The Seewalds, Part 10: Having my baby

[seraaa]

48 minutes ago, nst said:

everything Ben writes about is crap and he acts like he is the first one to discover anything 

don't you know he discovered the internet.....

I cut him some slack because he probably didn't go through this phase when he was an actual teenager tp the same degree.

[VelociRapture]

11 minutes ago, just_ordinary said:

Ben dreamed of being a star football player? Like in American Football or in European Football? If it is the first it explains the "Football Camp". If it is the latter it would explain his love for Jeremy. Or, if I think again, it rises the question if this text is actually written by Jeremy.  

The text structure and synopsis is not bad though- for a 10th grader (age 16).

(Talking about his newest "masterpiece" on his website)

He meant American football. Those of us in the states refer to "football" as "soccer." So he would have said "star soccer player," if that's what he meant. 

[just_ordinary]

@VelociRapture thanks for clarifying. LOVE your username by the way 

[VelociRapture]

6 minutes ago, just_ordinary said:

@VelociRapture thanks for clarifying. LOVE your username by the way 

You're welcome! And thanks! I have moments of genius on rare occasions. 

[Chevreuil]

3 hours ago, lomo6 said:

Lots of great points here. But I would add that he's also 20-years-old, and grew up in a pretty sheltered environment. The fact that he's even considering more empathetic points of view surprises many of us here, but that's just because the bar is so darn low!

That was my thinking. I think sometimes we tend to project our own wealth of knowledge onto others. My stepson is 8 years older than my daughter, he gets very frustrated by her lack of understanding of what he considers common sense. I have to remind him, repeatedly, that he has 9 years more experience in this world than his sister, that he cant expect a 5 year old to have a 13 year old understanding of the world. I cant expect a sheltered 21 year old (who grew up in a manipulative cult) to have a secular 30 (or however many years) year old understanding of the world. 

I have hope for ben though. I know he's the easiest to snark on but he is showing progress. The kind of progress i would have expected from the danger america duo and yet they keep repeating "it was dangerous. People are different. My white baby could have been in danger" instead of actually discussing the real topics, they made it all about how it affected them and how bad it was for them. I may end being wrong about ben, i hope not though. I hope with the right people guiding him he could end up going the way many have and leaving the cult, although i think his exit will be slow and jessa will fight him on it all the way. 

[calimojo]

I do wonder what Jessa thinks of Ben's new interests?  Is she ok with it?  She seemed fairly warm towards Flame and his wife.  Warm for Jessa, anyway.  I honestly think if Jessa put her foot down,  Ben would cave.  For one thing, his only means of financial support is via Jessa via JimBob.  If Ben steps too far out of line,  Jimbob can cut him off at the quick.  He has no source of income, no home to live in.   Now,  after Ben finishes his program at Moody, and then he got a job,  he would be more able to do his own thing and still be able to support his family. 

 

I like that Ben is expanding his world slightly, but he has JimBob holding the reigns of his life for the foreseeable future.  JB can afford to let it look like Ben is making his own decisions, but mark my words,  If Ben came out and said he was going in complete opposition to something the family believes in,  he would be brought to the woodshed pretty quickly. 

 

It would be pretty awesome though if he would take a stand on something like marriage equality.  Imagine being a fly in the wall of the TTH if Ben went to IG or Twitter proclaiming support for his LBGTQ brothers and sisters.

[nst]

8 minutes ago, calimojo said:

I do wonder what Jessa thinks of Ben's new interests?  Is she ok with it?  She seemed fairly warm towards Flame and his wife.  Warm for Jessa, anyway.  I honestly think if Jessa put her foot down,  Ben would cave.  For one thing, his only means of financial support is via Jessa via JimBob.  If Ben steps too far out of line,  Jimbob can cut him off at the quick.  He has no source of income, no home to live in.   Now,  after Ben finishes his program at Moody, and then he got a job,  he would be more able to do his own thing and still be able to support his family. 

 

I like that Ben is expanding his world slightly, but he has JimBob holding the reigns of his life for the foreseeable future.  JB can afford to let it look like Ben is making his own decisions, but mark my words,  If Ben came out and said he was going in complete opposition to something the family believes in,  he would be brought to the woodshed pretty quickly. 

 

It would be pretty awesome though if he would take a stand on something like marriage equality.  Imagine being a fly in the wall of the TTH if Ben went to IG or Twitter proclaiming support for his LBGTQ brothers and sisters.

I think with the ribbing she gave him -she lets him loose a bit but can rein him in.   i wonder if JB says anyting to Jessa regarding ben's new hobbies.  I also wonder who is taking care of Spud while she is constantly at the TTH - why the need to endlessly go there 

I think JB holds the reins loose enough for the tv show and that is it. 

[calimojo]

I think she takes spud to the house with her and he gets tended to by anyone from Hannie's age on up.  And with Jill home now,  Izzy will be there too.  I am sure that Jenny, Hannie and even Jordyn are expected to mind the babies. 

