Counting On season 5/6/7: Part 2 - Who cares, even TLC stopped counting

[AliceInFundyland]

That baby food game was one of the stupidest things I’ve seen. Jill, OfJill, Anna, and Josh should, for once, heave a collective sigh of relief at not being subjected to such absurdity. Really. 

Lauren’s idea of a “prank” ....?

[Iamtheway]

9 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

I’m still shocked that Joy was so grateful to Austin for being, a decent human being? Wouldn’t most decent men do that? Or do I live in some sort of bubble?

I hope Joy is the one living in a bubble. A small, sad, patriarchal bubble. 

[freethemall]

8 hours ago, caitrona said:

The idea of 1 or 2 hundred people around my newborn is absolutely horrifying. Even if they don't all want to hold him (but you know there's going to be 20-some old biddies there who feel it's their *right* to hold him or at least get up in his face and touch him).  Good grief. 

After reading the story about a baby who died after a woman with a cold sore kissed him at a party I am terrified of those kinds of situations.

[Meggo]

2 hours ago, freethemall said:

After reading the story about a baby who died after a woman with a cold sore kissed him at a party I am terrified of those kinds of situations.

I had a preemie and desperately wanted to hang a sign on his carseat that said "Careful - I bite!" just so the old ladies wouldn't get all up in his face.

I admit - the need to touch babies is overwhelming at time, but I tend to reach a tentative finger to a baby's foot when the need arises. Sometimes a sleeve. But those are babies where I'm sure Mom is okay with it. I don't man handle unknown babies.

[libgirl2]

5 hours ago, AliceInFundyland said:

That baby food game was one of the stupidest things I’ve seen. Jill, OfJill, Anna, and Josh should, for once, heave a collective sigh of relief at not being subjected to such absurdity. Really. 

Lauren’s idea of a “prank” ....?

Austin was so over it. It made me like the guy.

21 minutes ago, Meggo said:

I had a preemie and desperately wanted to hang a sign on his carseat that said "Careful - I bite!" just so the old ladies wouldn't get all up in his face.

I admit - the need to touch babies is overwhelming at time, but I tend to reach a tentative finger to a baby's foot when the need arises. Sometimes a sleeve. But those are babies where I'm sure Mom is okay with it. I don't man handle unknown babies.

I will do the same thing, pet a baby's foot or their arm, but I never reach in for a kiss unless its okay.

8 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

I'm actually very impressed with how Austin & Ben answered those questions. As an old married woman who will have been married 22 years (my Anniversary is 9/21) I agree wholeheartedly with both of them. Marriage was a HUGE adjustment for us, we married 9 months after we met and lived together for 5 months prior. I was 26 had a college education, a job and had lived on my own for 3 years prior and it was hard for us. I can't imagine marrying the 1st guy I dated at 19 and moving from my parents house to my own place with a guy I only sort of knew and had never been alone with.  The Duggar courting method is not a good way to gain a spouse, the Bates are much more reasonable in allowing their kids time alone with potential mates and hand holding, hugging and privacy, and long courtships/getting to know you phases. 

I was very surprised with Austin talking about divorce. Ben too...... Yes marriage is hard.

[Ilovebrownies]

Lauren looked great in that dress! 

Ben and Jessa continue to keep it real.  They really seem to be maturing intheir marriage.  

[Carm_88]

2 hours ago, Ilovebrownies said:

Ben and Jessa continue to keep it real.  They really seem to be maturing intheir marriage.  

I do think that Ben and Jessa struggled through their first year of marriage. I'm sure all the stress from Josh's molestations being made public did not help. I'm glad that they are being open and aren't pretending that it will all be fine. 

[AliceInFundyland]

It does not seem like anyone really wants umpty million kids. They just can’t say it. The things they say are quite practical and sane.

[Mama Mia]

5 hours ago, freethemall said:

After reading the story about a baby who died after a woman with a cold sore kissed him at a party I am terrified of those kinds of situations.

They did mention in the episode that it’s called a “ Sip and See” because no one is allowed to touch the newborn ( except close family, obviously ) . They can look, but not touch. I have no idea what the “Sip” stands for? I’m picturing sitting around sipping on wine while the new parents open gifts - not a particularly awful baby shower game. Although at least there were no gross candy bar diaper shenanigans.

