There's always womb for one more! Upcoming Babies 12

[JermajestyDuggar]

7 hours ago, SolomonFundy said:

It fits her theme so far pretty well. All three girls have middle names in honor of close female relatives, and I suspect that shortening it to "Kress" was an intentional effort to keep the length of the name on the short side, like the other two. 

 

Kress wasn't my first guess, but it's interesting. Going back to the Yuku days and the old Morton blog, I remember noticing the extraordinary degree of deference and affection shown to Kressant by the Morton girls. Addie has frequently made remarks about how they all "looked up to her like a big sister", and how she apparently taught the younger Morton ladies how to wash dishes with enthusiasm. Maybe it's a personality thing, or maybe Kress just went out of her way to ingratiate herself to her new family, but she really has been singled out over the years for particular attention by the women of the family. Addie has made more remarks over the years thanking Kressant for being her big sister than she has for her actual older sisters. That aside, I get the impression that there's some sort of special bond between the Morton girls and Kressant that goes beyond what they feel for the other Smith sisters. 

...Which does nothing whatsoever to explain why Alyssa, who was a little girl (11?) when Kress married Mike, and who lived in Florida with only occasional in-person contact with the extended Morton clan, would feel so connected to this woman (who has lived on another continent for the past 3 years) that she felt the need to name her third-born child after her. It kind of makes me wonder if Sam possibly requested it? He at least spent some time around Kressant. 

Norma Gilligan agrees with you. She has been doing one of those "ask me anything" insta-story things, and someone asked her if she planned to have more children. She said that her "arms were full enough with two" currently, or something to that effect. I just went to look at the exact wording again, and she's deleted the story. 

If Alyssa and Sam manage to produce another kid within the next 12 months, my brain will break. If she pulls another stunt like she did with this last one, she could theoretically have FOUR KIDS aged 2 or under. It's just... no. Please no.

Kressant has said in an Instagram post that she used to babysit Alyssa. That may explain the closeness. Some kids get very close to their babysitters.

[usedbicycle]

17 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I honestly can’t imagine Erin, Alyssa W, or Alyssa M wanting to have another one soon. I guess it will be the real test to see who is truly “quiverful.”

I've seen this happen very often in the no-birth control crowd! Parents have 3 kids back-to-back and then take a suspiciously long break. My parents are an example of that: had the first 3 in 2.5 years, went completely bonkers, then they waited almost 4 years to have number 4. The rest of us are spaced out pretty evenly 2 years apart. 

I think these young couples take a while to realize that God doesn't orchestrate everything perfectly to give them "no more than they can handle". I think they're honestly surprised when unprotected sex keeps leading to new pregnancies only a few weeks after giving birth. You'd think they never took Biology 101 in homeschool.  

At that point, I'm certain they start becoming a little more "careful" in whichever way works for them. But you're right, only time will tell!

[JermajestyDuggar]

21 hours ago, SolomonFundy said:

Norma Gilligan agrees with you. She has been doing one of those "ask me anything" insta-story things, and someone asked her if she planned to have more children. She said that her "arms were full enough with two" currently, or something to that effect. I just went to look at the exact wording again, and she's deleted the story. 

The exact wording was, “would love to have more! But my hands feel pretty full rn (right now).”

Hopefully that means she’s using some form of birth control but who knows with fundies. 

[ophelia]

15 hours ago, usedbicycle said:

 At that point, I'm certain they start becoming a little more "careful" in whichever way works for them. But you're right, only time will tell!

While I tend to agree with you, I'm quite curious how this would really spin out. Especially with folks like the Morton's and Campana's that seem to praise fertility like nothing else. I doubt that Alyssa would be allowed (or even think about) using some kind of contraception and I can't see her asking her husband to use a condom. She might be able to track her cycle and avoid having sex on her fertile days, but I'm not sure wether the has the biological knowledge to do so. 

[Triplet3]

Melanie Maxwell is expecting, due in May on Abigail’s birthday. They admit that she’s high-risk and has to have progesterone injections.

