It had to be devastating -- to learn that their son had a deadly genetic disease destined to cut his life short after just a decade. But then science reared its helpful head and offered a solution. Andres, suffering from a rare hereditary disease called Beta Thalassaemia major, could have a brother who was not only free of the genetic malady, but could save Andres' life.

And so, Javier was born, free of the disease, and an immunological match for his brother -- meaning he could donate bone marrow to his brother and quite possibly cure Andres' condition. Andres' body does not produce enough oxygen-carrying red blood cells but his brother's umbilical cord blood will be used in a bone marrow transplant. Doctors say that "the possibility of healing the boy after the transplant is very high."

The parents used in vitro fertilization to conceive Javier and, prior to implantation, were able to verify that the embryo was genetically healthy. After he was born, doctors determined that Javier was indeed the ideal donor for his brother. I'd say that's one boy that better be nice to his kid brother!

Reality show relationships have a tendency to crash and burn once the cameras have been turned off. A little time in the real world usually reveals that happily-ever-after isn't going to happen and the couples split up. But at least one made-for-television hookup seems to be standing the test of time - Trista and Ryan Sutter.

Perennially perky Trista and hunky fireman Ryan met on the first season of the Bachelorette and married in a lavish, televised wedding ceremony in 2003. In July of 2007, the couple welcomed their first child, Max.

The three Sutters may be just settling into family life, but soon they will be four. She tells Life & Style that she is about three months along with her second child. And while she admits that getting pregnant so soon after Max was a bit of a surprise, she and Ryan couldn't be happier.

"I was in total shock! I took a few tests, and they all came back negative. But a few weeks after Max's 1st birthday, all of a sudden I thought to myself, I don't think I've had my period in a while. So I took another test - the line was extremely faint, but it was there!" she said. And Ryan's reaction? "His first words were, "Holy crap!" It was positive shock, one of the best kinds you can have in your life," she said.

Trista admits that she longs for a girl, but would be happy with another happy and healthy boy. Although she is leaning towards having her tubes tied after this baby, she says doesn't rule out the possibility of adopting to get the little girl she's always wanted.

Congratulations Trista and Ryan!

Want to get smarter? Have a kid.

The human brain makes new cells constantly over a lifetime, but the cells are most likely to survive and flourish when challenged with emotional and novel experiences. Scientists now say that parenthood provides the perfect "revolution for the brain."

After all, what could be more challenging than teaching a person to use the toilet? Or figuring out which cry means "I'm hungry?" Or coming up with new and different ways to disguise green vegetables?

Leading neuroscientists across the country are studying the ways that parenthood -- and, in particular, motherhood -- strengthens our mental abilities. One study showed that mother lab rats, like working mothers, excel at time management and efficiency, racing through mazes to get back to their babies as quickly as possible. Other research revealed that hormones created by labor and breastfeeding are linked to the ability to learn.

Katherine Ellison explores this concept in her book, The Mommy Brain. I heard Ellison talk about the mental gymnastics required by motherhood on my local pubic radio station, as I drove home from a late-night run to the drugstore for gas drops to administer to my newborn.

I laughed out loud when she said the mommy brain is a smarter brain, but then I realized just how often I apply complex problem solving skills in my job as a work-at-home mom. Dads aren't exactly slouches in this department, either. Keeping these kids alive is a lot of work, y'all.

Did parenthood make you smarter? Do you agree with Ellison, or is it just more mother-knows-best propaganda?

How do you show support for your presidential candidate? Signs in your yard? Bumper stickers on your car? Maybe you just show up and vote on the first Tuesday in November? Whatever you do, I'll bet it doesn't compare to what this dad in Elizabethton, Tennessee did: he named his newborn daughter Sarah McCain Palin. Without his wife's knowledge. That's hardcore.

Mark Ciptak and his wife had settled on the perfectly lovely name of Ava Grace for their third child. But Ciptak decided that he needed to "to get the word out" about the Republican ticket for president and vice president and secretly filled in the birth certificate with a combination of John McCain's and Sarah Palin's names.

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And how did his wife and the mother of his child take the news? "I don't think she believes me yet," he told a local paper. "It's going to take some more convincing."

"I took one for the cause," he said. "I can't give a lot of financial support for the (McCain/Palin) campaign. I do have a sign up in my yard, but I can do very little."

