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IMAGE COURTESY OF BRICKS & STONES

Helena Bonham Carter is reportedly pregnant with partner Tim Burton’s baby, and has been getting her fair share of criticism for indulging in a cup of coffee or tea. From Bricks & Stones:

“People - particularly men - saying with surprise, ‘You’re still drinking caffeine?’ as if I’m performing a criminal act on my unborn as I tuck into my treasured one-a-day cup of tea/coffee. Yeah. You try nine months of gestation and self-abnegation before you start censoring my diet. Your mother was probably on vodka, and do you have three heads?”

A lot of people I know had mothers who smoked during pregnancy, and they certainly didn’t come out with three heads. I think there is definitely such a thing as too much caution. I’m not recommending swigging Captain and then breast-feeding your baby a la Britney, but caffeine in moderation is not a “criminal act” as she says. On a sidenote, I am super looking forward to a 3-D Tim Burton adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland”, as reported by Jim.

p.s. I’ll try to stop posting about pregnant ladies.

IMAGE COURTESY OF PEOPLE

At the first of three baby showers celebrating Christina Aguilera’s impending motherhood on Sat 11/10, there was no announcement as to the baby’s sex…unless you take the color of many of the gifts given to Christina and her husband, record exec Jordan Bratman. Reports PEOPLE:

“Though the singer has not confirmed the gender of her baby, there was a distinctive theme to the gifts – the color blue.

Among the presents bought from baby boutique Bel Bambini, where the singer set up her registry last month, were a blue Loved Mom Guitar shirt, a Cariboo bassinet with blue dot bedding, Trumpette Johnny’s socks – and Sozo Whiz Kid wee block, meant for use when changing a baby boy’s diapers.”

The most interesting part of this story is the wee block. This is what it looks like:

IMAGE COURTESY OF RASPBERRY AND SAGE

…which isn’t all that telling. But the description is! From Raspberry & Sage, a children’s boutique: “Say no no to wee wee. Designed to keep your babies fountain of youth under control during diaper changes! Wee Block is a machine washable wee wee absorbing sponge to use while changing a baby boy’s diaper.” Maybe I’m just acting like a 5-year-old today, but I can’t help thinking who the copywriter was that came up with that ad copy. And can’t they just say “pee”? I’d even accept “urine.”

IMAGE COURTESY OF BRICKS & STONES

Another party that was big on the colored hints was Nicole Richie’s baby shower just this past weekend, where many of the gifts were blue. (Didn’t anyone read the instructions on the invite? DONATIONS to the Richie Madden Children’s Foundation!) At the “Wizard of Oz”-themed soiree in Beverly Hills, 90 guests attended the shower…and some seemed clued in to the baby’s gender, reports Bricks & Stones:

“And while Richie has not revealed whether she’s having a boy or a girl, some of the gifts offered a clue. From NoMi boutique in L.A., guests picked up a pair of $50 baby sneakers for a boy, and a $50 Tummy T Jack maternity shirt with a picture of a boy on the front.”

Richie is due in January (and barely looks pregnant) and Aguilera has not yet announced when she is due, only confirming to Glamour that she will “enter into mommyhood” early next year.

IMAGE COURTESY OF CELEBITCHY

At last night’s concert in Miami, the last show of her tour, Jennifer Lopez announced what mags, blogs, newspapers, and even her own fashion designer, Roberto Cavalli, (he said last week, “She requests something very special because she is waiting for the baby”) have known: she’s pregnant. Just like with Aguilera, I am dumbfounded.

From the Miami Herald:

”Marc and I are expecting,” she said as the crowd of 10,000 erupted.

Anthony then bent over and kissed his wife’s belly.

”I didn’t know she was going to talk,” Anthony said.

The 39-year-old star went on to say she had waited until the end of the couple’s concert tour in order to make the announcement because she didn’t want their fans to worry about her.

Throughout Wednesday night’s show, JLo joked with the crowd.

”You don’t mind if I catch my breath for a minute,” she said at one point, holding her belly.

What is curious is that she didn’t say, “I’m having a baby” or “We’re expecting a baby”, leading to further speculation that she is pregnant with twins. Anthony and Lopez told the crowd, “We’re going away for a while,” meaning they’ll be out of the spotlight for the remainder of her pregnacy, which is a relief to me and makes me hope that other pregnant celebrities will follow her lead (*cough* Nicole Richie). That doesn’t necessarily mean we can’t expect every gossip rag to update weekly with “twins in peril” or “JLo’s maternity style” stories.

I thought to myself this morning when I heard the news that JLo had announced her pregnancy, that when I’m pregnant, I’m going to do the same thing. As I grow bigger and fam and friends begin to wonder, I’m going to avoid direct questions by saying, “We don’t comment on our client’s personal lives.” Then, come month 5, I’ll post the news on my blog. It should work out perfectly: Liz Lange maternity hides everything!