Playpennies

The only reason we knew Petra Ecclestone was expecting a baby was 1) because she was sporting a huge baby bump, and 2) because her sister, Tamara, let the secret slip out during an interview.

On Tuesday it looked suspiciously as though Petra had had her baby when photos of her, out and about shopping in Beverly Hills, WITHOUT any hint of a baby bump, emerged.

Then yesterday reports confirmed that she has indeed given birth - to a baby girl, who's been name Lavinia, back at the end of February!

According to Hello! Online, Petra gave birth in a London hospital and then flew back to the States a little while later.  There's been no sign of the little girl and, bearing in mind, there was no pregnancy announcement, it's unlikely there'll be any baby announcement either.

We'll just have to wait for her loose-lipped sister to spill various beans instead!

Nell McAndrew gave birth to her second child, a daughter, last Thursday and has said she was so happy she could cry.

The new addition to the McAndrew/Hardcastle family weighed 7lbs 10oz and, at the time of the announcement, hadn't been given a name.  The little girly has a six-year-old brother, called Devon, who took her into school (not on his own, obviously) for 'show and tell'.

Nell announced that she was preggars with baby number two back at the end of October and has looked stunning throughout (cow!)  It must have been something to do with running six miles a day and going to the gym twice a week:

"A lot of people say to me "Should you be doing that?"" she said, back in October, "They're concerned, but there's no need because my body is used to doing a lot of exercise.  To me it doesn't feel very much because I used to run 90 miles a week – twice what I do now."

A third baby could be on the cards, Nell has recently been reported as saying, "I'm enjoying my pregnancy so much that I'm wondering if I might have another baby quite soon after this one!"

Now THAT'S keen!

ELLISON, not Anniston!  My goodness that would have been quite something wouldn't it - having baby number one without anyone noticing.

Earlier this week, Jennifer Ellison announced that she is five months pregnant, already, with her second child.  SEE!  This is what I was talking about on Thursday - some celebs are choosing to keep their pregnancies under wraps until they really can't hide their bumps any more.

Jennifer is currently starring on the West End in Singing in the Rain (more like Singing in the Snow today!), posted this on Twitter:

My little babba has not stopped dancing and kicking me all night on stage! Must know the news is out ha ha!

She's not planning to slow down, or take huge amounts of maternity leave, it's going to be business as usual for as long as possible beforehand, and then as soon as possible afterwards.

I'm just getting on with life. The new baby won't change anything - he or she will just be a new addition to our family. I'm going to work as long as I can and go back to work as soon as I can. I'm staying active by doing 10-20 lengths in the pool and walking.

Now, here's the interesting part of the story, and rather blows my 'keeping schtum' theory, at least in this instance.

I didn't even know I was pregnant until four weeks ago, and I'm almost five months now. I can't believe I'm having another baby in July - it's been a massive shock. We'd both just come to terms with the fact that we probably weren't going to be having another baby any time soon - and now we're getting ready to do it all over again.

Jennifer had been told that, due to ovarian cysts, it would be highly unlikely that she'd be able to have another baby - little miracles hey, I guess they do happen!

Penelope Cruz is up the duff and I'm beginning to think it's either:

1. Becoming more popular to keep your baby news under wraps until you can't hide your bump any longer; OR
2. The press no longer cares about some of these - how can I put this nicely..? - less-box-office-newspaper-headline-worthy-than-they-used-to-be celebs, so the news isn't 'news' until there's nothing else to write about.

I say this because Penelope is quite a long way down the nine months line already. She's very excited, by all accounts, too, and has had this to say on motherhood in general:

From the first second, you feel so much love. It is a revolutionary experience. That's the best way I can describe it. It transforms you completely, in a second. Nature is very wise and gives you nine months to prepare, but in that moment, when you see that face, you are transformed forever

What a load of old flowery waffle, I bet she doesn't feel quite so gushy when two-year-old Leo is kicking off and throwing a paddy!