Sarah McCain Palin is a nice name and all, but who does this? I don't mean who would name their child after political candidates - I mean who would risk the wrath of a mother by secretly changing the name of her child? If he really wanted to take one for the cause, perhaps he should have changed his own name. Any bets on how long he will be sleeping on the couch?

It is hard to find anything good to say about the economic crisis that has gripped not just the United States, but much of the world. People are losing their retirement savings, their jobs, their homes, their sense of security. Many of us have altered our normal spending habits and instead of going out to dinner or a movie, we stay home and find something else to do. Apparently in Britain, that 'something else' is sex. And according to some, this at-home recreation is having an impact on the sales maternity clothes, pregnancy tests, and sex toys (not necessarily in that order).

While many businesses are downsizing and wondering just how they will survive, those who specialize in sex-related merchandise are experiencing a boom. Pharmacies report a 20% increase in the sales of pregnancy tests and one chain selling maternity wear boasts of a 46% increase. As Miranda Levy, editor of Mother & Baby Magazine, points out: "What's cheaper and more fun than making babies?

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Making babies with the help of sex toys, that's what! One online sex toy shop claims to have experienced a 27% increase in sales since the economy began melting down. "We are gobsmacked by the upturn in sales, while everyone else seems to be suffering. We've especially noticed the rise in sales of couples' toys, showing that people are buying for play with their partners," said Monique Carty, a spokesperson for the store.

I think it is great that couples are rekindling their romance in these times of trouble. But in about nine months, those who end up shopping in the maternity stores are going to find that staying home and having sex is a play now, pay later kind of fun. Ultimately, dinner and a movie would have been much cheaper.

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How does a woman signal to a man that she is fertile and about to ovulate? Researchers have found that women raise the pitch of their voice when talking in social situations; the better the timing for conception, the higher the pitch. This, apparently, makes them more attractive to members of the opposite sex.

The researchers at the University of California recorded female undergraduate students and noted that they spoke in higher tones when they were nearer to an egg being released. The difference, however, only showed up when they said a sentence they would normally say in a social setting, such as "hi, I'm a student at UCLA." The change was not apparent for simple vowel sounds.

A study at the State University of New York recently found that men and women both preferred female voices more when the speaker was more fertile; perhaps now we know why. Perhaps, also, we know why sopranos always get the lead roles.

"Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast, / To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak." So wrote William Congreve, in The Mourning Bride, way back in 1697. Turns out the guy knew what he was talking about. Researchers in Taiwan studied pregnant women and found those who listened to lullabies and classical music over a two-week period lowered their levels of stress, anxiety, and depression.

About half the women in the study were given four CD's and told to listen to at least one of them every day for two weeks. Each woman got a CD of classical music, one of lullabies, one of nature sounds, and one with new age versions of children's songs. "Pregnancy is a unique and stressful period for many expectant mothers and they suffer anxiety and depression because of the long time period involved," explained Professor Chung-Hey Chen of Kaohsiung Medical University, who led the study. "Our study shows that listening to suitable music provides a simple, cost-effective and non-invasive way of reducing stress, anxiety and depression during pregnancy."

This comes as no surprise to me; I've known for a long time that a little Vivaldi, Ray Lynch, or Beethoven before a trip to the dentist makes a huge difference. It's good to see the idea put to use making pregnancy a little easier.

As if sleep deprivation and hourly diaper blow-outs aren't enough, dressing her post-baby body can reduce a new mother to a weeping mess. After months of wearing polyester smocks, trying to shove your now-unfamiliar shape into your old size 10 jeans is agonizing.

Most new moms feel ambivalent at best about their bodies. Yes, it is a miracle machine, creating a brand-new person. I mean, wow -- your body made a human being from scratch. Amazing! But the process wreaks havoc on your abdomen and bottom.

In fact, a survey of 7,000 new mothers revealed that more than half of that number felt their body image worsened after becoming a mom. To make matters worse, high expectations make it even harder to cope with the postpartum bod -- 65 percent of mothers expected to be back to their fighting weight by the baby's first birthday, but a poll of mothers of 1- and 2-year-olds showed that more than half of them were still carrying extra pounds.

OK, so there's a little more junk in the trunk than there used to be. A girl still has to get dressed.

My problem is that I always tell myself I'll wait, and buy new clothes when I lose the weight. Ha! Lose the weight! So I'll be buying new clothes when my son is, what, 18? This time, I vowed not to pretend that I'll lose 20 pounds in two months.

