's = pregnant.

Well, you know what? If she is, then we'll find out in due course.  And if she's not...we'll find out in due course too.

Did you know that Caprice, of underwear modelling fame, is preggars?  I didn't.  According to a statement made by her 'people', she's between four and five months gone.

She's 41 now, looking rather awesome for 41 - mind you, you can never be sure how much of that is down to good old Photoshop and knowing how to hide behind good makeup.  OR, she could just look awesome; simple as.

Anyway, she's expecting her first baby with her long-term boyfriend, Ty Comfort (what a great name!).  She'd always had a dream of having five children by the time she was 38, and has, obviously, had to admit defeat with that one, but she says she'd still like at least two.

She also said, "I've worked really hard within the business and the challenge of having children is what I'd like to do next. I am very determined but I think at my age kids are what I should do next."

Well okay then, let's see how you do!

Peaches Geldof's second son, Phaedra, was born on 24 April . I wonder whether or not he was induced, or just chose to arrive on the day of his late grandmother's birthday.

Peaches' mum, Paula Yates, would have been 54 on that very same day and I can't help but feel a little tinge of sadness that she's not here to share in her daughter's family, and see what a lovely young lady she's grown up to be.

An official statement was released last Wednesday, simply saying:

"Peaches Geldof and Thomas Cohen are delighted to announce the birth of their son on April 24 2013. Both mother and baby are very healthy and well." 

There aren't any details regarding his weight yet, but Peaches has been keeping her Twitter followers up to date with daily events since then, tweeting:

"My new little man is so sweet, he loves being swaddled so much and looks so happy like a tiny burrito baby wrapped up in it."

So Phaedra was conceived when Astala, son number one, was just six months old - do you we think there'll be a baby number three following close behind these two? Or will Peaches stop at two...for now?

I'm not often absorbed by celebrity stories; I'm even less prone to feeling warm and fuzzy after reading them, but that's exactly what happened when I read that Paris Jackson is forging a lovely and close relationship with her mum, Debbie Rowe.

I must confess to having forgotten that Michael Jackson was married to Debbie for three years, and that Paris and Prince came from that relationship.  She signed over full custody to Michael when they got divorced, and in 2001 signed away all parental rights to her children.

Now, whatever you think about that course of action, that had to be tough. And even if she was financially compensated, no amount of dollars would have made it any easier. Only seeing her children on the news or in the papers, it's taken a long time for Debbie to have her daughter back in her life.

When Michael died, supervised visitation rights were arranged, with the support of Michael's mother, Katherine.  Now, Paris and her mum go on shopping trips together, and Debbie shared in Paris' 15th birthday celebrations.

Jermaine Jackson, Paris' uncle, is also pleased about this family development, saying, "I think that's wonderful. The kids need their mum. I think it's great. That's their mother. That's wonderful. That's a good thing."

I'm inclined to agree; I think it's wonderful!  By the way, how stunning does Paris look with her short hairdo?!  AND, she has her mother's eyes too, amazing.

I can't say I've ever really had much of an opinion about Rachel Stevens, other than she was the most pretty one in S Club 7.  She's popped back into the public arena, briefly, on Strictly Come Dancing Series Something-Or-Other-I-Can't-Remember-Which-There've-Been-So-Many, and then she disappeared off again and became a mum.

Apparently she's only really reminded of her S Club days when she goes to kiddies parties, where various party mix CDs are played that feature the odd S Club 7 'choon'.

"Whenever it comes on everyone looks at me to see how I’ll react,' she says. "I think it’s brilliant that people are still playing our music. But all that stuff feels like a lifetime ago. So much has changed."

Rachel's daughter, Amelie, is two now (where did THAT time go?!) and Rachel admits that the early months of motherhood were not so much fun for her.

"The first three months of having a newborn baby was a complete shock to the system.  I'm a bit of a control freak but suddenly I had no idea what I was doing. I remember having an absolute meltdown when Amelie had been crying all day. I think all mums go through that. All you hear about motherhood is how amazing it is – and it is amazing – but no one tells you how hard it is. It’s so overwhelming."

