Nathan and Melanie Maxwell expecting?

[16strong]

:angry-banghead:

Aw, dammit. I had kind of hoped they'd be done, either via medical advice or circumstance.

[PennySycamore]

The baby was Susannah Joy. She was premature, and her eyes never opened, nor did she really move. She died after 3 or 4 days. I don't recall them giving a definitive reason for what was wrong with her, but most likely there was something wrong with her brain.

If babies are extremely premature (like at the point of viability), then their eyes are still sealed shut. Was Susannah Joy that premature, by any chance?

[silverspoons]

If babies are extremely premature (like at the point of viability), then their eyes are still sealed shut. Was Susannah Joy that premature, by any chance?

She was born at 5lbs, I can't remember at what week, but at 5lbs she certainly was not a micro premmie.

[WonderingInWA]

She was born at 5lbs, I can't remember at what week, but at 5lbs she certainly was not a micro premmie.

IIRC, she was born 6 weeks early, which would have been okay, except she had no brain activity. They never said specifically the cause of her condition, but I always suspected Trisomy of some kind. The photos of her show low ears which I know is characteristic of some (all?) of the fatal trisomies (13 and 18 come to mind, but I might be wrong). They knew she had a GI tract issue that would require surgery after birth, but once she was born and had no brain activity, that fell by the wayside. She lived 3 days, I think. Heartbreaking, for sure. It's hard to say how much they really knew about her condition prior to birth, but that's all they were willing to share. Stevie even said the cause of her death was "inconclusive", but I'm sure they were told more details than just that, even if they didn't do any kind of genetic testing.

[FloraDoraDolly]

Well, they could steal Dorcas-Martha as per the Jingers on the OTHER maxwell baby thread.

Nathan has been so isolated from his peers that he probably has no idea that any poor kid named Dorcas will eventually end up with the nickname Dork.

[Lillybee]

I do hope that they don't have to schedule an hour to discuss the baby's name.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I do hope that they don't have to schedule an hour to discuss the baby's name.

They probably did. I bet they had to schedule the conception with input from Steve too. No just feeling in the mood for sexy times for Maxwells. You have to submit a written request for sex from Steve, 48 hours in advance, writing a script for any talk and noises made, promising to use only the Steve approved positions and not use any birth control.

I hope Melanie has an easy pregnancy and a healthy baby, but doesn't have any more. She seems to have very high risk pregnancies, and I don't want her to lose another baby or die during the pregnancy and leave the kids she has without a mother.

[Jana814]

:angry-banghead:

Aw, dammit. I had kind of hoped they'd be done, either via medical advice or circumstance.

Same here!!

[Jane_Goth]

Well the announcement post is up. She looks tired and a bit unwell but happy, the baby's due August so they are at the end of the first trimester, so looking tired and unwell isn't unexpected. I felt like death during most of the first 12 weeks of my second pregnancy.

I wish them a safe and easy pregnancy and then a sudden conviction to get the heck out of Maxhell for the sake of themselves and the children.

[Jana814]

I wish them a safe and easy pregnancy and then a sudden conviction to get the heck out of Maxhell for the sake of themselves and the children.

Same here!! I really really hope they stop after this one!

[anjulibai]

Hopefully it's a boy, then. I think they will be more open to stopping if they have a boy.

[MamaJunebug]

Oh my G-d!!! "ARROW IN THE WOMB"?!?!

Have these people no sense of how that could be taken?

... Well, naturally, they've never seen the classic paintings of the impaled martyrs, because NAKEDNESS and all that.

But Nathan, dear, the Bible speaks of "arrows in the quiver" for a reason.

See what happens when dulled, constricted minds try for creativity?

Nathan/Poor Sarah, don't give up. Ignore my snarking.. Keep trying to write/act/think outside Steve's mental & spiritual box, but .... "arrow in the womb," just no.

[anjulibai]

So, in this post, they refer to the new baby as their 5th child, counting Susannah.

But when they announced that they were expecting Christina, they said she would be their 6th baby, as they had "three with the Lord" (Susannah and the 2 miscarriages).

So, I guess those 2 miscarriages no longer count? Fundies are so inconsistent about this.