[ophelia]

This comes as a surprise. I hope everything goes well with her pregnancy. 

[fundiefan]

On 12/10/2018 at 11:17 AM, anjulibai said:

I think it's just that guys are only really exposed to their sisters' friends. If the friends are around enough visiting their sisters, the guys are naturally going to start looking at the friends a bit more. 

It's not that they're the sister's friends. It's that the families as a whole are friends. The Campbells, Campanas & Deckers have been around Morton-land since the Smith years. The whole families together doing whatever it is they were doing. 

The parents corralled the kids together and they grew up knowing no one else. The guy's friends are the brothers of their wives. The girl's friends are the sister's of their husbands. They call each other's parents "auntie" and "uncle" - or did, when they were all small, based on old blog posts. 

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

8 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

It's not that they're the sister's friends. It's that the families as a whole are friends. The Campbells, Campanas & Deckers have been around Morton-land since the Smith years. The whole families together doing whatever it is they were doing. 

The parents corralled the kids together and they grew up knowing no one else. The guy's friends are the brothers of their wives. The girl's friends are the sister's of their husbands. They call each other's parents "auntie" and "uncle" - or did, when they were all small, based on old blog posts. 

 

It does seem slightly incestuous. I only say that because the way you described things sounds exactly like my family and the families of my cousins. We were always getting together, playing together, being babysat together, and babysitting each other. Some of us even went to the same school. These families are closer than usual family friends. I always figured that’s why there was never a Bates/Duggar pair up. Because they see one another more like family members. 

[fundiefan]

I always thought it was bordering on incestuous too. Building relationships that are so tight and close and then marrying the people who share the same life experiences and relationships. 

Not technically incestuous, of course, But, we all know family isn't blood, it's bond. Those families all had deep, deep bonds and the kids grew up with each other like siblings or cousins. Then they married each other. Kind of squiggs me out, to be honest. 

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

6 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

I always thought it was bordering on incestuous too. Building relationships that are so tight and close and then marrying the people who share the same life experiences and relationships. 

Not technically incestuous, of course, But, we all know family isn't blood, it's bond. Those families all had deep, deep bonds and the kids grew up with each other like siblings or cousins. Then they married each other. Kind of squiggs me out, to be honest. 

 

I’ve always better understood cousins marrying when they barely knew one another compared to the cousins that grew up together. Kind of like Queen Victoria and Albert. They didn’t see much of one another when they were growing up so it doesn’t seem as incestuous. Don’t get me started on Emma Woodhouse and Knightly. *Shudder*

[JillyO]

6 hours ago, Triplet3 said:

Melanie Maxwell is expecting, due in May on Abigail’s birthday. They admit that she’s high-risk and has to have progesterone injections.

Woah. There goes my first prediction for 2019. I did NOT think Melanie was going to have more. Holy crap! But now that she's already pregnant, I really hope all goes well with the pregnancy.

[singsingsing]

7 hours ago, Triplet3 said:

Melanie Maxwell is expecting, due in May on Abigail’s birthday. They admit that she’s high-risk and has to have progesterone injections.

I knew it!!! That was going to be one of my 2019 predictions. I really hope all goes well!

[Sister Mozz]

6 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I’ve always better understood cousins marrying when they barely knew one another compared to the cousins that grew up together. Kind of like Queen Victoria and Albert. They didn’t see much of one another when they were growing up so it doesn’t seem as incestuous. Don’t get me started on Emma Woodhouse and Knightly. *Shudder*

 

I think you mean Fanny Price and her cousin Edmund? Emma and Knightley were not cousins.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Just now, Sister Mozz said:

 

I think you mean Fanny Price and her cousin Edmund? Emma and Knightley were not cousins.

Fanny and Edmund were a little too incestuous too. But I meant that Emma and Knightly were more incestuous although they were not even blood related. He was almost an adult when she was born and he always took on an older brother role during her entire childhood. He scolded her and chastised her like an older brother would. I understand they both changed through out the book. But you can’t just forget that your relationship was brother/sister-like for so many years. 