Rachel says that taking time out to just focus on being a mum has shown her that life isn't about being perfect, it's about being yourself.

A few weeks ago, actually it was back at the beginning of March, I told you that Corrie's Alan Halsall was expecting a baby with his wife, Lucy-Jo - also of Corrie fame.

He revealed the news on his Twitter account, saying: "My wife @LucyJo_Hudson & I are very excited to announce that we are expecting our 1st child. Xx We are both over the moon! Xxx."

Lucy-Jo then responded to the FLOOD of good luck and best wishes messages on her Twitter account, writing: "Awww you guys are so lovely! Like I'm not emotional enough, haha thank you for your beautiful messages! @alanhalsall and I are so excited x.  I can't wait to be a mummy!"

Sweet!  Well, now we also know that they're expecting a little girl.  Apparently, Lucy-Jo always wanted a girl, so she's thrilled, but Alan hinted at wanting a boy.  Talking to Hello magazine, where the news was revealed, he said, "The baby would have been named after a Manchester United player if he was a boy."

Back to trawling through the baby name book, for you, Alan!

Okay, let's sit down and discuss the options; we have two choices.

1) In the immortal words of The Borg, resistance is futile - royal baby stories about nothing will become more and more frequent the closer we get to July, it'll be even worse after July when the baby is born, so we might as well just go with the flow and gorge on them the same as everyone else; or

2) We can snub the stories and say, "Royal baby? Is there going to be one?"

Whilst you have a think about which way we should go, let me tell you that Catherine has been named as the world's best dressed pregnant mum.  It's also been revealed that rather than employ a maternity nurse after the baby's born, to help her with things, Kate's going to go back home and stay with her mum.

This makes sense on lots of levels:

1) Prince William won't be around much due to his RAF posting after his paternity leave

2) Their London appartment is being overhauled and asbestos has been found, and there's no way they'll be finished and ready before the baby arrives, so they can't live there; and

3) A girl needs her mum when she's just had her first baby; let alone when the entire world will be watching your every move!

So, have you decided yet? What are we going to do? Are we going to revel in all royal baby news from here on in, or are we going to talk about something else...like the weather for the time of year?

Answers on a virtual postcard, below, in the form of a comment!

If you're a Saturdays fan then you may be a little confused, right now, as to whether or not Rochelle's expecting a boy or a girl.

Up until recently, all the clues seemed to be pointing towards a little girl - she's been spotted looking at pink baby clothes, and arrived at her baby shower carrying a bunch of pink balloons.

However, the other day, Rochelle's husband, Marvin's JLS bandmate, Ortise, appeared to let it slip that the baby is a BOY! Talking to OMG Yahoo, he said:

I'm so excited to be 'uncle Oritse', I’m still thinking of all the things I want to buy for it. We have the JLS tour planned, he's coming on tour and we’re going to spoil him."  Then he said, "Er...I didn’t say that, did I?!"

'Fraid so Ort' - but the question is: who's telling the truth?!  I reckon if I was a celeb' I might have some fun with the media and mess with their heads now and again, and see what they reported - I think it would be rather fun to lead them a right merry dance.

Apparently - and again, could this just be a press wind up? - Marvin wants to call the baby London.  Michael Buble thinks it's a cool name, and it is...on paper - I don't think it sounds so great when you say it out loud: London Humes.  It just sounds too close to London fumes to me!

One thing is for sure, we're not going to have to wait long to find out the answers to the boy or girl, and crazy name questions, as the little baby is due to arrive any time now.