 

I do wonder about those boys though.  Jason? Justin? Jackson? James?  WTF do they do all day long? 

[SassyPants]

30 minutes ago, calimojo said:

I think she takes spud to the house with her and he gets tended to by anyone from Hannie's age on up.  And with Jill home now,  Izzy will be there too.  I am sure that Jenny, Hannie and even Jordyn are expected to mind the babies. 

 

I do wonder about those boys though.  Jason? Justin? Jackson? James?  WTF do they do all day long? 

Aren't all the kids younger than Jed/Jer still in school ALL DAY? 

[calimojo]

1 minute ago, SassyPants said:

Aren't all the kids younger than Jed/Jer still in school ALL DAY? 

lol,  I hope you meant that to be funny!  I doubt they are being schooled all day.  But even if they are,  that still leaves Jana and Joy, and up until recently Jinger to help with Spud.  Oh and I guess I forgot about Anna and her brood.

 

Do you think they have Mac and Michael just join in on homeschooling with Jordyn, Jenny and Josie?  Or do you think Anna is doing it on her own with her own kids? I remember when they were still in Washington,  she was doing pre-school type stuff with Mac.  Seemed like she did a decent job of it also

[HarryPotterFan]

6 hours ago, Bushes of Love said:

Just seen this on the Seewald Family Blog  

It's good that they watch more secular movies, but this write up is just crap. It's basically Thor=Jesus because metaphors. That's not deep thinking, that just shows Ben could pass GCSE Media Studies. 

Not once does he acknowledge that a real culture once believed in the gods of Thor and Loki. But that's probably more to do with its being a slightly terrible movie and less Ben's prejudice!

http://theseewaldfamily.com/blog?ID=e0f2cc45-ca67-4f87-9355-ccd380ccaa08

Wouldn't Liam Hemsowrth's sexiness defraud Jessa? She might think about a man who isn't her husband!!

[calimojo]

It is my impression that in that TTH,  there is not too much distinction about whose kids are whose.  I think any kid about 8 or under, is just part of a large pool of little kids and they are loosely parented by whatever adult (other than JB and M) who happens to be there.  I think JB and M, are not part of routine, day to day parenting.  But I think that they are heads of all the various households put together.  They probably lead or at least maintain daily bible study and daily worship.  They may hold their own version of confession as they were known to do  in the past.    JB must be informed of any and all activities and decisions and has final approval on most everything, except that which is beneath him.    Michelle put in her time being pregnant and raising the first 6 before she had much help.  She has checked out of the daily care. 

And as far as schooling goes, I imagine the M kids and J kids are schooled together, by the Paine girl, or some other surrogate and I imagine it is rather unstructured and easily derailed when more exciting things come along. 

[SassyPants]

Duggarville=Lord of The Flies

[calimojo]

Poor kids.

When the two twin boys speak,  They impress me as being slightly smarter than the rest of them.  Well that isn't really fair since we don't see much of Jason, Justin, or James anymore, but they do seem to express themselves fairly well compared to Joe and John.  Maybe the surrogate homeschool teacher for those boys did a better job than always preggo Michelle did.  And Jason did those duggar music videos which were kind of cute, and showed a better sense of humor than we usually see from this group. 

 

[KnittingOwl]

On 10/19/2016 at 10:24 AM, zygote373 said:

In last night's episode, Jill asked her if she'd heard the heartbeat yet and she said no. 14 weeks and she hadn't had an appointment that involved listening to the heartbeat? I have never been pregnant before so I don't know what's standard, but that seems...unusual to me.

Weighing in...it's pretty unusual. I didn't hear a heartbeat at my first appointment (9 weeks). My midwife had a very hard time finding heartbeat on Doppler at 13 weeks. As it turns out, my uterus was flipped so baby was tucked in farther. She did find it or would have immediately sent me for an ultrasound

[calimojo]

most people who get decent prenatal care will have a chance to hear the heartbeat around 8 weeks on average.  Now, it should be noted that being able to hear the heartbeat only means that the fetus has a beating heart.  In other words,  this alone doesn't guarantee a healthy pregnancy.  

 

Much of traditional prenatal care is simple monitoring of the progress of pregnancy.  HOpefully decent prenatal care includes education about diet, exercise, does and don'ts during pregnancy ( things like don't get over heated, don't use a hot tub, avoid fish high in mercury, don't smoke, do drugs, etc).  It will also include some blood work to test for immunities to diseases which are common but can be devastating to a fetus during pregnancy.  Typically that includes looking for immunity to Measles, Chicken pox, and now, possibly lab tests for exposure to Zika.  Blood type will also be established as well as Hepatitis and HIV status.  Ultrasounds are not absolutely necessary, but they can detect anatomical anomalies like heart defects, diaphragmatic hernias, oomphaloceles, kidney malformations. as well as issues with the placenta and amniotic fluid levels or detect twins/triplets.  

