Moms Chime in

Hold the high fructose corn syrup! A mom may cheat on occasion, but there are certain groceries that you'll never find in her shopping cart. We asked mamas the foods they have banned. Here's what they said.

• Packaged goods for calicocobuble: "But I don't buy any junk food like chips, cookies or cheese puffs and that sort. Snacks I give my son are pretzels or fruit. I never buy packaged ready foods. They are so unhealthy. I cook dinner every night from scratch and bake from scratch, even pancakes and waffles. I like to know that what my children are eating is basic ingredients that have not been inserted with garbage. So when we go out for ice cream or he gets a treat like candy, it's once in a while, or on the weekends so it's special."
• Facebook fan Kathy Pape Brauer steers clear of high fructose corn syrup, as do bellafranki and an anonymous reader.
• Girl Jen avoids soda. She said, "My mom kept a steady supply of pop in the house, and as a result, my brothers and I drank 2-3 Cokes a day. As a result, I had horrible teeth and disrupted sleep and it took me years to stop feeling like I needed pop."
• Nothing said an anonymous reader. She explained, "My husband and I have found that when something is highly restricted or banned, people often go overboard when they do get the chance to have it. So, we allow pretty much everything in but keep tabs on what's eaten/drank and when!"
• Soda and juice make the list in RoaringSilence's home. "I wouldn't allow soda and juice cocktails. All other foods...yeah the occasional treat is OK in moderation. But it's harder to do that with drinks."
• Moderation is key according to amandachalynn. "I don't really totally ban anything. My sons regular diet is healthy and balanced, so I don't mind him having something that isn't exactly good for him every once in a while. He's active and is actually underweight according to his doc, so I'm really not worried about obesity in my house."

In the movies, a baby's delivery is always a dramatic scene. A very pregnant woman is typically standing in a crowded store, or the middle of the parking lot, and whoosh – her water surprisingly breaks and she is whisked off to the hospital in a frenzy. Real life isn't always quite as exciting. In fact, many of our readers simply noticed an extra burst of "water" when going to the bathroom.

For a select few, though, the beginning of their birthing process was like a scene from a blockbuster hit!

• "My water broke with my first while I was bringing my dinner to the table. Gigantic rush of fluid that soaked my clothes and the floor in second. I finished dinner and waited a few hours before I went to the hospital, because I wasn't having contractions and I didn't feel like being strapped to a bed for longer then necessary!" – MissSushi
• "I was lucky...as I was walking into the hospital!" – MelOnHeels
• "[At the hospital] I filled out the paperwork, put on the hospital gown, climbed onto the stretcher to go to L&D ... and my water broke. Splash! Perfect timing! Of course, I changed out of the gown I just soaked and mounted a new stretcher." – danaruth
• "The pool at the YMCA!" – Facebook fan Darlene Cornell
• "I'm a waitress and . . . I was politely letting [a patron] go on and on and all the sudden, it happened and I couldn't turn it off or make it stop. (Awesome, I look like I peed my pants!) I was slightly mortified, and I kept trying to cut him off, but it wasn't working. I finally wrapped up that conversation and ran outside. Why outside I don't know, but my boyfriend had amazing timing and came walking up right then." – Facebook fan Amanda Pleasant Hoff

Having had two c-sections, with nary a contraction to be felt, I always envied women who experienced movie-like water-breaking scenes, where out of the blue, their water breaks and it is a mad dash to the hospital. Over the weekend, a friend had just that.

One month away from her due date with her third child (the first two were both over a week late), my friend thought she was safe to head to the 'burbs for dinner and shopping. With her older tots safely snuggled under the covers at grandma's, she and her husband began their date night at Toys R Us to play Santa. Standing in the middle of the Bakugan aisle, dressed in her new hot over-the-knee boots, her water broke, leaving a huge puddle on the floor. Some quick-thinking saleswomen helped her to the door while her husband ran to get the car, and two hours later their son arrived.

Did you have a dramatic water-breaking situation? Share it with us below, or get the conversation started in the Pregnancy Posse group!

Finding the perfect way to tell family and friends about your expectant status is one of the top priorities for a newly pregnant couple. Forty-eight percent of LilSugar readers opted to spread the news in person, but that's not always possible.

A reader recently wrote in looking for a creative way to broadcast her impending arrival. After trying to conceive for several years, she's now expecting, but the online announcement she had bookmarked is no longer available. Help the expectant mom out and tell us the most creative way you've heard a couple share their news.

While some pregnancies aren't planned, others are carefully timed to fit into a mama-to-be's schedule. When we asked our readers to chime in on the best season to carry a child. Here's what they had to say!

• Carri hopes to avoid a Summer pregnancy again. "I was newly pregnant during the summer of 2008, which had the most consecutive highs in a long time. I'm talking over 100 for a couple of weeks. I was miserable. It wasn't until it cooled off (November-ish for So Cal) that I started feeling better."
• Facebook fan Anna Morales would choose any season but Summer, "anytime but summer I guess...I felt so hot, crazy hormones!"
• Winter sounds good to PatiBF. "I was pregnant from May – February and it was perfect because I was at my heaviest during the coldest months of the year. I was always hot anyway so I think it would've been ten times worse if it were Summer. Also, by the time summer rolled around I had lost 90 percent of the baby weight so I felt okay in my shorts and sleeveless dresses!"
• Facebook fan Heather Roberts Allred chimed in with a vote for Spring, "Spring was the best! Unlike my first, who had to stay sequestered inside due to RSV and when we did out I would have to bundle her up against the snow and ice and wind then get her undone so she wouldn't melt in the car. Spring baby, rocking in a glider outside in a onesie and receiving blanket, the night we got home, barbecuing with friends."
• grablife365 voted for Fall. "Right now is a good time for me. I got pregnant right at the start of June. I was hot yes, but not too hot. Now it's cooling down and I'm getting bigger but it will be Texas winter and spring so I don't think the weather will make me uncomfortable."

Keep reading to see what more readers had to say!

You say three, but your husband says two — can a compromise be reached? Many parents have an idealized vision of what their family will look like. Those who come from large families often want to replicate the feeling of lots of siblings around them, while others hope to simplify things with a smaller clan. Before entering the world of parenthood, many couples discuss their "magic number" of kids only to find that they have different figures in mind. Are you and your partner in agreement?

LilSugar moms have a lot to say, so we're turning the spotlight on them with our new Moms Chime In series. I'll be private messaging you to give your opinion on hot topics and motherhood so keep checking your inbox!

Lil readers know her as Girl Jen, but she's just Mom to her 3-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. The duo live in the Denver, CO, area.

LS: When did you realize you wanted to be a mom?
Girl Jen: I had a birth control slip-up. My period was a few days late. But when it came, instead of being relieved, I was a little disappointed! So was my husband. We socked away a little bit of money and started trying to have a baby.

LS: What is the best way your child (or children) have changed your life?
Girl Jen: I have learned more from her than I ever thought possible! I've learned to be more patient, mindful, and flexible; I've learned the answers to her questions (how are cars made? what are umbrellas made out of? could my dad build a house if he tried really hard?); and I've learned how to really understand her moods.

LS: Diapers aren't just diapers anymore! Which do you prefer — Huggies denim diapers or Pampers by Cynthia Rowley (and why)?
Girl Jen: I like the Pampers by Cynthia Rowley! The designs are super cute. And for some reason, Pampers just seem to fit Liz better than anything else.

If you're eager to answer our ever-changing interview questions and be featured in Moms Chime In, private message LilSugar!