With the Joy and Austin segment where she’s praising him for doing all the non-breast feeding baby care - I didn’t think she was overly gushy. It seemed like she had greatly feared surgery ( remember how fearful she was of the blood draws and needles in the mid-wife check up) , and was in a lot of pain after - because, again, surgery. She was glad he was there to take care of her and the baby and giving props because those first few weeks are hard. Even if you have an easy labor and birth, it’s exhausting. If you’re caring for an newborn OR someone recovering from major surgery - it’s hard work. Doing both is very hard work.

What really stood out to me is that it appears None of their family were helping them out. That seemed very strange to me. Maybe they live pretty far away from family? Or they wanted complete privacy? But typically it seems like family would do more than just descend enmass one time to visit - sisters would come by with food, or to hold the baby while they nap, or clean up. Maybe they did, but if so, it seems like someone would have mentioned it, at least casually? Weird. To me. 

Lastly..... how did Joy and Jessa both get first babies who you have to WAKE UP to eat??? I didn’t even know that was a thing. A newborn sleeping 4 hours at a time? Why did none of mine get that memo?????

 

 

 

 

[wandering woman]

This is a low bar, but last night's episode may be the most boring Duggar show I have ever endured. I have no idea why I keep watching this train wreck.

[Satan'sFortress]

1 hour ago, Mama Mia said:

Lastly..... how did Joy and Jessa both get first babies who you have to WAKE UP to eat??? I didn’t even know that was a thing. A newborn sleeping 4 hours at a time? Why did none of mine get that memo?????

 

Fortress #2 was like that---I couldn't believe it. Fortress #1 was not a great sleeper---stopped napping really early and didn't truly sleep through the night for maybe a year??  Anyway, enter little brother.  He was big--just shy of 9 lbs.  Don't know if that really matters, but yes, we did have to wake him up to nurse.  I didn't even know that was a thing.

[bananabread]

Josiah was SO not into that date night. Then again.....is he into anything these days?

Jessa and Ben are keeping it real. I think their first year was really tough with the Josh scandals. I really liked how Jessa was smiling and nodding along as Ben spoke, and how she admitted they both had things to work on. They're certainly maturing as individuals and as a couple.

Austin talking about how he can understand how the divorce rate is so high and how you have to work to stay in love really weirded me out. They'd been married for like....11 months at that point? I don't think the honeymoon phase ended for me and Mr. Bananabread for like....years. And now, even after 5.7 years, I STILL don't think I would say something like what Austin said. I had a teacher (married for 20 years) who once told us: "People say marriage is hard, but it really shouldn't be. If it's hard, you're probably with the wrong person." That doesn't mean that you'll never have disagreements or struggles, but you shouldn't consistently have to be working at making the marriage happy. I wonder what day-to-day life is like in the Forsyth household. ?

Joe and Kendra, on the other hand, seem effortlessly happy and comfortable together.

Jeremy is a total attention whore and I can't stand him. Jinger is just his pliable sidekick, and I think that's why he pursued her. ?

[nickelodeon]

1 hour ago, Mama Mia said:

What really stood out to me is that it appears None of their family were helping them out. That seemed very strange to me. Maybe they live pretty far away from family? Or they wanted complete privacy? But typically it seems like family would do more than just descend enmass one time to visit - sisters would come by with food, or to hold the baby while they nap, or clean up. Maybe they did, but if so, it seems like someone would have mentioned it, at least casually? Weird. To me. 

It seemed like they were downplaying the J'slavery that went into caring for other newborns (Jessa and Ben talked about how they split up the labor during the first days after bringing baby home, but FJ will remember that Jana stayed with them and took care of the baby at night) so maybe they also omitted those details in the Joystin segment. Especially if Jill was the one to step up, since she's been voted off the TLC island.

[SapphireSlytherin]

1 hour ago, Mama Mia said:

Lastly..... how did Joy and Jessa both get first babies who you have to WAKE UP to eat??? I didn’t even know that was a thing. A newborn sleeping 4 hours at a time? Why did none of mine get that memo?????