Around the midpoint,  prenatal care will focus on normal growth of the fetus, which can be done with the ultrasound, or old school style by measuring the uterus.  Also at the midpoint, maternal health is very important.  Many women will be at risk for anemia at this point, and early warning signs of gestational diabetes and even pregnancy induced hypertension can manifest after 24 weeks or so.  Late care is really watching for maternal health issues as well as monitoring signs that the baby is thriving.  Growing, moving, etc. 

 

For some, genetic tests or markers might be done that help identify genetic issues like Downs Syndrome, fragile x, etc. 

 

A woman, with no prenatal care can go on to have a very healthy baby.  There is no doubt about that.  But,  the problem is that people who don't have access to, or chose to avoid prenatal care, may have other things that make the pregnancy more complicated.  For example, someone very poor with no access to health care, is likely malnourished, and deficient in crucial vitamins that impact fetal development.  They may also have other health problems that could impact their pregnancy.  Someone who chooses to not have prenatal care for other reasons, can have a health pregnancy if they make an effort to educate themselves on healthy eating, risk management and signs that things are not going well.   

Someone who had a previous complication with pregnancy, labor or delivery who chooses not to have prenatal care is careless and selfish.  We don't know if Jessa has had prenatal care or not, but if not,  she is really and truly an idiot.  While the complications she had during and after delivery might not greatly impact her 9 months of pregnancy,  it can and will likely impact her future deliveries.   And it is irresponsible of her to not have an established patient -physician relationship with someone who can take the time to really learn about her medical and obstetric history.  But it would appear she will try for a homebirth again, with an under-qualified attendant,  and then when things go wrong, she will roll herself into the nearest ED and expect someone to fix up the mess she made by having poor planning.    I have worked OB in the past, and I have been on the receiving end of someone who thought they could do it on their own, and now they come to us with  a severely compromised baby or mom and want to know why we can't fix it and send them on their way.    I am not anti-homebirth, and I am in favor of well educated and certified midwives.  I just am pretty much not in favor of dumb people who risk the lives of their babies or themselves

[SassyPants]

Plus, if she's not getting basic prenatal care d/t lack of insurance or funding and then rolls herself up to the emergency room via an ambulance, WE all get to pay for that. The Seewalds are irresponsible parents and fiscally irresponsible citizens. They turf their responsibilities onto others, no shock there.

[WhyNotJulie]

I just started watching this season of Counting On and I continue to be completely floored by how utterly unintelligent Ben seems to be.  He sure is a few tater tots short of a casserole.

I originally though that Jessa was much smarter than Ben, but I'm starting to have my doubts. I just don't understand how any semi-intelligent woman could be married to Ben and not kill herself.

[Carm_88]

2 hours ago, WhyNotJulie said:

I just started watching this season of Counting On and I continue to be completely floored by how utterly unintelligent Ben seems to be.  He sure is a few tater tots short of a casserole.

I originally though that Jessa was much smarter than Ben, but I'm starting to have my doubts. I just don't understand how any semi-intelligent woman could be married to Ben and not kill herself.

I think that she's more in love with herself then she could ever be in love with Ben.  

[PennySycamore]

@calimojo,  I remember the residents in our NICU (or maybe it was the neonatologists) had a file of Births Gone Bad where crunchy moms had home births and then things went horribly  wrong.  It was not pretty.

[Carm_88]

22 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

@calimojo,  I remember the residents in our NICU (or maybe it was the neonatologists) had a file of Births Gone Bad where crunchy moms had home births and then things went horribly  wrong.  It was not pretty.

Oh I'm pretty sure I saw that in my developmental psychology class. Talked about birth, saw horrifying birth videos, saw birth videos gone wrong. Still scares me. 

[HarryPotterFan]

17 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

Oh I'm pretty sure I saw that in my developmental psychology class. Talked about birth, saw horrifying birth videos, saw birth videos gone wrong. Still scares me. 

Heck, I'm still terrified of the video of a standard birth I had to watch in high school anatomy class. The doctor was tugging so damn hard on the baby. And then my teacher the tape and laughed as she made us watch it in reverse.

[divadivine]

Blessa posted a video  of Spurge eating a dill pickle on Instagram. One of the commenters asked what Spurge was going to be for his first Halloween. Blessa hasn't responded yet. Mwhahahaha 

[Carm_88]

15 minutes ago, divadivine said:

Blessa posted a video  of Spurge eating a dill pickle on Instagram. One of the commenters asked what Spurge was going to be for his first Halloween. Blessa hasn't responded yet. Mwhahahaha 

Oh that's the best. I bet they're both secretly fuming and will post bible verses tomorrow to tell us about how evil Halloween is. 

[Granwych]

On ‎10‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 8:10 PM, HarryPotterFan said:

I keep wondering what Jessa and the rest of the Duggars think of Ben rapping. Do they disapprove? Are they unmarrieds not allowed to listen because it might stir up desires that cannot be righteously fulfilled? I guess Jessa can listen because she can righteously fulfill her desires, though I doubt his rapping stirs up much desire...

His rapping probably stirs up desires for silence, or at the very least, earplugs.