The first step to dressing your new body is honesty. I'm not a size 10 anymore. And my hours and hours of watching What Not To Wear during nocturnal feedings helped me realize that size, in this case, doesn't matter. Do the clothes fit you? Then ignore the number. %Gallery-33809%

Some folks claim they don't dream at all, others that they do every night, and quite vividly. Some of us lurk somewhere in the middle, but become very avid dreamers when we're pregnant. Weird pregnancy dreams are nothing new to the mother-to-be community, and should certainly not be something that puts fear into a new or soon-to-be mom. Still, some of the things we dream about when we're pregnant shock us, or at the very least give us pause.

Some of us feel that much about our soon-to-be children are revealed in dreams. What they'll be like, how they'll look, even what they should be named have all come up in conversations I've had with other moms who had memorable pregnancy dreams. When I was pregnant with my son I had a dream that God wrote his name in the sky. It was Avery. I didn't end up naming my son that, but it was a good name I worked with for a long time before moving on to something else. I felt like this otherwordly force was trying to tell me something. My friend actually ended up naming her daughter Avery, so I think we're all squared away--it's a great name.

Some women dream more about the birth than anything. It's not uncommon to dream of birthing an animal. I guess there's something Freudian to all that, but to me it just says you're nervous about the impending arrival of something very important and that you want it to go the way you hope it will. You know, like having a baby instead of, say, a chicken. It's not uncommon for gals to dream they birth dogs and cats and all manner of things. It's also not uncommon to dream of weird occurrences during labor. I keep dreaming, for example, that my water won't break, and that my labor will start and then stop just as the doctors attend me. Those dreams seem pretty self-explanatory, but I'm not so sure about the birthing a chicken thing.

What about you? Did you have any memorable dreams during your pregnancy? Anything truly weird and seemingly without explanation you'd like to share?

Presidential nominee John McCain allegedly had a date set with actress Jenny McCarthy. The topic of their discussion? Not love but, rather autism, and specifically the link between the condition and the use of thimerosal in the vaccines McCarthy believes cause autism.

McCarthy was eager to meet with McCain after learning he believes there may be a link as well, and apparently flew herself out for a meeting with the Republican senator to try to make autism a major part of the presidential campaign.

According to reports, however, McCain backed out after his flack decided the subject matter was too controversial. Right, like presidential nominees should avoid discussing anything controversial! If they did all they'd end up doing at debates was drinking Yoohoos! Although not attributed anywhere, the post on IMDB claims McCain also bailed after learning there is no hard evidence linking vaccines with thimerosal and autism. Either way, McCain declined to meet with the former Playboy centerfold (huge mistake, dude!) and McCarthy has now set her sites on meeting with Senator Obama.

On Mother's Day, Michelle Duggar surprised her family with what has probably become a not totally unexpected announcement: She was pregnant, and her 18th child was due on New Year's Day. The family recently visited with the Today show and revealed that their latest addition will be a girl. That makes things a little more equal at home; once this baby is born, the family will have 10 boys and 8 girls.

But welcoming a new sister isn't the only change going on in the Duggar household. Eldest son Joshua, 20, recently married his home-school group sweetheart, Anna. The two will be setting up house near the Duggars in Arkansas. Does Anna embrace the Duggar's "we'll welcome as many children as we're blessed with" lifestyle? Is this the beginning of The Duggars: The Sequel? Or will the young couple show a little more reproductive restraint?

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As for Michelle, she's not closing the door on motherhood just yet. "We would love more," she told the Today show. "We really believe each child is a gift from God. We would love to receive more gifts if the Lord sees fit. I guess we'll just wait and see." What that means is, watch for another "surprise" announcement next fall or winter, I think!

Here's a newsflash--a celebrity who will have her child, or in this case, children, early! Most celebrities never make it through the ninth month or pregnancy, opting for c-sections at the eighth month in order to avoid getting ginormous during the final weeks of pregnancy. Too late, Rebecca!

Those carrying twins--celebrity or not--are more likely to give birth earlier anyway. Rebecca Romijn is both a celebrity and carrying twins, so she is expected to pop--or have her babies--sooner rather than later. She is allegedly being placed on bed rest starting in October in hopes of getting the twins she's expecting with super-lucky husband Jerry O'Connell in January through some time in December.