On Saturday, I told you about the (earth shattering) celebaby news that was Alec Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria (which I can't help hearing as 'hilarious', in my head), are expecting a baby girl.

Well, there's been another celebaby gender announcement: Michael Buble and his wife, Luisana (which I can't help hearing as 'Louisianna', in my head. Do you do that? Hear/read names differently to how they're spelled, and once you've done it once you keep doing it?) are expecting a little boy.

It's the first child for both of them, and he's due in August.  Michael has had this to say about the scan and potential baby names:

We are so excited. We have just come from the hospital, and the sonogram was pretty clear, it's a boy! We are thrilled!

'We are thrilled' - it always makes me laugh when people say that, they're hardly going to say they're really disappointed! And as far as names go - well, his wife is Argentinian and, of course, we now have an Argentinian pope.  Apparently she told Michael that it was a sign, but Michael says there's no way they're going to call their son Frank (short for Francis, as in Pope Francis I) even if, and I quote, "...even if it did work well for Frank Sinatra!"

And on impending fatherhood itself, it would seem that the ultra cool, usually smooth Mr Buble is already feeling more than a little nervous:

It's the weirdest thing. I'm scared; I don't know what I'm doing. My friends are basically laughing at me, telling me that I'm never going to sleep again and there's going to be poop everywhere, but I think the good stuff is going to outweigh the bad.

We'll remind you you said that Michael, when you're sleep deprived and wondering if you'll ever feel human again!

I have a friend who's 14 weeks preggars at the moment, we're ALL dying to find out whether she's having a boy or a girl and our group is split, pretty much, 50/50 down the middle when it comes to pinning our colours to the boy or girl mast.

We only have a few more weeks to wait as she's going to find out at her next scan; we don't have to wait, however, to learn about the colour of two celebabies that are due to arrive in a few months.

Alec Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, have announced they're expecting a little girl.  Alec had, apparently, planned on calling the baby 'Massimo' if it was a boy, so he's going to have to think again (please don't let him do a Jessica Simpson and give his daughter a boy's name!).

Hilaria recently spoke about Alec's choice of Massimo:

That’s a very big name for a very little baby. We have a different idea almost every single day. I think you actually have to look at it once it pops out and say, "Who are you? What is your name?"

'Pops out' - now THERE'S a turn of phrase only a first-time mother-to-be would use! And as for Massimo, there's a name that no parent should choose!

For all the celeb' babies conceived naturally, there are, of course, those who are not.  There seems to have been a small flurry of stories in the press lately detailing some celeb' tales of IVF woe, those who would consider it, and those who ended up choosing adoption instead.

Lisa Faulkner has a little daughter, six-year-old Billie, who she adopted at just 15 months old. She's spoken out at how rounds and rounds of IVF not only wiped out all her savings, but left her, and I quote, "...a walking mess."

It’s a really, really tough process. I don’t think people have any idea until they go through it. It’s not just the physical stuff – it’s the emotions and the hormones that are pumping through your body. You’re on this whole trip of desperation for a baby and you’ll do  anything.

I was determined that I would be a mother. I said I’d give IVF three goes, and I ended up doing four. I spent all of my savings. But also mentally, I couldn’t go through it again.

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean recently appeared on Piers Morgan's chat show, where Jayne tearfully revealed her IVF struggles before she and her husband decided to adopt too.

After suffering an ectopic pregnancy and trying IVF for a year, they looked into adoption after a friend suggested it to them.

Well, a friend of mine had adopted a little boy. She said, “Come and see him.’ And at that point I wasn’t ready to look into adoption, I was still thinking it was going to happen, and you’ve got to be ready for it, if you want to adopt. I said to my husband, ‘I don’t know if I could do this.’ But I went to see this little boy and I wanted to bring him home.

Jayne and her husband Phil now have two adopted children, aged 10 and six.

HUMPH!  Well here's another celeb' pregnancy that managed to pass me by - if Jamie Cullum and Sophie Dahl weren't as quiet and private as they are, I'd be worried that I was losing my celebrity baby touch!