There are more than a few celebrity babies due this year, here's a quick recap of who's expecting, although not in due date order:

1) David Walliams and his wife, Lara - expecting their first baby

2) Penelope Cruz and hubby, Javier - expanding their family with baby number two

3) Michael Buble and his wife, Luisana - expecting a son; Luisana's amusing herself by coming up with some 'interesting' baby names

4) Alec Baldwin and his much younger wife, Hilaria - expecting their first child together, a little girl

5) The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - just in case you missed the news, the nation is expecting a Royal baby in July

6) Rochelle, of The Saturdays fame - expecting her first little one, with hubby Marvin, any time now

7) Kim Kardashian and Kanye West - the debate is raging as to whether or not the baby's name will begin with a K

8) Black Eyed Peas' Fergie and her husband - recently announced they were expecting their first baby together

9) Model, Eva Herzigova - remember her? Well she's expecting her third baby

10) Channing Tatum (SUCH a cool name!) and his wife, Jenna - waiting to welcome their first baby into the world

11) Jessica Simpson - expecting a baby brother for daughter, Maxwell, soon. The baby shower was just the other day

12) Peaches Geldof - also expecting baby number two, another boy

13) Coleen and Wayne Rooney - expecting a brother for Kai

SO there you have it - I'm sure there are a few we don't know about, or I've forgotten, and wonder who on that list is going to 'pop' first?!

Anyone want to place their bets? I'm going to put my virtual money on...David Walliams and Lara (it was a toss up between them and Rochelle and 'Marv'').

Whilst Mary Portas, of Queen of Shops fame, and her 'wife' have embarked on the parenthood path together - Mary confessed that there's nothing quite as special as picking up a baby. She already has two older children from a previous marriage, but becoming a new mum isn't something that Portia De Rossi or Ellen DeGeneres will be doing, anytime EVER.

Portia and Ellen have been married for five years, together for eight and Portia has recently spoken about their lack of desire to become parents.

"You have to really want to have kids, and neither of us did. So it's just going to be me and Ellen and no babies.  There comes some pressure in your mid-30s, and you think, am I going to have kids so I don’t miss out on something that other people really seem to love?

Or is it that I really genuinely want to do this with my whole heart? I didn't feel that my response was 'yes' to the latter. We've settled into happily married life. We really support each other in whatever we're doing and we're incredibly happy, which is why you don't see us in the press so much. There's no drama to report."

I like that, celebs without fuss and drama.  I have to admit I rather like Ellen and her show - she's funny, and helps out people who are really in need, but I really wish the audience would quit screaming like idiots all the time!

Denise Van Outen's little girly, Betsy, is almost three years old - for some reason I thought she was older than that already, it feels as though she's been around for much longer.

Anyway, Denise and Lee have been in the press lately, with comment being made on the state of their marriage. Journo's have been floating the idea that it's on the rocks because Denise and Lee never seem to go on holiday or attend press events/launches together.

Denise has clearly had enough and spoken out about it. She explained the situation to John Stapleton and Kate Garraway (who irritates me beyond belief!) whilst on their Daybreak TV sofa the other day:

"There's always speculation. Just to set the record straight, we don't have a nanny, so we split our parenting duties, so we do spend time apart," she said. "If we had a nanny and we went away all the time together then people would critcise us for not taking our child with us. Betsy's in nursery, do you know what I mean?"

She's right, they can't win. When you have small children and you don't want to employ someone to look after your child, you have to juggle.

I know plenty of people who holiday apart from their spouses. My goodness, my own mum and dad are currently living in two different countries for most of the time, due to work contracts, and no one would even think to suggest their marriage is in crisis.

Honestly, newspaper journos - go and find something worthwhile writing about!

The appearance of the new Royal baby is rapidly approaching, so brace yourselves for Royal baby mania to ramp up and up and up from here onwards.

A little while ago there was the frenzy surrounding the suggestion that Kate had (almost) let it slip that the baby is a little girl. The 'smart' money was then on a little princess being named Elizabeth.

However, a sudden rush on people betting on her first name being Alexandra has caused Ladbrokes to slash the odds on that name right down to 2/1, and the possibility that there's a Palace leak - surely not!