GryffindorDisappointment was a GREAT sleeper. 5 hours at a stretch from birth, 9 hours/night from about six weeks on. She took two naps per day (90 minutes or so midmorning, then 2-3 hours every afternoon after lunch) until she was three! She could sleep through anything - good thing, too, because we were right on the flight path of two military bases when she was an infant/toddler. lol

 

[Mama Mia]

1 minute ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

GryffindorDisappointment was a GREAT sleeper. 5 hours at a stretch from birth, 9 hours/night from about six weeks on. She took two naps per day (90 minutes or so midmorning, then 2-3 hours every afternoon after lunch) until she was three! She could sleep through anything - good thing, too, because we were right on the flight path of two military bases when she was an infant/toddler. lol

 

I am profoundly jealous. None of mine were sleepers. They STILLaren’t sleepers, even as adults. Although, thinking about it, the one who came even remotely close to sleeping normally as an infant ( after he got past the colic) - is also the closest to a normal sleeper now. Is insomnia hereditary ? 

[JesSky03]

40 minutes ago, bananabread said:

Josiah was SO not into that date night. Then again.....is he into anything these days?

Jessa and Ben are keeping it real. I think their first year was really tough with the Josh scandals. I really liked how Jessa was smiling and nodding along as Ben spoke, and how she admitted they both had things to work on. They're certainly maturing as individuals and as a couple.

Austin talking about how he can understand how the divorce rate is so high and how you have to work to stay in love really weirded me out. They'd been married for like....11 months at that point? I don't think the honeymoon phase ended for me and Mr. Bananabread for like....years. And now, even after 5.7 years, I STILL don't think I would say something like what Austin said. I had a teacher (married for 20 years) who once told us: "People say marriage is hard, but it really shouldn't be. If it's hard, you're probably with the wrong person." That doesn't mean that you'll never have disagreements or struggles, but you shouldn't consistently have to be working at making the marriage happy. I wonder what day-to-day life is like in the Forsyth household. ?

Joe and Kendra, on the other hand, seem effortlessly happy and comfortable together.

Jeremy is a total attention whore and I can't stand him. Jinger is just his pliable sidekick, and I think that's why he pursued her. ?

I've been married for 7 years and I definitely understand why the divorce rate is so high (although that 50% of all marriages ending in divorce statistic isn't correct). Marriage IS hard. It DOES take work. I agree that its a little weird that Austin is saying this kind of stuff already after such a short time being married but who knows what shit they've had to deal with that we don't hear about. It doesn't mean they are wrong for each other.

[VelociRapture]

3 hours ago, Mama Mia said:

They did mention in the episode that it’s called a “ Sip and See” because no one is allowed to touch the newborn ( except close family, obviously ) . They can look, but not touch. I have no idea what the “Sip” stands for? I’m picturing sitting around sipping on wine while the new parents open gifts - not a particularly awful baby shower game. Although at least there were no gross candy bar diaper shenanigans.

With the Joy and Austin segment where she’s praising him for doing all the non-breast feeding baby care - I didn’t think she was overly gushy. It seemed like she had greatly feared surgery ( remember how fearful she was of the blood draws and needles in the mid-wife check up) , and was in a lot of pain after - because, again, surgery. She was glad he was there to take care of her and the baby and giving props because those first few weeks are hard. Even if you have an easy labor and birth, it’s exhausting. If you’re caring for an newborn OR someone recovering from major surgery - it’s hard work. Doing both is very hard work.

What really stood out to me is that it appears None of their family were helping them out. That seemed very strange to me. Maybe they live pretty far away from family? Or they wanted complete privacy? But typically it seems like family would do more than just descend enmass one time to visit - sisters would come by with food, or to hold the baby while they nap, or clean up. Maybe they did, but if so, it seems like someone would have mentioned it, at least casually? Weird. To me. 

Lastly..... how did Joy and Jessa both get first babies who you have to WAKE UP to eat??? I didn’t even know that was a thing. A newborn sleeping 4 hours at a time? Why did none of mine get that memo?????

 

 

 

 

This doesn’t apply to Jessa and Joy, but preemies often need to be woken up for feedings because they don’t have the fat stores necessary to stay awake for very long. After our daughter came home from NICU we set alarms for every three hours so we could make sure she ate. I don’t remember when she started waking up on her own (maybe when she was around a month old?), but it was a relief for us because it meant she was putting on weight and growing. 

[Iamtheway]

2 hours ago, Satan'sFortress said:

Fortress #2 was like that---I couldn't believe it. Fortress #1 was not a great sleeper---stopped napping really early and didn't truly sleep through the night for maybe a year??  Anyway, enter little brother.  He was big--just shy of 9 lbs.  Don't know if that really matters, but yes, we did have to wake him up to nurse.  I didn't even know that was a thing.