However, when their first daughter was born on 2 March 2010, they gave us very little.  In fact, all there was was this, from their spokesperson:

"Musician Jamie Cullum and his wife, the author and presenter Sophie Dahl, have become parents. 'Their daughter Lyra was born on March the second. They are over the moon. They will not be releasing any further details about their daughter, including her weight and where she was born."

This time the announcement wasn't made by a member of staff, but posted by Jamie on his Twitter page:

On March 4th @sophiedahl gave birth to our second baby girl, Margot Cullum. She is healthy and gorgeous and we are completely thrilled

So much of the same, no more details other than her name and that all is well.

You don't see Sophie and Jamie out very often, and I've never seen any pictures of them with Lyra - I just ran a quick Google image search and there aren't any!  I kid you not, not a single one.  And you know what?  GOOD for them!

Both Jessica Simpson and the Duchess of Cambridge are keeping mum as to whether they're expecting a boy or a girl.  Whilst no one other than Ellen de Generes really cares what Jessica's having, the world has gone a little crazy over the fact that Kate my have accidentally let the cat out of the royal baby gender bag during a walk-about in Grimsby on Tuesday!

There are news clips of it all over the place - if you haven't seen them, and you're not missing much, it went a bit like this:

Kate was meeting, greeting and doing the hand shaking thing with the crowd when someone gave her a big teddy, "Ohhhh, is this for our d...? Oh that's very sweet of you," she said, or words to that effect.  A lady, a few people down the row, heard what Kate said and asked, "Did you say daughter?!"  

Now, I've watched the news clips and I've read various reports in the press which say Kate blushed, looked and sounded flustered as she denied knowing the baby's gender - I have to say it doesn't look like that to me.  As it is, if you blink you miss the whole 'about to say daughter' part anyway.

All gender bets are off at William Hill, they suspended betting on it at 10pm Tuesday night, and now we're into girly name speculation.

The smart money is on a little princess being called Elizabeth - that's my grandma's name, and my daughter's name, Elise, is derived from that, it made my grandma happy and I'm sure the Queen would be rather chuffed if her first great-granddaughter carried her name.

We only have to wait until some time in July to find out and then there'll be all the post-baby speculation to deal with!

What do YOU think: are Kate and William expecting a boy or a girl?

If you're a Coronation Street fan, and follow the actor who plays Tyrone on Twitter, then you'll already know that he's expecting his first baby with his wife, Lucy-Jo Hudson (an ex-Corrie cast member).

He wrote on his Twitter account, recently, 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 repsonded 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 thankyou for your beautiful messages! @alanhalsall and I are so excited x.  I can't wait to be a mummy!"

Ant of Ant and Dec fame, on the other hand, has recently spoken out about the difficulty he and his wife are having with the whole baby making game.

Lisa and I would love to have kids. We’re trying. It’s tougher than you think when you get a bit older," he revealed recently. "There’s a rumour that we do everything together and I’m holding off having kids till Dec finds himself Mrs Right. I love that idea, but I’m afraid it’s not true."

Can you imagine! That really would be taking friendship to extremes!

Well, best wishes and congrats to Alan and Lucy-J and fingers crossed for Ant and Lisa.

Somehow, the news that Katie Price is pregnant with her fourth child, to her third husband, to whom she's only been married for about half an hour, had managed to escape me until this morning.

I almost wish it had continued not to be on my radar because it just makes me despair. I swear, she's properly off her rocker and just isn't the sort of role model I'd want anyone aspiring to - and there are plenty of young girls who DO!

It's no secret that she's wanted another baby - she was at it like a rabbit with ex-husband Alex Reid for a while, before it all fell apart and he dashed off to have a baby with Chantelle.  Leandro whatsisname had a very narrow escape, after their engagement was called off.

Then lo-and-behold she's dating some other poor mug (who, I'm sure loves Katie's bank balance, as much as he claims to love her), gets married to him after just one month because a psycho psychic once told her she'd marry someone called 'Kevin' ( this dude's name is 'Keiran', "...it's close enough!" Katie said.) and now she's preggars with his child.