[Sister Mozz]

2 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Fanny and Edmund were a little too incestuous too. But I meant that Emma and Knightly were more incestuous although they were not even blood related. He was almost an adult when she was born and he always took on an older brother role during her entire childhood. He scolded her and chastised her like an older brother would. I understand they both changed through out the book. But you can’t just forget that your relationship was brother/sister-like for so many years. 

 

Ahh, gotcha. 

[anjulibai]

2 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Fanny and Edmund were a little too incestuous too. But I meant that Emma and Knightly were more incestuous although they were not even blood related. He was almost an adult when she was born and he always took on an older brother role during her entire childhood. He scolded her and chastised her like an older brother would. I understand they both changed through out the book. But you can’t just forget that your relationship was brother/sister-like for so many years. 

I always thought it odd that her older sister married his younger brother. Like, it should have been more natural for the older sister and Knightly to marry, and Emma to marry the younger brother. 

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

2 minutes ago, anjulibai said:

I always thought it odd that her older sister married his younger brother. Like, it should have been more natural for the older sister and Knightly to marry, and Emma to marry the younger brother. 

 

Yes, John and Isabella were much closer in age so I guess that made sense. I guess Austen was trying to make it so we don’t guess who will marry by the end of the book. Kind of like Elizabeth and Darcy. Each pair seems pretty unlikely based on the beginnings of the books. 

[anjulibai]

1 minute ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Yes, John and Isabella were much closer in age so I guess that made sense. I guess Austen was trying to make it so we don’t guess who will marry by the end of the book. Kind of like Elizabeth and Darcy. Each pair seems pretty unlikely based on the beginnings of the books. 

True. Plus, I imagine it was much more normal at the time. Teenage Marianne ends up with 30 something Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility. 

[usedbicycle]

16 hours ago, ophelia said:

While I tend to agree with you, I'm quite curious how this would really spin out. Especially with folks like the Morton's and Campana's that seem to praise fertility like nothing else. I doubt that Alyssa would be allowed (or even think about) using some kind of contraception and I can't see her asking her husband to use a condom. She might be able to track her cycle and avoid having sex on her fertile days, but I'm not sure wether the has the biological knowledge to do so. 

To get into the nitty gritty, the men will usually take charge of avoiding more pregnancies. They use a combination of knowing when their wife is fertile and pulling out. But shhhh, it's the fundies' least best kept secret.

You're right that women in those circles have no power to use contraception or choose when to have sex, but they generally know their bodies and track their cycles pretty well, and I'm pretty sure they share that info with their husband. It's not taboo to do so, even for unmarried gals (remember how the Duggar girls knew their mom's "calendar"?). Period tracking apps have also made that a lot easier.

[singsingsing]

Plus in the book it's made clear that Isabella and John Knightley married for love. It seems like there was never any thought given to Isabella marrying the older Mr. Knightley.

I love Jane Austen and I love 'Emma', but I have to admit that Emma and Knightley are probably my least favourite pairing. Even Edmund and Fanny are better. And Marianne and Colonel Brandon, as they only met when they were both (basically) adults.

[Briefly]

15 hours ago, Triplet3 said:

Melanie Maxwell is expecting, due in May on Abigail’s birthday. They admit that she’s high-risk and has to have progesterone injections.

At least they seem to be concerned with medical care, unlike so many fundies seem to be.  I hope everything goes well for her and that the baby is healthy.

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, singsingsing said:

Plus in the book it's made clear that Isabella and John Knightley married for love. It seems like there was never any thought given to Isabella marrying the older Mr. Knightley.

I love Jane Austen and I love 'Emma', but I have to admit that Emma and Knightley are probably my least favourite pairing. Even Edmund and Fanny are better. And Marianne and Colonel Brandon, as they only met when they were both (basically) adults.