Other pregnancy 'news' (and I use that term loosely) includes the following:

• Kate and William call the baby 'our little grape'
• Kate has been having serious sugar cravings, so cake, biscuits and chocolate are all on the preggars menu
• Kate's mum, Carole, didn't show very much when she was pregnant, which may go some way to explain why at six months gone, neither is Kate
• Kate has swapped running for yoga to stay in shape whilst she's carrying the baby; and
• The baby is moving around and kicking a lot!

How true all of that is, is anyone's guess - it's amazing what rubbish sources 'close to the Duchess' come up with.  

With the plethora of celebs falling preggars and having babies left, right and centre, here are two who aren't...yet - they're going to freeze their eggs instead!

Anna Friel is one of them: she says that her boyfriend Rhys Ifans  isn't ready to be a father yet, so she's going to put her eggs on ice until he is. Speaking about it recently, she said...

"I do want another child, but it’s not something I want to rush into at his point in my life with Rhys. I think he would like his own child, but I’m not sure we’re ready yet." She added, "I’m 36. All my friends around me are freezing their eggs. It’s so much harder to be a woman these days. We’ve got to do everything - keep working and cope with travelling, and still be a mother."

Sofia Vergara is much further down the egg freezing road than Anna.  In a recent interview with Vogue magazine, she said:

"I have to be careful what I eat because they’re freezing my eggs. They want to get as many eggs as they can because usually you produce them but they’re not good. They have to be perfect, perfect, perfect ones."  

Not only THAT, but Sophia and her boyfriend are also expecting a baby via surrogate! Apparently, rather than 'hiring' a stranger to carry their baby for them, they chose a close friend - now that's some friend request huh!

Sophia already has a 21-year-old son (she must be MAD to think about starting all over again!) and Anna has a seven-year-old daughter.

Right, so we're back in the right Celebaby track now, with the right day - today is Saturday, right?! (In case you have NO clue what I'm talking about, all of my days have been out of sync this week: I was convinced that Tuesday was Monday, and Wednesday Tuesday etc, so the Celebaby schedule has been a bit, how shall I say? Wonky, this week!).

Anyway, in 'breaking and exciting' news, Halle Berry has announced that she's expecting her second child later this year, and it's going to be a boy.

After her bitter parenting experiences with Nahla's, father, Gabriel Aubrey (phew, rarely have we seen such a public battle of hatred and squabbling over a child. Except maybe with Jordan and Peter Andre!) I really hope things go a lot better this time around with Oliver Martinez.

They've been together for a while now, but he really doesn't seem the calm 'go-the-distance' type to me.  He and Gabriel had a HUGE fight last year - proper fisticuffs, resulting in charges of assault and speculation that death threats were issued; nice!

Apparently, Nahla was hoping for a little sister...

Every night we pray to God, and she's so sweet. She says, "God, please bring me a bunk bed and a baby sister." And I say, "I can do one of those things, I know for sure! The other one we have to keep praying on." What do you say to her when she wants that and can't understand why God's taking so long, you know?

Ahhh, the innocence and naiivity of the young, cute!

Oh, one more thing: names! With a girly called Nahla, please let's hope the Lion King theme doesn't continue with the young chap being called 'Simba'.  Well, you never know!

All of my days are out this week - I've been a day behind since Monday, which I was convinced was Sunday. Tuesday was Monday and I can't believe it's Friday already.  So for this one-off (and strange feeling) Friday Celebaby, here are a few bits and pieces of idle Celebaby tittle-tattle.

Edith Bowman, of former Radio One fame, gave birth to a little baby boy a month ago - guess what she's called him.  Go on, guess.  If you don't already know, you'll never guess it in a million years. She's called him...SPIKE!  Seriously, Spike?!  What. On. EARTH was she thinking?!! I can only shake my head in wonder and disbelief.

The rumour mill is whispering about the possibility of another Malawi Madonna adoption, purely, it would seem, because she's back in the country and has been photographed cuddling a young black lad.