Apparently they're both in shock, but over the moon.  Hmmm, in shock huh, I rather doubt it! What would be more shocking is the new Mrs Hayler actually behaving like a patient grown up, rather than an impulsive and petulant teenager, but I guess that sort of behaviour doesn't keep you in the papers, does it! 

You know, I was thinking, just the other day, about Fearne Cotton and whether or not her baby had arrived yet - I've not listened to Radio 1 for a while, and Radio 4 haven't (as far as I've heard) made any Fearne baby announcements.

Anyway, one quick Google this morning has revealed all: she gave birth to a little boy, last Thursday.

She announced his birth and revealed his name on Twitter (Fearne's a bit of a Twitter fan) and all sorts of vicious hell broke forth from then!  Fearne and her boyfriend (fiance, maybe?  Are the engaged? I don't know...), Jesse Wood, have called their new son 'Rex Rayne' and the great unwashed part of our society have seen fit to trash their choice, by posting nasty comments across the Social Media.

Comments like:

"Did I just hear that Fearne Cotton has called her baby Rex? What’s she had, a baby or a labrador?" and "Fearne Cotton has given birth to a baby boy, 'Rex Rayne'. Who the **** suggested that name, Scooby Doo?"

Honestly, this sort of thing makes me so cross.  Having an opinion is one thing, posting vile opinions on the internet is another.  I really think it's time this sort of behaviour is brought under some sort of legal control - I'm all for freedom of speech, but it shouldn't be used as a justification for being just plain hateful!

Congrats Fearne and Jesse, and bravo on having the dignity not to respond to the idiots!

Talk about managing to keep impending fatherhood under wraps!  Hugh Grant is a dad again - the announcement that the baby had arrived, came as complete news to me, and I'm sure I'd have picked it up if it had been mentioned before then.

Do you remember his seeming indifference to baby number one?  Do you not remember what he said in response to being asked whether or not his baby daughter had changed his life?

Well, I do; here's a little reminder for you:

"I like my daughter very much. Fantastic. Has she changed my life? I'm not sure.  Not yet. Not massively, no. But I'm absolutely thrilled to have had her, I really am; I feel a better person."

Talk about underplaying the whole event!  Here's what Hugh's had to say about his new son, born to the same mother as his, now, 18-month-old daughter, Tabitha:

"Am thrilled my daughter now has a brother. Adore them both to an uncool degree. They have a fab mum."

No one really seems to know (or care, to be more accurate) whether or not Hugh is back in a relationship with the kids' mother, Tinglan.  Apparently, according to Hugh, Tabitha was the result of a 'fleeting affair'.

I also wonder whether he's changed his mind on his 'not setting up a trust fund' stance.  Eighteen months ago, when Tabitha was born, he was adamant that he never would, saying:

"My other worry is about - and as I say, there are few things in life I believe in 100 per cent - but another one is not giving your children money. I see nothing but f***-ups among my trust-fund friends. It's like 99 per cent f***-ups. So I would not want to do that to my children, no."

SO there you have it; Hugh Grant has two children - you can go about the rest of your Saturday feeling informed about all things 'Hugh' now!

Apparently, according to a recent chat Beyonce had with Oprah, the singer put on 57lbs when she was pregnant with Blue Ivy - that's four and a bit stone.   She spoke about having to do a show just three months after she gave birth, saying:

I did a show three months after giving birth, which was crazy.  I had clearly never given birth, and I didn't know that I would gain 60 pounds - 57 pounds

Well it didn't look like she'd put on four stone to me, and at least she didn't 'do' a Jessica Simpson and claim not to realise that all the weight wouldn't just suddenly vanish the moment the baby arrived!

