“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.”
Anonymous

“Children are a handful sometimes, a heartful all the time…”
Author unknown

“If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.”
Vincent van Gogh

“It is not a slight thing when those so fresh from God love us.”
Dickens

“What good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is usually best after all.”
Benjamin Spock

“If your baby is “beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time,” you’re the grandma.”
Theresa Bloomingdale

“Having a child is surely the most beautifully irrational act that two people in love can commit.”
Bill Cosby

“I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

“Always kiss your children goodnight - even if they’re already asleep. ”
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“A little child born yesterday. A thing on mother’s milk and kisses fed. ”
Homer

Strange but true. Apparently your calorie intake at the time of conception is the decider. Women who eat 2,250+ calories per day have a 56% chance of conceiving a boy whereas women on a diet, or those eating around 1,750 calories per day, have a 45% chance of conceiving a boy.

Dr Fiona Mathews of Exeter University explained that the link between diet and babies could explain the subtle but consistent decline in boy births over the last 40 years. Inspite of the obesity epidemic women are on average consuming less calories than 40 years ago.

With today’s hectic lifestyle it’s increasingly common for working women to skip breakfast – great if you want a girl, but if you’ve painted the nursery blue, you’ll need to get some Crunchy Nut cornflakes in pronto!

Whether your new born is a girl or a boy, why not spread your good news by sending birth announcement cards to friends and family. BabySaysHello.com have beautiful baby announcement cards - in blue and pink!

Here are the essentials:

Nappies
I made the classic ‘first Mum’ error of forgetting to pack nappies for my newborn, assuming that the hospital would provide these.  I therefore spent the first few hours borrowing from the kind lady in the next bed to me! What I did find is that your brand loyalty starts right now.  I was a ‘Pampers’ Mum throughout simply because they were the nappies delivered to me in hospital.

Clothes
You will need at least 3 babygros and vests. Try to buy easy fastening babygros and vests.  It’s incredible how fragile your baby feels even at a good weight and to start with you need to practice so back fastening is too much of a challenge! Don’t forget that your baby might be larger than average so unless you know you are having a small baby ensure you buy the correct size!

Muslin Squares
Who could believe that simple squares of fabric will become such a major part of one’s life!  To start they are fantastic for wiping up all manner of drips and sick and eventually many become essential comforters for the baby itself!  I love the coloured packs now available in lime green and lemon from Mothercare!

Outfit for going home
All hospitals are very warm so it’s essential that your baby has something suitable, depending on the time of year, to leave the hospital in. This may mean a warm coat and socks and booties but will always mean a hat! A blanket is also useful for the first trip outside.

Car seat
You will not be allowed to leave the hospital without a car seat!  Practice fitting this into your car at home so that you don’t struggle while your baby is in it!

Great sites to buy products:
www.johnlewis.com - buy all your necessities online including nursery furniture, babywear and baby & pre-school toys
www.boots.com/baby - offer a wide range of baby products and services
www.mothercare.com – purchase nursery furniture, pushchairs, car seats, baby clothes, toys & gifts
www.babyunique.co.uk - everything you will ever need for your baby, including prams, pushchairs, car seats, baby furniture and baby equipment

Announce your baby’s birth with a designer birth announcement card and a beautiful birth announcement webpage from Baby Says Hello.

The most important purchase will be your pram- something you will use everyday and something that will define your style among other Mums! Travel systems are the most popular choice and if you’re looking for a stylish and practical pram it’s hard to beat a Mamas & Papas pram. The Pliko Pramette is one of their best sellers and great as the pram folds umbrella style and therefore fits into the smallest of boots, www.mamasandpapas.co.uk. For true style statement look at bugaboo, www.bugaboo.com, these great prams are celebrity favourites and their bright colours make them difficult to miss!

Baby monitors! Hardly something you would think to be a difficult purchase but now, with so many on the market offering so much more, the choice is huge! You can also buy a camera and listener so you can watch and listen to your baby. The e-thos Family Monitoring System 5.6″ monitor and camera set from Mothercare has a £199.99 price tag but certainly looks the part, www.mothercare.com. I still think the Tomy Walkabout Classic is difficult to beat and most of us don’t live in a mansion so our babies are never far away!