[Justme]

Girl or boy, doesn't matter. They will keep having kids as long as they can.

[silverspoons]

Are the Maxwell's into having a quiver of at least 6? I didn't know if there was a reason behind how many kids that had after the reversal?

[Brightonbelle]

I guess this explains why they went round to clean Melanie's house right before Christmas. She had probably just found out she was expecting and was (hopefully) resting.

[sparkles]

Huh, Nathan almost looks like a normal guy in that picture and it's kind of unsettling. Not your typical tight-ass holier-than-thou Maxwell. Maybe it's the shirt.

[Marian the Librarian]

Oh my G-d!!! "ARROW IN THE WOMB"?!?!

Have these people no sense of how that could be taken?

... Well, naturally, they've never seen the classic paintings of the impaled martyrs, because NAKEDNESS and all that.

But Nathan, dear, the Bible speaks of "arrows in the quiver" for a reason.

See what happens when dulled, constricted minds try for creativity?

Nathan/Poor Sarah, don't give up. Ignore my snarking.. Keep trying to write/act/think outside Steve's mental & spiritual box, but .... "arrow in the womb," just no.

:lol:

I know, right? I just wandered over to Tits2 and saw "arrow in the womb" and thought yeah, that's exactly how I felt right after my D&C! Not a pleasant reminder, people!!!

[YPestis]

It's been mentioned before, although not on this thread, but what if something happens during the pregnancy/delivery and Melanie and/or the baby requires long hospital stays? Nathan is an advocate for Samaritan Care and they've said in the past (probably during their first child's NICU stay), Samaritan gave them $200k to cover their medical expenses. He didn't say how much he had to pay out of pocket but $200k probably did make a dent in their medical bills. Each successive pregnancy has been easier on Melanie, so this one may come through with no complications. However, given Melanie's history, there's a higher chance issues could arise. I'd be concerned about the bills that could pile up with this current pregnancy.

As far as I know, Samaritan is not required to pay out for anything (correct me if I'm wrong). It's dependent on the charity of it's subscribers, so there's no guarantee of coverage, even for expensive in-patient care. A complicated birth will probably elicit sympathy and more checks. The Maxwells are high profile so they may get more attention. However, will Melanie and Nathan hit fundie donor's fatigue? Even fundies must get tired of hearing of the same couple suffering through yet another complicated pregnancy and who needs money. Nathan doesn't appear to have six figures to throw around himself, so I can only imagine what could happen if costs rise and Samaritan doesn't come through. Perhaps his frugal lifestyle has enabled Nathan to save up enough that he could cover some major costs and pay the rest in installments.

Fundies are all about less government, and yet, their behavior is no different than those promiscuous poor people they rant about. I bet Nathan and Melanie, with their history of complications, would never consider Samaritan if hospitals could kick them out if they didn't keep up with payments.

I had a cousin in China whose baby was born at 30 weeks. Each week in NICU was $10k. They took the baby home to die after two weeks because their savings were exhausted. If Melanie and Nathan had to deal with that, they would get real insurance in a minute. As it stands, they know that the hospital would never turn Melanie down, nor kick their baby out of the hospital if they don't pay, so they can dilly dally with cheap "insurance" like Samaritan and feel good they weren't contributing to someone's "irresponsible" behavior through traditional insurance. Of course, it's not like they were being irresponsible by possibly delaying payment or skipping out on paying the hospital at all. Hey, there's a fetus involved so costs are irreverent, right?

[16strong]

Just curious, does anyone know how old Melanie is?

[sparkles]

It's been mentioned before, although not on this thread, but what if something happens during the pregnancy/delivery and Melanie and/or the baby requires long hospital stays? Nathan is an advocate for Samaritan Care and they've said in the past (probably during their first child's NICU stay), Samaritan gave them $200k to cover their medical expenses. He didn't say how much he had to pay out of pocket but $200k probably did make a dent in their medical bills. Each successive pregnancy has been easier on Melanie, so this one may come through with no complications. However, given Melanie's history, there's a higher chance issues could arise. I'd be concerned about the bills that could pile up with this current pregnancy.