Romijn joins countless celebrities in recent months who've either gotten pregnant with or given birth to twins. Her husband Jerry recently commented that she was "huge" and then later apologized. Perhaps the baby hormones are affecting him too! Good luck, Rebecca! Here's to hoping you make it to the new year! I can't imagine a woman on the go like her having to deal with bed rest!!! That'll be harder than surgery!

According to The Guinness Book of Records, Bao Xishun is officially the world's tallest man. The 7'9" Chinese man earned that title by default as the actual tallest man in the world, 8' 9" Ukranian Leonid Stadnyk, has shunned all publicity and refuses to be measured. In guess one man's shame is another's pride. While Stadnyk is so distressed about his appearance that he refuses to even look in a mirror, 60-year-old Xishun has used his notoriety to find a wife.

After broadcasting his desire to marry with advertisements around the world, Xishun eventually found true love with a girl from his own hometown. Last year, he married 5'6" Xia Shujuan in a traditional Mongolian ceremony that was heavily sponsored by companies hoping to cash in on his fame. 29-year-old Xia insists it was love, not fame, that drew her to her husband. "You need to have feelings for someone to be in love. Even if he is a big shot, you can't love him without feelings", she said. Or in this case, maybe a ladder as well.

Despite the difference in heights, they are both walking tall now as they await the birth of their first child. Xishun is hoping the kid will be tall, but not that tall. "I hope he or she can be about 2 meters tall.' he said last year. "'Then he or she can play basketball." For those of you who are metric-impaired like myself, 2 meters is just over six feet - downright short compared to daddy.

Louisiana State Representative John LaBruzzo is concerned about the future. He's worried for the poor of his state who cannot afford the children they apparently keep having and about the quality of future generations made up of the children of the poor and uneducated. "We're on a train headed to the future and there's a bridge out," said LaBruzzo.

His solution? Sterilization. He is looking at a plan to pay poor women a thousand dollars to get their Fallopian tubes tied. The plan would also cover other forms of birth control, including vasectomies for men (to avoid accusations of being sexist). His plan might include tax incentives for well-to-do, college graduates to have more children as well.

Before you accuse him of racism, however, he is quick to point out that there are more whites on welfare than groups and that the program would be completely voluntary. On the one hand, since it would be voluntary, those who don't like the idea can simply choose not to participate. On the other hand, it sure seems like a step closer to a world where only the wealthy and successful are allowed to reproduce.

Hard to believe but it's already flu season again. Or, to be more accurate, it's really (hopefully) flu PREVENTION season. This week the Center for Disease Control whipped out a new, stronger than ever campaign to get pregnant women and young children vaccinated. This campaign, of course, is not without its controversy. Not so long ago, one of our commenters seemed to think the topic of vaccinations was my high horse, as I write about it frequently, but I can assure you that's not the case. I'm a parent, too, with the same concerns as many of you regarding vaccines and children's health--I'm just interested in getting as much information as possible and seeing how the whole thing turns out.

According to the CDC, children as young as six months of age should be getting flu vaccinations. It strongly recommended vaccinations for kids up to eighteen years old, pregnant women, healthcare workers and anyone over the age of fifty. Seems harmless enough, right? I mean, most of us have gotten at least one flu shot in our lives and for the most part we turned out OK. The problem with the flu vaccine, which contains thimerosal, is that thimerosal contains mercury. Yep, mercury. Rather DANGEROUS. Now, that said, we've all been assured that even if it did contain said mercury, the amount would be no more than that in a small can of tuna. Contrary to that, however, are the findings that the kind of mercury found in thimerosal differs from that found in tuna (methyl mercury) in that it stays in the system, namely the brain, for a lot longer period of time. This is not great news for a developing fetal brain.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists claim that pregnant women should be getting this vaccine and that there isn't any evidence of harmful effects to women or their unborn children. According to some that notion is quite misleading as it implies that tons of tests and research has been done on the subject, when, in fact, it has not. Still, what would my pediatrician say? Well, he'd tell me that the chances of something happening to my child as a result of the flu vaccine are a great deal smaller than what might happen if he remained unvaccinated. When one weighs the odds from that perspective the vaccination wins out.

Clearly, more research is needed and the results well-established before we make any uniform decisions with respect to vaccinating our children--unborn or not. The other side of the argument? Opt for what my pediatrician did--offer flu shots without thimerosal. Hopefully, pregnant women can get that option too.