I liked Col Brandon and Marianne. Willoughby was like a teenage crush. He’s the sort of partner a child would choose to love. Col Brandon was the type of person an adult woman would choose to marry. It’s the type of marriage that would last. Marianne got lucky Willoughby was disinherited by his aunt before he proposed. Their marriage would have been an unhappy one. 

[SolomonFundy]

9 hours ago, singsingsing said:

Plus in the book it's made clear that Isabella and John Knightley married for love. It seems like there was never any thought given to Isabella marrying the older Mr. Knightley.

I love Jane Austen and I love 'Emma', but I have to admit that Emma and Knightley are probably my least favourite pairing. Even Edmund and Fanny are better. And Marianne and Colonel Brandon, as they only met when they were both (basically) adults.

Agreed! In keeping with Austen's own predictions for the character, I don't care much for Emma either. It's my least favorite of any of her finished books, and a large part of the reason is the incredibly forced nature of the relationship between Knightley and Emma. There are so many strong overtones of him having groomed her over the course of many years (keeping a list of books she made when she was like, ten? in his pocket at all times), plus even their eventual realization of mutual affection seemed more like two exhausted people just reconciling themselves to the inevitable rather than a romance. 

Emma is pretty unlikeable on her own. I may have felt differently if I'd started reading Jane Austen as a teen, but I was nearly 30 before I read her books for the first time. My favorites are Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. P&P is a close third, but the BBC miniseries is a big reason that I enjoy it as much as I do. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, SolomonFundy said:

Agreed! In keeping with Austen's own predictions for the character, I don't care much for Emma either. It's my least favorite of any of her finished books, and a large part of the reason is the incredibly forced nature of the relationship between Knightley and Emma. There are so many strong overtones of him having groomed her over the course of many years (keeping a list of books she made when she was like, ten? in his pocket at all times), plus even their eventual realization of mutual affection seemed more like two exhausted people just reconciling themselves to the inevitable rather than a romance. 

Emma is pretty unlikeable on her own. I may have felt differently if I'd started reading Jane Austen as a teen, but I was nearly 30 before I read her books for the first time. My favorites are Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. P&P is a close third, but the BBC miniseries is a big reason that I enjoy it as much as I do. 

Northanger Abbey is my least favorite but I really enjoy Persuasion. I “get” the way Anne was persuaded in her youth not to marry the man she loved. But then as the years passed, she grew as a woman and began to know herself and know who was best for her. I also understand having to deal with a histrionic family member.  

[fundiefan]

14 hours ago, usedbicycle said:

To get into the nitty gritty, the men will usually take charge of avoiding more pregnancies. They use a combination of knowing when their wife is fertile and pulling out. But shhhh, it's the fundies' least best kept secret.

You're right that women in those circles have no power to use contraception or choose when to have sex, but they generally know their bodies and track their cycles pretty well, and I'm pretty sure they share that info with their husband. It's not taboo to do so, even for unmarried gals (remember how the Duggar girls knew their mom's "calendar"?). Period tracking apps have also made that a lot easier.

It has been speculated that it's not only shared with the husband, but with the daddies/families. Remember when the Mortons & Alexanders had a party to pick the date for Martha & Tayte's wedding? It was highly speculated that her cycle was a factor in the decision.

Whether it's known by so many that the family plans the wedding date around it, or the bride herself, or some combination, the number of Morton honeymoon babies gives validity to the thought. Knowing their fertility gives them a good shot at conception on the first try. 

Note, I said it's been speculated, but I honestly do believe the girl's cycle is known when planning the wedding in a very large part of fundieland. With the exception of Cleve & Lise and Dorothy & Noah, every Morton bride has conceived on their honeymoon or very, very shortly afterwards. Yes, when you have sex, you can get pregnant. But, their timing is pretty precise to have left it entirely up to chance.

The difference with fundies tracking their cycles and non fundies - fundies do it so they can conceive. Non fundies do it so they can try to prevent conception.