My other absolute favourite gadget was a simple microwave steam steriliser. The advantage being that you stored it in your microwave freeing up your work surface. Philips AVENT Express II Microwave Steam Steriliser at £24.99 is perfect.

It’s not long before you’re moving your baby onto solids. It’s so easy to make all his food for the first 6 months and the Kenwood Hand Blender is the perfect kitchen gadget for preparing small amounts when you just want to blend your extra vegetables from your own Sunday lunch, www.kenwoodworld.com.

My last key purchase, whilst not really a gadget, certainly deserves a mention. Like many I borrowed a cot so spent as much as I could afford on my new cot mattress. With so much in the news on cot deaths it’s comforting to buy the best. I choose John Lewis Baby Coir Spring Cotbed Mattress from their great range at www.johnlewis.com.

Lighting Low-level lighting is much more soothing than a central light point. We love these cute little night lights which are cordless and portable. Blooming Marvellous, £22.99 each.Storage, storage, storage You can’t have too much of the stuff. Toyboxes, shelves, hooks, baskets…. more is more! We’re loving the selection available at Children’s Furniture Company.

Nursing chairMum, you’re going to be spending a fair bit of time in this, so it’s got to be as comfy for you as it is for littl’un. A chair with arms and a footstool is the best bet. John Lewis has a good selection including this Hayley Glider Chair, £250.
Mobiles Remember that your baby will see a lot of the ceiling for the first few months of her life so make it pretty with lots of lovely mobiles. Urchin has some fab LED light-up mobiles for £24.99 (see below) or check out the handmade range at Aspace.

Curtains with blackout lining Essential for your baby’s nap… and yours too! Cath Kidston (one of our favourites) has just launched a new fabric called Bubbles pictured below – bright funky circles on a cream background. Our other Cath Kidston faves are Circus, Stars and Cowboy.

Paints If you’re anything like us, you’ll be decorating the nursery right at the end of your pregnancy. earthBorn paints are a great choice because they don’t have the chemicals (or the smell!) of regular paints. 20+ colours available from Homebase.

We’ve handpicked five key pieces to create the perfect capsule wardrobe for a summer pregnancy. Chic, comfortable and lightweight – all the hallmarks of an exceptionally stylish 40 weeks. The jeans (£140 from Push)All the A-list denim brands now have maternity collections but our all-time favourite has to be 7 For All Mankind. You get the legendary butt-lifting and thigh-slimming properties but with a comfortable below-the-bump waist. Head to hip Islington maternity boutique Push for the best selection. The smock (£14 from New Look)New Look’s maternity collection has some excellent pieces like this pretty cotton smock blouse with sequin embellishment. Just the ticket with jeans or linen trousers. The dress (£120 from Isabella Oliver) Signature ruching and wrapping make Isabella Oliver’s designs très chic indeed. The new collection Duo features six key pieces in soft jersey fabric which can be reversed for a different colourway. Genius! We’re loving this sleeveless wrap dress which comes in black/white or cranberry/sand (£120). Go glam with heels or kick back in jeans and AllStars. The cover-up (£49 from Crave)This lovely aqua knit is great for layering over blouses, tees, vests and dresses and the lightweight fabric will even forgive being rolled up in your bag. A wardrobe workhorse no less. The contour top (£40 from Homebody)Side ruche detail, plunge neckline and cap sleeves give this top a sexy and flattering fit. Wear with low-key cargos or a slimline pencil skirt and it will showcase your bump beautifully.

Minnie Driver announced her pregnancy on Jay Leno’s chat show but refuses to say who’s the daddy…  What’s happened to Myleene Klass? She’s shed a whopping four stone since the birth of Ava in August but appears to have all but lost her legendary I’m A Celebrity curves.   Nicole Richie and Christina Aguilera both gave birth to their first babies on January 11 – Nicole to Harlow and Christina to Max. Both women are in stunning shape but so pneumatic are the bosoms of Ms Aguilera that we can’t help suspecting a cheeky enhancement.  Lisa

Marie Presley has just announced she’s four and a half months pregnant with twins by fourth husband Michael Lockwood. She has two children model Riley Keough, 18, and Benjamin Storm, 15, from her marriage to ex-husband Danny Keough.   And finally congrats to Mike Oldfield on the birth of baby number seven but Mr Fertile, aged 55, is the first to admit how exhausting he’s finding it.