Well, she certainly has a sense of timing.

While a whole lot of Mt'ers know I have been obsessing about my new daughter's method of entry into the world, not many of you know I have also been waiting for my Mom to come into town. She decided it'd be a great idea to head to another state a week before my due date, grrr! Anyhow my Mom and my older daughter arrived Friday afternoon June 20th. My water broke at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday! Awesome!

click here for baby pic -- http://www.flickr.com/...

If that link doesn't work please let me know!

My Mom had three c-sections, I was her first kid and after laboring with me for 26 hours, I was "from my mother's womb untimely ripped.." This was of course 1977, and there were no VBACs. My sisters all came out of Mom's scar, affecionately known as "the zipper".

I know a c-section is not the end of the world, but recently it has come up between me and my OB and midwives. Frankly, I don't know much about c-sections. I never thought I'd need one as I birthed Darling Girl pretty easily. However, she was a 6 pound little peanut and my Ultraound estimates for the new baby are hovering at 8 pounds three ounces, and I have 3 more weeks to go!

I figured there is such a plethora of pregnant and recently pregnant women on the board right now that perhaps we could share our best tips and tricks for getting through some fo the less "pleasant" aspects of pregnancy.

Of course I am selfishly motivated because I am giving birth to our second (last?) child in June. But hopefully other Moms and Moms to be can benefit from the collected wisdom here.

My personal pregnancy bugaboos? How the hell do you get a good night's sleep? Swollen ankles! How to avoid an episiotomy! What if your OB starts talking C-sections in your 7th month?! Warning signs of preeclampsia?

My husband is from a red-meat loving family; its not dinner unless it bled on the way there. I myself was raised by very omnivorous folks, we can throw down BBQ with the best of them, but beans and rice were also a staple. The first time I served dear hubby our favorite summer-time supper; big garden salad with chopped boiled eggs and a sprinkiling of Baco-s with chewy whole grain bread, he ate it up! And then asked what was for dinner.

Two of the most viewed news stories on cnn.com yesterday were, "$10,000 for child's birthday party" and "Orphan boy lives in garbage dump". The disconnect between the two was staggering."$10,000 for child's birthday party""Orphan boy lives in garbage dump

I may have the world's sweetest 5 year old child. Maybe most of you will laugh at my pleas and compare Darling Girl with your children at 5 and make me feel inadequate to the challenges of child-rearing. But seriously, I am a lonely voice in the wilderness at this point and I have to get some perspective on my sweetie's sudden turn from Dr. Jekyll to Miss Hyde!

So, reading "The Giving Tree" post made me think of all the children's books that make me cry, and damn, if that isn't a fairly long list. Some of them have been tear-jerking favorites since I was a child, like "Charlotte's Web" or Matthew's death in "Anne of Green Gables." Some of the books I have only discovered or felt the impact of since becoming a parent, "Someday" by Alison McGhee springs to mind. I have only to "think" the words, "And when that day comes love, you will remember me..." and boom, waterworks.

So, as a native Floridian, I am immune to most of your Northern-centric passages of time. You all call them "seasons" and look for things like frost on pumpkins or different color leaves. Around here we look to see when the British tourists have turned from a pasty white to a more vibrant Lobster-red to tell when summer is over. Fall is denoted by clearance prices on beach towels, winter is that day when you get to wear a sweater, and spring, ah, spring. A semi-mythical season whose presence is noted by a few days of light green leaves, no sweater, and for me an irresistible urge to get things done around the house.

My name is Suzanne and I live in the beautiful Florida Keys. The "official" music is Jimmy Buffett, the "official" cuisine is seafood, and the "official" shoe is the ubiquitous Croc.

I have not always lived in the Keys, though I am am Florida native, and I have resisted the Croc with all of the disdain left in my once fashion-forward body. Yes, I drop my daughter off to school in my work out clothes (I am going to the gym) and my hair is permanently in a bun or a ponytail, but I have not yet given up on fashionable footwear.

My daughter and husband both love the worst of their "styles" too, the "clog" with the strap. Darling Girl even decorates hers with flower charms. My husband wears his so frequently that recently he discovered a small hole developing in the sole, which brings me to my problem.