But why would you wake him up? Was he not gaining weight properly? Miniway was a pretty good sleeper from birth and I figured he’d wake up if he was hungry. He was pretty chubby though so I knew he’d be fine. 

2 hours ago, bananabread said:

I had a teacher (married for 20 years) who once told us: "People say marriage is hard, but it really shouldn't be. If it's hard, you're probably with the wrong person." That doesn't mean that you'll never have disagreements or struggles, but you shouldn't consistently have to be working at making the marriage happy. I wonder what day-to-day life is like in the Forsyth household. ?

Joe and Kendra, on the other hand, seem effortlessly happy and comfortable together.

I don’t know. That sounds a little like you should leave as soon as something feels hard. And that would definitely make the divorce rates high. Sometimes even good marriages are hard, sometimes it takes work. And you might not like your partner all of the time. But that doesn’t mean you should give up without a fight. 

These people bearly knew eachother when they married though. And if dating was ok in their world at least some of them probably would have realiesed they weren’t right for eachother and moved on. But now they’re stuck so they need to find a way to work their differences out. It’s good that they realise that. I think marriage would be even harder if you went in to it thinking it would be amazing all the time and that you will always be crazy in love and everything will be lovehearts and rainbows. 

[nickelodeon]

1 hour ago, JesSky03 said:

I agree that its a little weird that Austin is saying this kind of stuff already after such a short time being married but who knows what shit they've had to deal with that we don't hear about. It doesn't mean they are wrong for each other.

 

34 minutes ago, Iamtheway said:

These people bearly knew eachother when they married though. And if dating was ok in their world at least some of them probably would have realiesed they weren’t right for eachother and moved on. But now they’re stuck so they need to find a way to work their differences out. It’s good that they realise that. I think marriage would be even harder if you went in to it thinking it would be amazing all the time and that you will always be crazy in love and everything will be lovehearts and rainbows. 

Really good points! Still, if I hadn't even celebrated my first anniversary and my guy was already going "welllll, the intitial romance is gone, but we're still going to stay together for the kids..." I'd be kinda pissed.

[BernRul]

It was really sweet when Austin said he spent the first week checking that Gideon was breathing. But it sounded weird to me, because he kept referring to Gid as "it." Like "I went to check that it was still breathing."  Just seems weird to call a baby "it," especially when you are so pro-life. Maybe he's used to calling Gideon "it" from when he was a fetus, but idk, it still strikes me as oddly dehumanizing, especailly for that crowd. 

[Sky with diamonds]

Jessa and Ben were very real and realistic in that discussion. I think they both have come a long way.

Jeremy without his facial hair is strange. He is still the show off. 

I hope Joy and Austin will be very realistic too, but maybe to early to call. 

Joe and Kendra ate sweet together.

Si and Lauren...meh.

[Cheetah]

Was anyone else surprised at how shocked Josiah looked when he thought he'd have to wear pajamas out to dinner?  He wasn't laughing.  For a guy that can't stop joking around, he sure seemed uptight about the idea of going out dressed like that.

[Satan'sFortress]

1 hour ago, Iamtheway said:

But why would you wake him up? Was he not gaining weight properly? Miniway was a pretty good sleeper from birth and I figured he’d wake up if he was hungry. He was pretty chubby though so I knew he’d be fine.

We did so when he was a newborn, not for months and months.  VelociRapture explains why for preemies, but our midwives advised we do so for our full term heavy sleeper as well . . .

1 hour ago, VelociRapture said:

This doesn’t apply to Jessa and Joy, but preemies often need to be woken up for feedings because they don’t have the fat stores necessary to stay awake for very long. After our daughter came home from NICU we set alarms for every three hours so we could make sure she ate. I don’t remember when she started waking up on her own (maybe when she was around a month old?), but it was a relief for us because it meant she was putting on weight and growing. 

 

[Don'tlikekoolaid]

I went to a real “sip and see” years ago in Washington State.  It was great, there was wine and cocktails and snacks, in a hotel with great service (rented private parlour).  Gifts were opened and the baby was centre stage in an elaborate bassinet.  No one touched the baby other than mom and the two grannies.  We had fun but I think it was probably a little too expensive for most people.  In this case the proud Grandmas paid the bill.

[SapphireSlytherin]

46 minutes ago, Don'tlikekoolaid said:

In this case the proud Grandmas paid the bill.

This is pure grandma privilege. lol