Kristina had her babies (yes she did!)

[Austin]

I have twins when my son was 2. It was total pandemonium! Of course, I did stop at three children. So my little brood just kept growing up and we went through all of the stages pretty much all at once. In retrospect, it was exhausting, but great fun most of the time. My children still put a smile on my face from ear to ear, even though they are all grown up.

The concern here is not the three babies all at once adventure, but the fact that there will likley be another one before these two are out of diapers.

Our eldest had barely turned three (by two weeks) when I had twins. They were our last children. And I had it easy compared to a lot of women, as my husband, a total hands-on dad, was off of work for the first six weeks of the twins' lives. But it was still hard. I was terrified the first day he went back to work, I must admit.

Our twins were not c-section, and they were seven minutes apart (useless facts :D ).

[emmiedahl]

It could be jealousy. I had two close together (nothing like that though!) and the oldest was jealous as in: why is mom holding that baby and not ME?

[alphaeta08]

Re jealousy: I was 19 months old when my sister was born (which I know isn't the same as 13 months, but still), and apparently when visiting the hospital, I said, "No Mommy (Sister's name) Mommy!!!" which I believe translates to, "I don't want Mommy holding Sister!!!" There is also photographic evidence of me trying to put my sister in the fireplace, among other things (Not that there was a fire burning at the time; I'm not that evil!). I was NOT amused. :lol:

Isn't Kristina's husband the one with the really obnoxious anti-abortion site?

[treemom]

Re jealousy: I was 19 months old when my sister was born (which I know isn't the same as 13 months, but still), and apparently when visiting the hospital, I said, "No Mommy (Sister's name) Mommy!!!" which I believe translates to, "I don't want Mommy holding Sister!!!" There is also photographic evidence of me trying to put my sister in the fireplace, among other things (Not that there was a fire burning at the time; I'm not that evil!). I was NOT amused. :lol:

Isn't Kristina's husband the one with the really obnoxious anti-abortion site?

Yep. The one that brought me out of lurkdom.

[Triplet3]

My mum had me, Triplet1 and Triplet2 when our older brother was only 2, so for many months she and dad had four children under 3! I don't know whether our brother was jealous or not, but apparently he did become quite withdrawn. Our younger brother was born when we were 5 1/2. I don't remember being jealous of him at all, no doubt because I was already very much used to sharing my parents' attention! Apparently Triplet1 was a bit jealous though.

As for Kristina's situation, I'm also a bit doubtful as to whether a 13-month-old can really feel proper jealousy. I haven't read any books on the subject recently though, and don't have children myself, so I suppose I wouldn't really know.

[Feberin]

My friend's daughter is eight months older then my son and when they were smaller and my friend would hold my son then her daughter would demand that she be held as well. Not sure if I would say jealousy since I think it's more being territorial but of course they weren't siblings.

[Deleted03]

Of course they can be jealous, but the question is why do you have to point that out already when no one is even home? And are you implying you're gonna beat that out of her?

And please be patient with a one year old!

[dairyfreelife]

I have a friend who is barely 20 and recently gave birth to twin boys. Those babies were born about nine weeks early. They are still in the hospital almost a month later. I'd say Kristina got lucky this way.

She has an 18 month old daughter. Her one year old hasn't shown any signs of jealously yet, but after the first baby comes home in a couple weeks, that may change. Almost 19 months is different than 13 months though. I'm glad it is her and not me with 3 babies under 2. 3 babies in barely a year is crazy. She'll need all the help she can get. :lol:

[library_youth]

I hope they wait awhile before having any more kids. Her health has never sounded great - I remember she was always talking on her blog about being sick with mono, strep, the flu, etc., and that was before she was even pregnant the first time. Three babies are going to run her ragged. Hope she gets a lot of help.

[Bozoette]

Sophie wrote:

My friend realizes she only has two hands and will have 3 babies...

She'll have to switch from man-to-man to zone defense.

[buddingmedievalist]

She posted her birth story today (or maybe yesterday. I just know I read it today). I think it's interesting that as much as these folks are focused on modesty, we get all of the (literally) gory details when it comes to their giving birth. What's that about?

[Deleted03]

She posted her birth story today (or maybe yesterday. I just know I read it today). I think it's interesting that as much as these folks are focused on modesty, we get all of the (literally) gory details when it comes to their giving birth. What's that about?

I checked this morning so it must have been published during the day!

well at least it seemed to have gone relatively well, maybe she's less tired then last time... The kids are cute... I wonder how everything's going...

[moreorlessnu]

She posted her birth story today (or maybe yesterday. I just know I read it today). I think it's interesting that as much as these folks are focused on modesty, we get all of the (literally) gory details when it comes to their giving birth. What's that about?

I've noticed this about Kristina and a few other fundies (such as Michelle Duggar). There's an aspect of TMI when it comes to medical issues. When Kristina first posted medical info that I would have kept private (except for the nearest and dearest few), I wondered how much of it was simply her growing up w/o privacy, or maybe growing up so isolated that she's never distinguished between details most would probably only share w/ friends and family, and details one shares w/ those who are emotionally further away.

[Feberin]

It's a birthstory and in my opinion she kept the real gore out it's not like she talked about pooping on the table or something. I mean if she took out any intimate details it would be really boring and pretty much a "they're here"!

