Michelle Duggar has had her 19th child...

[pooh bear]

Josie Brooklyn was born Thursday night and weighed only 1lb 6oz.

 

The baby is in NICU, and both her and Michelle are doing well.

[Jean in Newcastle]

One pound? And it was a single birth? Was the baby extremely premature?

[sunflowerlady]

I just read about that on another board. Poor little thing.:sad: I will pray for her and the rest of the family also. The article I read said she was premature, but I am not sure just how early.

[pooh bear]

From what I have read, Michelle was in hospital with gallbladder problems. Thursday night she was rushed into the ER for an emergency C-Section.

 

I think the baby was due in March.

[calandalsmom]

about 25 weeks gestation iirc.

[Scarlett]

Josie Brooklyn was born Thursday night and weighed only 1lb 6oz.

 

The baby is in NICU, and both her and Michelle are doing well.

 

Oh my!!!! First problem birth for her I think. How terrible. :(

[LNC]

Our 12yo son, we adopted, was 25 weeks and 1 lb. 2 oz. They can do soooo much more now, and her healthcare and nutrition were probably much better than my boy received. He has had many problems - health and development.

 

I'll be praying for their family. They have a long road ahead of them...

Edited December 11, 2009 by LNC

[FriedClams]

We will be praying for little Josie here. We love the Duggars and will be lifting them up in prayer.

[LG Gone Wild]

How scary...1 lb. Whoa.

[Heather in WI]

We love them, too! Thank goodness the baby are listed in stable condition. That is encouraging!

[sheryl]

Wow, this year's little Duggar went by me...I don't know if I knew/remember she was preg with this one. ;)

 

Hope all goes well.

 

I'm certain they will try for 20 asap!

 

Sheryl

<><

[hmschooling]

Last week she had gall stones and preeclampsia, they were trying to avoid surgery and hoping the stone would move away from where it was. She was transported from NW Ark to the University Hospital in Little Rock that night. I think they were able to avoid the surgery but the preeclampsia was still an issue. She was about 25 weeks along.

 

Anyone hear what actually led to the decision to deliver that early? I live a few minutes away from where she is right now and recently was living just a few minutes from their home, met them a few times...thinking about going up to see her and just let her know that the homeschool community is praying for her and the baby.

[Georgiana Daniels]

How did I not know she was pregnant? I thought she just had one. Praying for them as well.

[Ginevra]

Oh my! That is so horribly scary!

 

Not to divert the thread, but I was very confused when they had Jordyn Grace last year before Christmas. I thought she had been due in March. In fact, I was just watching re-runs and that is what they said at the time - that the baby was due in March. Because they even said "We conceived on Father's Day!" and I thought, "Please!!!TMI!!!! ;)" But then she was born before Christmas and I wondered if she was premie, but I heard nothing of that nature. Did anyone hear anything about that discrepancy?

 

Oh, poor little tiny baby. :(

[melmichigan]

Their website said she was due March 18th, so 14 weeks premature.

 

Sadly, stable doesn't mean much in the NICU.

 

Eclampsia becomes life threatening to mom and baby and if that was the reason for delivery than they may be done with 19. It is more likely to accure with subsequent births, something like a 60% likelihood with 1/3 before 28 weeks. It is also more likely in moms over 35.

 

We will say a prayer for mom and baby.

[Scarlett]

Their website said she was due March 18th, so 14 weeks premature.

 

Wow. I missed that all together.

[MeaganS]

My little sister-in-law (14 now) was born at that hospital. They do good work there. She wasn't supposed to make it and is now healthy with no lasting effects. I hope them well.

[tex-mex]

Heavens... :confused:

[Erica in PA]

Josie Brooklyn was born Thursday night and weighed only 1lb 6oz.

 

The baby is in NICU, and both her and Michelle are doing well.

 

Anyone else think that the press releases on this story are a little odd? Just about every one I've read has almost a celebratory tone. :confused: Having a baby born at 20-something weeks is not a good situation. Of course I hope and pray for the best for the family and this baby, but there are many hurdles still to overcome.