As far as I know, Samaritan is not required to pay out for anything (correct me if I'm wrong). It's dependent on the charity of it's subscribers, so there's no guarantee of coverage, even for expensive in-patient care. A complicated birth will probably elicit sympathy and more checks. The Maxwells are high profile so they may get more attention. However, will Melanie and Nathan hit fundie donor's fatigue? Even fundies must get tired of hearing of the same couple suffering through yet another complicated pregnancy and who needs money. Nathan doesn't appear to have six figures to throw around himself, so I can only imagine what could happen if costs rise and Samaritan doesn't come through. Perhaps his frugal lifestyle has enabled Nathan to save up enough that he could cover some major costs and pay the rest in installments.

Fundies are all about less government, and yet, their behavior is no different than those promiscuous poor people they rant about. I bet Nathan and Melanie, with their history of complications, would never consider Samaritan if hospitals could kick them out if they didn't keep up with payments.

I had a cousin in China whose baby was born at 30 weeks. Each week in NICU was $10k. They took the baby home to die after two weeks because their savings were exhausted. If Melanie and Nathan had to deal with that, they would get real insurance in a minute. As it stands, they know that the hospital would never turn Melanie down, nor kick their baby out of the hospital if they don't pay, so they can dilly dally with cheap "insurance" like Samaritan and feel good they weren't contributing to someone's "irresponsible" behavior through traditional insurance. Of course, it's not like they were being irresponsible by possibly delaying payment or skipping out on paying the hospital at all. Hey, there's a fetus involved so costs are irreverent, right?

I had looked through Scamaritan's website a while ago and my understanding is that each member has to "share" a certain amount each month, sending them directly to other member families as determined by Scamaritan, not that members get to pick and choose who they want to support a la the old TV show Queen for a Day (which would be a total clusterfuck).

Here’s how the need sharing process works in a nutshell:

Each member commits to sending a set “Share†amount each month. These “Shares†are sent directly through the mail from one household to another, to the members with “Needsâ€. Samaritan Ministries uses a database that randomly matches Shares to Needs, so that the Sharing is coordinated and Shares go to the appropriate members with Needs.

Here’s how the Need Process works in a little more detail:

Samaritan Ministries publishes a monthly newsletter mailing that reports the total Shares and Needs and includes an individualized Share Notice for each member household. The Share Notice tells each household how to pray for a specific member with a Need and what his address is, so the Share can be sent to him. Typically less than 10 percent of the members have a Need in a given month and are receiving Shares.

When a member has a health care “Need†he receives health care treatment from a provider of his choice, collects the bills, and sends them to Samaritan Ministries. Samaritan Ministries verifies that the Need meets the Guidelines. Then, in the monthly newsletter mailing, Samaritan Ministries directs some members to send their Shares to the member with the Need. The member with the need receives the shares to pay his health care bills.

With more than 30,000 member households participating in the ministry, there is about $7 million available each month to meet health care needs.

Even though I give the "health sharing" ministries the big ole hairy eyeball, at least this levels the playing field a bit so that well-known families like the Maxwells make out like bandits while the great unwashed godly masses go a-beggin.'

I doubt that anything related to pregnancy and childbirth would EVER not qualify for shares, no matter what the cost, since its pretty much the godliest thing a woman can do. But, given that there are 30,000 member households, if only a few of them had problem pregnancies, premature births and so forth, that $7 million a month is a mere sneeze.

The whole thing is straight out of Atlas Shrugged, where the Starnes family who owned the Twentieth Century Motor Company tried to institute a health plan based on the motto "From Each According to His Ability, To Each According to His Need" and everyone had to vote on who would receive help. Needless to say, it was an utter failure.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Just curious, does anyone know how old Melanie is?

She is 39.

[Jana814]

She is 39.

Really? She older then Nathan?

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Really? She older then Nathan?

That's what the internets told me. Actually some say 38 some say 39. But yeah, apparently a little older. I think he is turning 37 this year.

[16strong]

She is 39.

Thanks!

Hopefully she won't have too many more pregnancies now that her child-bearing years are coming to a close. I'm sure she loves her children, but I also feel that if this were a regular, secular couple, or even just a mainstream Christian couple, they would have stopped after Abigail or Bethany. They might even have chosen to adopt or use a surrogate. I hope her pregnancy this time and any future ones are safe ones. :think: