Duggars by the Dozen 35: Five Months with no Pregnant Duggars. How much longer will it last?

[AussieKrissy]

13 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

Maybe they took a special birthday photo with just Josie while the others waited off camera a second or two?

If it was a birthday photo for josie AND Jordyn where is Jordyn.

Ok Jenni and Jordyn get on a plane and come with me. My heart breaks for the little lost girls.

At this point I would even like to see Jordyn go to Jessa and Jenni to Jill. They may be Aunt Moms but i bet they would get a whole lot more attention. 

[xenobia]

I wouldn't be surprised if they all were there. There are additional pictures of Jordan and Josie inside the restaurant, and also one of Michelle and Jana outside. I just chose one of them in my first post and added that there were more pictures, like these: 

[ladyaudley]

On 12/11/2018 at 4:51 PM, VelociRapture said:

I’m trying to find a way to respond to this and I’m having some trouble. I hope I did a decent job here.

I think there’s a difference between saying something was the toughest experience for your family and saying something was the toughest situation for each family member as individuals. To give an example, my toughest moment as an individual was dealing with my daughter’s premature birth and NICU stay. I would probably say the toughest moment for my family overall (parents, siblings, grandparents, and uncles) was my Aunt’s suicide though. Both situations were difficult in their own ways, but one had a bigger impact on me than the rest of my family and the other had a big impact on everyone.

Considering the fact that Josie was a micropreemie who suffered potentially life threatening complications (I believe bowel perforation can be fatal and can cause long term complications for survivors), an extensive Hospital stay, the fact that the entire family relocated to Little Rock, and the fact that Michelle suffered from preeclampsia (which can be very dangerous) I can genuinely see why that might be considered the most difficult moment for the Duggar family as a group. That type of experience can have an impact on each family member in different ways and to varying degrees, but I’d be somewhat surprised if any of them weren’t impacted somehow.*

I do see your point though. The Duggar parents have never seemed to place much importance on the safety and well-being of the kids they already had, while adding even more kids to the family. And I do see why some people might bristle at them claiming all of the family members feel a certain way given how they seemed to place a big emphasis on their kids as a group as opposed to recognizing each kid as an unique individual as well. 

*To be clear, the same can absolutely be said about sexual abuse. I’m not sure if that was the case here based off what we know about the Duggars though. They appear to have tried to minimize what happened as much as possible and I’m not sure if all of the kids even knew about the molestations, but I can easily see either situation being an extremely difficult experience for the overall family. 

I hear you. I think it’s the unilateral declaration that this was th hardest time for “the family” that really grates for me. But then they’ve never let their adult children make their own choices, so I’m not surprised.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

It really screams how much Fundies stand out when they stop trying to be "meek & modest" and just look like everyone else walking around.

[lumpentheologie]

I feel so bad for Jordyn that she never gets her own birthday party. If she and Josie want their parties together then of course it's okay, but every year I feel like they have a combined party and all the focus is on Miracle Baby Josie.  Jordyn probably won't get to have a special day just for her until she gets married. 

[AtlanticTug]

Michelle looks really good for a mother of 19. Enviable genes. However I've been worried about her posture for a while now. She looks really hunched over at the shoulders. Doesn't bode well for her back. Not sure if she's just turned into a big sloucher or if there is something going on, but I kind of want to send her to a good physio.

[Audrey2]

20 hours ago, xenobia said:

The Duggars celebrated Josie and Jordyns birthdays at Pizza Hut in Honduras. (Img from their official FB-page. More pics there as well). What can I say.. Michelle looks really good! 

But how can it be a real Duggars birthday celebration without the chocolate mess?

[front hugs > duggs]

Duggars, I'ma let you finish, but this is the best chocolate mess of all time:

[habert]

It’s been 34 days since Kade Smith’s birth, and 147 days since Felicity Vuolo’s birth, and there have been 0 announcements from either family. 

I want someone to announce at this point just so I can stop obsessing over who. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

I can't tell you how depressing I find that photo of Jana and Michelle. Jana is (intentionally or otherwise) channeling her mother's "fashion" choices. I so wish she could get away from her family and do her own thing.

 

Of course, she may not want to.

 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

3 hours ago, lumpentheologie said:

I feel so bad for Jordyn that she never gets her own birthday party. If she and Josie want their parties together then of course it's okay, but every year I feel like they have a combined party and all the focus is on Miracle Baby Josie.  Jordyn probably won't get to have a special day just for her until she gets married. 

Is there a day that matters in any of these girls' lives until they marry and conceive? I feel for Jordan and Jenny--totally forgotten since birth.

[melon]

3 hours ago, AtlanticTug said:

Michelle looks really good for a mother of 19. Enviable genes. However I've been worried about her posture for a while now. She looks really hunched over at the shoulders. Doesn't bode well for her back. Not sure if she's just turned into a big sloucher or if there is something going on, but I kind of want to send her to a good physio.

She does look great for her age and a mother of so many.I have noticed her posture,too.My grandmother was hunched over like that but worse,My grandmother had osteoporosis.

 

[Cheetah]

Was this the first time that any of the younger girls went on this trip?  (Wondering if Hannie and Jenny went previously).   I hope Jordyn gets another shout-out and photo on her birthday.   I wonder if Jordyn and Jenny are jealous of the attention that Josie gets or if they are just as happy to stay in the background.  Maybe a bit of both depending on the day.  Will be interesting to see how the relationship between those girls ends up when they are grown, not that we'll really know for sure unless one of them writes a book.

[Coconut Flan]

4 hours ago, habert said:

It’s been 34 days since Kade Smith’s birth, and 147 days since Felicity Vuolo’s birth, and there have been 0 announcements from either family. 