Peaches Geldof wears pregnancy so well - she was snapped, most recently, attending shows at London Fashion Week looking stunning.  If you're currently preggars and expanding at a similar to the rate that Beyonce did, you might want to click away now and not read what Peaches has to say about her size and style:

I still fit into a size eight. It's weird because my body is still thin but I have this big bowling ball on my tummy.  Everything actually fits but I just have to get my husband to help me get the zipper up at the back.

I don't find it difficult and I don't wear maternity wear anyway. I wear maternity leggings but I just buy clothes a size up.  That's what I think all pregnant women should do - just buy a size up, don't buy crappy maternity wear

Well isn't that jolly nice for her - pregnancy wasn't like that for me; my size 8s were very quickly relegated to the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers!

I'm not afraid to admit that I have NO clue who Imogen Thomas is (I think I told you that the other day), but she keeps popping up in the press with the (dubious) title of 'reality TV star' - so I'm guessing some of you will know what her claim to fame is.

Anyway, she's been preggars for, what seems like, AGES - she tweeted a picture of the most enormous bump last week and was getting anxious as the baby was breech and didn't look like turning any time soon.  Well, the baby didn't turn - apparently, Imogen's stomach muscles were too strong to allow her enough room to move. 

It was/is a 'her' too - Imogen's baby daughter arrived (via c-section) at 10.45am yesterday, weighing 6lbs 2ozs, and has been named Ariana Siena - quite pretty, I think.

Last week Imogen spoke to New! magazine and had this to say about the impending birth:

I'd prefer a normal water birth because I've mentally prepared myself for it and giving birth must be the most painful but wonderful experience ever.  I'd like to be able to go, "Is it a boy or girl?" and then pull my baby towards me. I think it's a mother's instinct.  

But then again, the baby's been breech the whole time - it's not moved at all. I still keep getting kicks down my lower belly, so really I don't mind as long as it comes out healthy.

And come out healthy she did; hurrah!

Before I reveal this particular piece of baby news, in the interests of common decency and good manners, I feel I should issue a warning:

** If you're eating your breakfast, are having a snack, indulging in a spot of brunch, or are feeling in any way a little fragile in the stomach department this morning then DON'T carry on reading - for what I'm about to tell you, may just put you off whatever you're eating/have eaten **

Peter Stringfellow, of seedy strip club fame, has announced at the age of 72 that he's going to be a father again - his wife, Bella (aged 30), is expecting their first child together.

At a party, held at Stringfellows, earlier this week, Peter had this to say:

I am happy to announce, we just found out today, and I can think of no better place and friends to share it with, but we, and I mean the royal we, are pregnant. It's going to be an August baby

I don't know whether I can really pass comment on their 52-year age gap - my husband is 24 years older than me, oh what the hell - their gap is almost DOUBLE ours!  I cannot imagine being married to someone 42 years older than me! 42 years!!  Let alone having a baby with them - when that child is 10 years old, Peter will be 82!

Now I'm not for one minute assuming Mr Stringfellow isn't going to live to a ripe old age, but he's old enough to be that child's GREAT-grandfather, let alone grandfather or father.

Maybe I just have a 'thing' about Peter Stringfellow - he gives me the creeps; perhaps his private persona is vastly different from his slimey public one - and maybe I'm just being a little bit judgemental.

He already has two children from previous marriages: Karen, who's 50, and Scott, who's 46 - I wonder what they make of it all?!

What do YOU make of it all?!

Last week Shakira gave birth to her son, Milan.  Before he was born, she and her husband, held a virtual baby shower where anyone who chose to attend could buy gifts, such as mosquito nets etc, to help UNICEF help vulnerable babies across the globe.

Well, now, instead of accepting money for the exclusive glossy magazine 'reveal' photo spread, Shakira and her 'husband' (they're not married yet, or engaged either, I don't think) have released their own rather cute photo and are asking everyone to donate to UNICEF:

We hope that, in his name, other less privileged children in the world can have their basic needs covered through gifts and donations.  Thank you for sharing this unforgettable moment with us

I wonder how many people will?  I've just checked out Shakira's Twitter account - she has over 19 and a half MILLION followers, just imagine how much good UNICEF could do if every one of those followers just handed over £1; one hundred of our Great British pennies can go an awfully long way.

