When I found out that my last child was a girl, I cried. I might have TOLD you it was allergies or dust or something, but that'd have been a lie. I cried because I was so grateful that I'd have a chance at having a daughter. A girl of my own. Something I never thought I'd have.

This is what I want her to know.

During Linda Evangalista's recent child support battle with her billionaire baby daddy, her onetime lover Francois-Henri Pinault divulged a major family secret: his wife Salma Hayek was mistakenly told their daughter had Down Syndrome.

Evangalista and Pinault were involved in a brief affair before he married Hayek, during which time the supermodel became pregnant with his son. She's since been fighting with him for an extravagant child support payout (she asked for a jaw-dropping $46,000 per month), and during this week's court battle, Pinault testified that he'd originally asked Evangalista to delay the legal recognition process of their son because of Hayek's stressful pregnancy.

Setting aside the supermodel/billionaire bad behavior (who needs that much money each month? Who doesn't step up to recognize their own child? Douchbaggery all around, I say!), I feel really sorry for Salma Hayek—not only for what she must have gone through, but for having it made public in this way.

When my twin babies were just a few months old, we were told that both of them had flat spots on their heads, and if we didn't intervene with physical therapy, they would likely need helmets. At the time, I was really upset, convinced it was my fault for letting them nap in their carseats. I posted about it back then...and got several nasty (and misinformed) comments that did nothing to ease my new Mom guilt. 

We did months of physical therapy and stretches, tried repositioning, but in the end, none of it worked -- at 7 months old, they both got DOC Band helmets to help reshape their heads. To the haters out there, no, they didn't get plagiocephaly and brachycephaly because I didn't hold them enough. They got it because they were full-term twins with large heads, lodged in my small pelvis. And sleeping on their backs didn't help. We were encouraged by two separate doctors to get our boys the helmets. And I'm so glad we did.

By the time I got to the end of Adrienne Arieff's memoir tracking the months she spent in India with the surrogate who helped bring her twins into the world, I was tripping over myself to get to a computer and look for an update on those sweet little bundles of cuteness. I almost wish I hadn't bothered looking. Because in my naive celebration of another mother's joy, I'd forgotten the new American obsession with invading the womb and ripping a woman to shreds from the inside out.

As technology has upped the chances for beating infertility, it's somehow become acceptable to respond to news that a woman is pregnant with the words "is it natural?" Attention, America! All babies are carbon-based lifeforms. That's as natural as it gets.

The idea of a bucket list—a list of things to do before you die—is inspiring for many people. Writing down your life goals can be a fun way to delve into your greatest aspirations, from simple acts of fancy to exotic adrenaline-fueled adventures.

A bucket list for a 5-month-old baby, however, is something else entirely. Reading little Avery Canahuati's list of the experiences her parents want her to have before she's gone is heartbreaking to the extreme, especially when you see items like "swing on my swingset" and "make cupcakes."

It seems impossible that any child would be denied such basic pleasures, and yet Avery's time here is devastatingly short: she's not expected to live past 18 months.

I can't even remember which friend it was, but someone passed down their used copy of Dr. Harvey Karp's The Happiest Baby on the Block DVD shortly before my first baby was born. It's ridiculous that I can't recall who gave it to me, as I would love to thank them five million times over for the relief that was provided when I followed Karp's 5 S's: swaddling, side/stomach position, shushing, swinging, and sucking. My gal would chill out and, indeed, be the happiest baby on the block (see pic).

So it's not surprising, to me anyway, that Pediatrics has come out with a study showing that Karp's methods are scientifically proven to soothe babies who have just received a vaccination. Those are crying babies who just got jabbed. So not an easy crowd.

As mothers, all we want is for our kids to be happy and healthy, right? And I think it's safe to say that we'd do pretty much anything in the world to ensure their well being and safety, even if it means putting ourselves in harm's way.

A woman in the U.K. named Sarah Brook was put to the ultimate test when she had to choose between possibly saving her own life or saving the life of her unborn baby. When she was six months pregnant with her daughter, she got the devastating news that she was battling bowel cancer. She'd been suffering from back aches and morning sickness, which are two symptoms that can typically be attributed to pregnancy -- and she was no doubt shocked when she learned that she actually had a life threatening disease.

Sarah was faced with a gut wrenching dilemma when she had to choose whether to start chemotherapy and risk the life of her baby, or to delay treatment altogether in the hopes that her child might live.

I always kind of regretted that my husband and I never took an official babymoon. Personally, the thought of paying for diapers and college was enough to deter me from some exotic locale, but good for those who are able and do so. Well, good for most people who take them. For Brett and Sonja Broom, however, their babymoon quickly turned into one big regret.

Having never had a honeymoon since they married, they went big -- to the United States from their home in Australia. While on board a cruise February 12, Sonja, who was just 24 1/2 weeks pregnant at the time, went into labor. As they were nearing Cape Canaveral, she was able to make it ashore before giving birth to a baby girl, Gracee, who weighed just 1 pound, 11 ounces.