[Beeks]

It's a birthstory and in my opinion she kept the real gore out it's not like she talked about pooping on the table or something. I mean if she took out any intimate details it would be really boring and pretty much a "they're here"!

I agree with you. For those saying this is hypocritical of her - what did she put in there that's immodest? It's a birth story. Birth can be gory and/or disgusting but I don't think she put any of those types of details in.

[Kelya]

I agree with you. For those saying this is hypocritical of her - what did she put in there that's immodest? It's a birth story. Birth can be gory and/or disgusting but I don't think she put any of those types of details in.

This gets discussed every so often- what exactly is modest to fundies? We have Michelle Duggar boxing out her knees on television, but her daughter in law giving birth on TV. That random Mormon chick was making "modesty covers" ie bike shorts, and posing her child in the shorts only. Anna from PVS talks about sewing swaths of cotton across the neckline of a store bought dress, yet the next post is of her daughter's body (not even her face, just her body!) talking about her amazing figure.

Personally, I think giving birth on TV is a fuckton less modest than wearing a tanktop, just like I think showing some cleavage is preferable to making blog posts devoted to your figure, but fundies seem to disagree with me.

On a more specific to this conversation note, I love birth stories and think they can be great learning tools and ways to build positive community for childbearing women, as well as help women advocate for what they want in their birthing process. But in my community, its mostly hippies and radical feminists who routinely talk about our vaginas. I am surprised to see a fundie post one, but I just checked and she gets through the whole story without mentioning vagina (with the exception of vaginal birth) so I mean, its a modest birth story, I guess?

[SheWoreLemon]

I just went and read her birth story too. I'm so glad her birth was easy and fast with no tearing and no caesarean.

As far as fundies not being modest about births...Kristina's birth story didn't give any unnecessary details at all.

I think that the Josh and Anna allowed her births to be televised because birth really is miraculous. To think that we start out as two cells and over the course of nine months, all those cells divide furiously--so many chances that things could go wrong--it's miraculous that so many things go right! And all along we're growing in our mom's womb, dependent on her and her sheltering us until we're born and boom! a new family is created.

When you watch a baby being born on TV, you get to watch a lot of gore and screaming and the mom writhing on the bed. Then usually the doctor delivers the baby and goes off to have sex with a nurse. You don't get to see that most births are nothing like that, and most importantly, the family bonding afterward, the grandparents and friends coming in.

(See! Birth is not as scary as you think it is! Get married young! Don't miss out on blessings while you go to college and get a job! Homeschool! It's the way to go!)

[buddingmedievalist]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. No, Kristina's story wasn't TMI, but the birth story made me compare it to Josh and Anna and their TMI. I should maybe form complete thoughts before posting in the future

[Koala]

I think that the Josh and Anna allowed her births to be televised because birth really is miraculous.

I think they did it for the $$$.

[Angri-la]

I think they did it for the $$$.

Absolutely NO other reason. There is no 'Miracle of Birth' going on here; it is all about the Benjamins. Please do not make the Duggars into some kind of holy pronatal icons.

[Childless]

Well, I went over there (I usually try to avoid her and her hubby's blogs). The kids are very cute. And the reason I can say that is because I'm sitting at my computer several states away. I don't have to care for them plus a 13 month old while dealing with fibromyalgia. I don't envy her at all.

[moreorlessnu]

As far as fundies not being modest about births...Kristina's birth story didn't give any unnecessary details at all.

When I made the comment that I have been surprised in the past at how much medical information Kristina has shared, I'm referring to other medical information she has posted such as yeast infections, etc.

[fundiefan]

In general, I think fundies tell birth stories without regard to modesty (I didn't read Kristina's so I'm not commenting directly on what she did or didn't say) because they worship having babies. It is their sole reason for existing and their goal in life is to pop out as many as possible. It's birth - their 'miracle' the one and only thing they, the women in the relationship, do all on their own.

I also think that many of them are so sheltered that they haven't got a clue what to filter for public consumption, regardless of the topic but especially the topics where they themselves are the star - the mommy & wife role.

I'm not a fan of birth stories. They don't interest me, I don't care. I realize that women share them and it's no big deal in the big picture, but personally I avoid them. They're not my thing.

When it comes to Kristina, I hope they practice abstinence for a while (I won't be holding my breath). Another baby next Thanksgiving would be very sad for the ones that already exist. Kristina makes her choices and if she is overwhelmed, her god made her have the kids, her god can help her cope. But the kids didn't ask to be born and didn't ask to be shuffled off to the side as each new baby comes along before they're done being babies themselves. The kids didn't ask to be infants as their mom suffers from morning sickness and being too tired to function and too physically exhausted to be a mother to them.

[Beeks]

I'm a non-fundie and did post my birth stories on my (private) blog, details and all. For me personally, now that I've been through it a couple of times, I don't feel things about it were gross or awful. I like hearing certain medical details (I was x dilated, they checked me, my water broke, there was tearing, then I pushed the placenta out, etc) in other people's birth stories because it does make it real. That stuff all happens and I don't think it's disgusting. Some people do, and that's fine, don't read the stories, but to a lot of moms it's just practical and normal parts of giving birth.

[moreorlessnu]

I also think that many of them are so sheltered that they haven't got a clue what to filter for public consumption, regardless of the topic but especially the topics where they themselves are the star - the mommy & wife role.

Bingo.