She's gone back to Malawi with all of her children, it fulfills part of her promise to take the children she adopted from the country - son, David and daughter, Mercy - back to their homeland every two to three years.

You know, I wonder what it's like for them to go back and see what their lives could have been like had Madonna not plucked them out of there - I think it must be very sobering for them.

Heidi Klum hit the headlines earlier this week when she rescued her seven-year-old son, Henry, and his two nannies when they got swept away by a rip tide in Hawaii.  She had a black bikini on at the time, if it had been red the pictures  printed in the press could have been stills from a Baywatch episode!

In a statement made to US Weekly, Heidi said:

We got pulled into the ocean by a big wave. Of course, as a mother, I was very scared for my child and everyone else in the water. Henry is a strong swimmer and was able to swim back to land. We were able to get everyone out safely. 

These photos taken recently look much worse than it really was that day. I did what any mother would do. Henry swam out of it. I grabbed him at the shore. The nannies were the ones in much deeper trouble. Never underestimate the power of the ocean!

What a relief it must have been when everyone was safely out of the water; scary stuff indeed!

The media lit up yesterday with reports that Lindsay Lohan is pregnant! Now, we have to be a little careful because Monday was, after all, April Fool's Day and plenty of people have been known to ignore the 'before midday' rule (my husband included: he tried to convince me that Harvard had been included in the iconic Oxford and Cambridge boat race that took place the day before on 31 March. Novice - as my cousin rightly labelled him!).

Judging Lindsay on her spectacular run of making very poor choices, and demonstrating a complete lack of judgement, it may be safe to assume she'll show very little regard for April Fool's Day rules - let's face it, she has little regard for any others.

Anyway, all the fuss and drama has come from a tweet that Lindsay posted at 10.30pm PST - which is Pacific Standard Time and seven hours behind GMT, so...erm...hang on, I'll work it out in a minute...six hours behind British Summer Time time.

One can only hope she's just kidding because, seriously, Lindsay 'party girl' Lohan with a baby? If she's not then any posts about her pregnancy will have to be renamed 'Rehababy' - she's been sentenced to 90 days of rehab, after entering a plea of 'no contest' to charges that she lied to police about a car crash and driving, sometime last year.

In the meantime, and before she goes to whichever clinic she's going to go to, she's flown out to Brazil and been properly living it up! Hence some people suggesting that her tweet is nothing more than a prank.

But then again, they say that truth is stranger than fiction and with Lindsay Lohan it's certainly all gone a bit strange over the last few years.  I'll keep you posted!

It feels as though I've not been able to get away from some sort of Kardashian/Jenner family news this week!

Kendal Jenner is in the press every other day, being criticised, and praised in the same sentence, for being 'too skinny'.  There's a story being written about the size of Kim Kardashian's backside and baby bump every five minutes and now we've got Kourtney and Khloe to contend with too.

I don't keep up with the Kardashian's - you know, for someone who doesn't, I have to admit to being remarkably Kardashian informed!  It's not of my own free will though, if I didn't have to write for Celebaby, I would avoid anything to do with them like the plague, but they're such good Celebaby fodder!

Anyway - Kourtney K has two kids; Kim K is preggars with baby number one and poor Khloe K has been struggling to conceive since she got married to her hubby back in 2009.

"I found out I don't ovulate, and now my uterus lining isn't thick enough and I have to take pills to make my  uterus lining thicker. If that doesn't get thicker, then I cannot carry a baby," she revealed to her step-brother during one of their reality TV shows (I absolutely do NOT watch those, there are limits!).

And so it is, later in the show, that Kourtney throws the idea of being a surrogate for her sister out into the universe. Actually, it was only to her partner, Scott, and I don't know what he had to say about it - if you want to know, I guess you'll have to tune into their show and watch it.

I'll send you some forks to poke into your eyes too, in case that's more of a tempting option.