Photo by ventichaitea

One CafeMom had a surprise home birth. (Not unusual unless you're not planning on it.)

Cafe MicheleZ, who's expecting twins in another month, is worried that her babies might come so fast (she should be so lucky!) that her midwife or doctor of choice may not make it to the delivery room in time. She's thinking of creating a Birth Plan B and C just in case.

This is probably a good idea considering the strange and unexpected places babies decide to pop out. Just this week, a woman in Eau Claire, Wisconsin gave birth on the sidewalk outside the hospital.

Photo by livewiresav06

I felt guilty taking my two-week old firstborn to a friend's party where there were lots of snuffly little kids around. Our pediatrician had specifically said to wait at least a month to six weeks before exposing him to germs, and as a new mom, I took his words as gospel.

When my daughter was born, I was strolling the aisles of Target and visiting friends within days with no guilt whatsoever. If she was going to catch anything, it would be something from her germy big brother.

I recently visited my friend and her 1 week old, and even though she's been through it all with an older son, she doesn't plan to take her new baby out anytime soon, especially with the Swine Flu going around. So it seems like it just depends on the mom.

Some of the responses from moms who were asked when they took their newborn out in public in Answers made me giggle:

Photo by abjbrewer

Earlier this week I wrote a post about a World Breastfeeding Week world record, designed partly to promote the idea that breastfeeding in public is perfectly natural and acceptable.

Today I came across 6 Tips for New Moms Who Want to Breastfeed in Public at The Daily Green. It had some great tips for how to breastfeed discreetly, you know, when you're just not comfortable "whipping it out" in public. That was me, Miss Self Conscious. Coulda used these tips back then!

Here are some of them, common sense for the well practiced but a good primer for the newbies among us ... click the full 6 Tips piece for the rest. And join the Breastfeeding Moms group for the ultimate advice and support.

• Retrofit some shirts or invest in nursing specific tops that allow enough entry for you to snake a hand in to open your nursing bra or tank and then offer a breast to a babe.

Photo by doodles8301

My son loved car rides when he was an infant -- some nights it was the only way we could ease his colic and get him to go to sleep. My daughter? Nah. She'd start wailing after 10 minutes. I think she was bored. I never did find her happy button and get her to just relax and enjoy.

I really hope that hgibsonorc finds it with her three month old.

"He screams bloody murder every time he is in the car seat for more than five minutes," she says. "I feel so bad and helpless. When my husband drives I sometimes go back there with him and stick my breast in his mouth, which comforts him for a bit, but it never lasts long. Then I worry about burping him because he's really gassy and I don't want him to throw up everywhere. He sits there, looking at me screaming like he is wondering why I'm right there and won't pick him up."

Moms in Old Fashioned & Anti Mainstream Moms said to try the typical things first:

Photo by cafemama

A while ago Cafe MicheleZ wrote about the strange things we keep in our purse, but with her December twins on the way, she'll soon be thinking about diaper bags -- and discovering how much stuff you can manage to cram in them! Oh, if it were only diapers, wipes and onesies ...

The Stay at Home Moms (a private group) took a peek in their diaper bags recently and shared some of the unusual diaper bag extras that were there that very moment:

• A few Legos, lipstick and receipts.

• Pictures of my daughter, saline wash, and gas medicine.

• A Babyfest map -- a three day concert that takes up about 12 city blocks. (I must say Alan Jackson was awesome, as was Gary Allan, Billy Curington and a few others.)

Photo by Jeanmarie1975

Those infant car seat carriers are a godsend in so many ways. Can you imagine having to wake and unstrap your sleeping baby every time you to run into the grocery store for a gallon of milk, wisk your older child into day care, or all those other little in-and-outs we do all day?

Even though the experts say you shouldn't let a baby sleep in the carseat when not in the car, they still will a good portion of the time.

The last thing you need is a sore back, so here are some do's and don'ts from ergomomics.com to help you carry your infant's seat the right way:

DO's

When carrying the seat short distances, support it on your bent elbow (using biceps) and keep it close to your center of gravity, OR

CafeMoms have been buzzing about the 6 month old baby who miraculously survived being hit by a train after his stroller rolled off the platform in Melbourne, Australia. OMG what a nightmare. You can see a video of the baby stroller falling onto the train tracks on CNN.

It practically gave me a heart attack watching the mom's reaction. She watched as the stroller slide off the platform into the tracks, saw the train cover the carriage. I knew the baby was okay before I watched it, or I never would have. It seems as though the train rolled right over the stroller, which was in the center of the tracks, leaving the infant shaken but practically unharmed except for a bump on his head.

You can call her a horrible mom, but I'll bet she's just a typical overwhelmed distracted mom. Like me. Careless accidents happen to the best people, that's why they are called accidents.

Photo by RanaAurora

You may have discovered that you spend a lot of time in the pediatrician's office. Or maybe I'm just making an assumption about you because when my kids were infants I was there ALL THE TIME.

It was the worst. My son seemed to get sick every other week those first few months. As a new mom, I always played it safe and took him in. You never really know how sick a baby is, because even a little discomfort makes them wail.

My pediatrician wasn't far, but there was always traffic. Add an extra 20 minutes to the 40 minute round trip. That wasn't nearly as bad as the waiting once I lugged the infant carrier up two flights of stairs to the office. If I got in and out in an hour and a half, that was a good day. One time I was there for three! My doctor was consistently backed up, one of the reasons I eventually switched practices.

Photo by corrie0227

Wondering if any of those baby carrier options are really necessary? Today Alison Neumer Lara, Ideal Bite's Mama Bite Editor joins us to share what she knows (and loves) about infant carriers and baby slings.

I was behind a very confused mom in the airport security line while traveling last week. She didn't know whether she was allowed to bring a bottle of her baby's formula through the checkpoint given the laws about liquids. I thought this might be a good time to review the TSA rules for traveling with babies in case any of you are flying this summer...