I want someone to announce at this point just so I can stop obsessing over who. 

Melanie Maxwell stepped into the void.

[VelociRapture]

28 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

Melanie Maxwell stepped into the void.

 

[singsingsing]

It seems the Caldwells recently had their baby too, but nothing was actually announced.

[Audrey2]

6 hours ago, front hugs > duggs said:

Duggars, I'ma let you finish, but this is the best chocolate mess of all time:

In Boston, in1919, it was molasses.

http://www.celebrateboston.com/disasters/molasses-flood.htm

There's a neat book on it too, called Dark Tide; The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. It's a fascinating read.

[Botkinetti]

17 hours ago, habert said:

It’s been 34 days since Kade Smith’s birth, and 147 days since Felicity Vuolo’s birth, and there have been 0 announcements from either family. 

I want someone to announce at this point just so I can stop obsessing over who. 

I wonder if JimBob and Michelle are starting to worry that some of their children are preventing pregnancy. If any are it means their indoctrination was incomplete and despite their best efforts their children are able to make their own decisions. Must freak them out.

Having said that perhaps the family is just waiting to release a picture of some or all of their daughters and daughters-in law pregnant.

[Alice in Fundieland]

15 hours ago, Cheetah said:

I wonder if Jordyn and Jenny are jealous of the attention that Josie gets or if they are just as happy to stay in the background.  Maybe a bit of both depending on the day. 

I think you’ve made an excellent point. I’m an introvert and am generally happy to fly under the radar. I like to say there’s a difference between wanting attention and wanting to be seen. I don’t want accolades, but I do want to feel like people care about me and value my place in their lives. 

I hope Jennifer and Jordyn prefer not to have attention heaped on them and the Duggars are simply respecting their wishes. I hope they feel loved and valued. It’s the Duggars so it isn’t likely based on what we’ve seen from them, but I still have hope.

[singsingsing]

11 minutes ago, Botkinetti said:

I wonder if JimBob and Michelle are starting to worry that some of their children are preventing pregnancy. If any are it means their indoctrination was incomplete and despite their best efforts their children are able to make their own decisions. Must freak them out.

Having said that perhaps the family is just waiting to release a picture of some or all of their daughters and daughters-in law pregnant.

I wonder about this. I remember them always saying stuff like, "We know this isn't for everyone! We don't expect everyone to be like us, we know not everyone can handle 17/18/19 kids." But I do wonder how much they meant, 'It's okay to space your kids on purpose if you feel like you need to' vs. 'Don't worry, God won't give you more than you can handle'.

And I wonder how they feel about their children potentially using some method of family planning. 

AND I wonder, if any of the second gen are using some method of family planning, when and how they came to that decision, how they justify it to themselves, and how difficult it was for them. Has it meant shifting any of their religious or social beliefs? Did they get encouragement? Does their current church say family planning is okay, do they have friends who are doing it? 

These are the kinds of things I would actually be interested to see them talk about. Not so much their recipes or clothes. How they've deviated from their parents' beliefs, why, and what their experience with that has been. But it seems they're no longer interested in discussing anything like that. They came to fame because of their parents' fundamentalist quiverfull ideology, and now they're just coasting on that fame while seemingly more or less trying to ignore why they're even there.

Some of them make comments about wanting 'as many as God gives them' before or just after they get married, but then they all seem to go quiet on the subject. I found an old article about Jill's first pregnancy where she said that she and Derick wanted as many kids as God gave them! I'm almost positive that all the now-married kids intended to be quiverfull at least at one point in time. I want to know how and why that changed - if it did.

[melon]

I'd be interested,too.But,I doubt they'd share that publicly.

I get Duggar news on my FB newsfeed.I saw a lot of people comment how they were glad Jinger waited..over and over again the same comment."I'm so glad Jinger waited'.But,who knows if she used family planning,or if it took her longer to conceive?Not every woman has the same fertility.Plus,I doubt we will know or find out,I could be wrong ,though.

It is possible that Jessa and Anna,by nursing longer might be suppressing their ovulation.Again,that doesn't always work for every woman.

Maybe,with Joy having the C section,and Jill have two C sections,plus whatever complication..maybe they are using some type of family planning.I doubt they will both have a huge,huge family.

[JillyO]

16 hours ago, Cheetah said:

Was this the first time that any of the younger girls went on this trip?  (Wondering if Hannie and Jenny went previously). 

I'm almost 100% positive that they used to say everyone aged 10+ got to go. Jordyn is turning 10 on this trip, so this would be her first year to go. I'm pretty sure Johannah, who's 13, has been going for a few years, and Jenni went last year (she's 11).

Of course the rules don't apply to miracle baby Josie, so she got to go this year even though she just turned 9. (FTR, I can kind of understand not wanting her to be the only child who has to stay home because she's too young. But it's also a good reflection of her special status in the family, is all.)

[Bad Wolf]

Last year(?) they posted a video of Jordyn 's birthday wearing a thrift store dress. Poor Jordyn was edging away from her mother and looked SEVERELY uncomfortable. Maybe she chose not to have her picture taken this year.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

I think it was out of necessity that only kids 10 and up went on these trips, just to keep numbers down and to make sure everyone was old enough to really understand staying close to family and not wondering off in a flight of normal childhood aged exploration.  But now Jordyn turned 10 so that would ONLY leave Josie at home and with so many married now it makes perfect sense, that they bend this rule for the youngest, simply because leaving her out would just be mean. especially since it is happing during her birthday.

And yes I just defended JB & M's parenting choice here, I'll see myself to the prayer closet.

[Coconut Flan]

I think the age 10 rule is the SOS rule for being able to participate.