I've just donated £10 to UNICEF - will you give something too, even if it's just 50 pence?  Here's the link you need, if you decide to: http://t.co/BCDzP6tH

All of my babies were lucky enough to be born into the circumstances they were; they've never been at risk; they've never gone without and there are too many littlies in the world who aren't as lucky.

I'm rather fond of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell - I can't put my finger on why exactly, perhaps it's because they've been together forever (well, since 1983 anyway) and you don't hear any fuss or scandal that involves them; they just seem like a really lovely and down-to-earth couple.

Anyway, they were out shopping in New York recently - and that's another thing: if you look at the pictures, you could easily have walked past them and been none the wiser that you just brushed shoulders with Hollywood 'royalty - and spotted a HUGE picture of their daughter, Kate Hudson, in one of the big department store windows.

Rather than just walking past they stopped and snapped pictures of each other standing in front of it - now I think that's properly awesome and it really made me smile: it doesn't matter who you are, or where you are, when you're a proud parent...you just can't help yourself!

You know, there are some things in the Universe that are just NOT FAIR!  One of them being how on earth Peaches Geldof can look so completely and utterly stunning and amazing whilst preggars!

She's been photographed recently in a little tiny bikini, on the beach in Mauritius - her delayed honeymoon - and she looked fabulous.  THEN, last night, she was snapped attending a Diet Coke party (sounds like a barrel of laughs, hey!) looking totally flawless.

Her skin showed not one hint of a blemish, nor a single trace of tiredness; she cannot have gained a single ounce during this pregnancy and just looked slim and super - I can't say I begrudge her any of it, not really - perhaps it's the Universe's way of not adding further insult to the past 'injuries' that have peppered her life up to now.

The rumour mill is in full flow again - this time Alec Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, are supposedly expecting their first child together.

The couple, themselves, aren't saying a word; neither are any of their people, other than to say:

Our response to baby speculation over the past 18 months has remained the same... When/if Alec&Hilaria have news they want 2 share,they will share it. Until then, no comment.

However, the fact that Hilaria certainly does seem to be sporting a baby bump is certainly fuelling the speculation fire - so watch this space!

Unless you can't get your head around two-father families, or have a heart of stone, tell me that this family photo doesn't make you smile!  It does me - and just because their dynamic is different from the majority doesn't, as far as I'm concerned, make it wrong.

What I see are two loving parents with their boys and I'm really glad that both Elton and David are happy to share their thoughts, feelings and pictures with the world.  It's lovely to read how Zachary and Elijah have changed their lives:

Zachary and Elijah are, at the very least, half brothers as their egg donor is the same lady.  There's speculation as to whether the same lady actually carried both boys, and both David or Elton could be the genetic father - although, Elton is listed as Elijah's father on his birth certificate, so the rumour mill are all of a tizzy that this may mean Elton is.

The other thing that warms my heart is how Elton and David view their surrogate:

"She is a wonderful, kind and loving woman, who we love like a sister.  We have a very close bond with her and were in constant touch throughout the pregnancy, getting updates, seeing scans and sharing all the little details that make those nine months so exciting.

She has given us two amazing gifts and we in turn have a duty of care to her and are fiercely protective of her anonymity."

Speaking about becoming a father (again), Elton said this, in a recent interview with Hello! magazine: 

"I have learned that a parent’s capacity for love is endless.  When another child is born, our depth of love just grows deeper and wider, so it was very emotional." 

David went on to say:

"Throughout our lives we have both loved and been loved, but the love of a parent for his or her child is different to anything else, as all parents will know. You find new depths of love, and experience pure joy.  Both of us have longed to have children, but the reality that we now have two sons is almost unbelievable.

The birth of our second son completes our family in a most precious and perfect way. It is difficult to fully express how we are feeling at this time; we are just overwhelmed with happiness and excitement."

I'm thrilled for them - they're such a wonderfully cute family.