[Prudent]

Yes, I found the press releases a little strange too.

 

But to me, they totally fit the Duggar family. From all I've gathered from that family, there is absolutely nothing negative about pregnancy or childbirth ever. So this birth is wonderful and miraculous and something to celebrate, like all the others.

 

Of course a baby is wonderful, but this is a pretty serious situation.

[newbie]

Poor thing, that is so small and super early. I pray the baby gains weight and has no major complications.

[Murphy101]

Yes, I found the press releases a little strange too.

 

But to me, they totally fit the Duggar family. From all I've gathered from that family, there is absolutely nothing negative about pregnancy or childbirth ever. So this birth is wonderful and miraculous and something to celebrate, like all the others.

 

Of course a baby is wonderful, but this is a pretty serious situation.

 

I doubt they would say there are no negatives.

More like the positives always outweigh the negative.

Doesn't mean things never get hard or scary or that it isn't being taken serious.

Just means they think it's worth it.

[jujsky]

Anyone else think that the press releases on this story are a little odd? Just about every one I've read has almost a celebratory tone. :confused: Having a baby born at 20-something weeks is not a good situation. Of course I hope and pray for the best for the family and this baby, but there are many hurdles still to overcome.

 

:iagree: I got that sense from everything I read too. I don't understand what the media is playing at. A baby born that prematurely is a very serious thing -- this isn't like celebrating a full-term baby. I hope the baby will be okay. I love the show. The family is the polar opposite of mine, but they seem like wonderful people & I'm completely fascinated by their lifestyle.

[Murphy101]

Ok. This is interesting and IMO rather saddening.

I'm not a fan of the duggars. Nothing against them really, just not my cup of tea.

 

But a baby is ALWAYS cause for joy and celebration, I don't care what condition they arrive in or situation born into - it's cause for celebration no different than a full term birth of a perfectly healthy baby.

 

Joy and celebration doesn't mean anyone is being blind to hardship. It is entirely possible to fully do both.

 

In fact, I would pose that the harder the situation, the more important it is to celebrate the life while they can.

[mammaruss]

Anyone else think that the press releases on this story are a little odd? Just about every one I've read has almost a celebratory tone. :confused: Having a baby born at 20-something weeks is not a good situation. Of course I hope and pray for the best for the family and this baby, but there are many hurdles still to overcome.

 

I understand the press being celebratory!

Our oldest ds was born 16 wks early, also weighing a whopping 1#, 6oz.--21 years ago!! We chose to celebrate his birth the same way and we celebrated big time!! Back then, the odds of him making past the first week were not good at all--the hospital even advised us that if we were religious to have him baptized when he was a few days old because they did not feel he was going to live much longer. He was baptized--but we celebrated every minute--not knowing what was going to happen....We were fortunate that our ds did remarkably well--but we wanted our family and friends to celebrate our ds-no matter how tiny or sick he was, he was still here with us and deserved to be celebrated-whether he was here for a few minutes, days or.....

My heart and prayers go out to the family and baby--I know the long road ahead. We learned to celebrate our ds gaining milligrams just to pee it out later in the day. We celebrated him swallowing cc's of milk vs oz on his own...He was able to come home BEFORE his due date weighing 4# 14oz!! He is now taller than me and the healthiest one of the family!!

[MelanieM]

Oh my! That is so horribly scary!

 

Not to divert the thread, but I was very confused when they had Jordyn Grace last year before Christmas. I thought she had been due in March. In fact, I was just watching re-runs and that is what they said at the time - that the baby was due in March. Because they even said "We conceived on Father's Day!" and I thought, "Please!!!TMI!!!! ;)" But then she was born before Christmas and I wondered if she was premie, but I heard nothing of that nature. Did anyone hear anything about that discrepancy?

 

Oh, poor little tiny baby. :(

 

I just Googled Jordyn's birth, and didn't find anything about her being premature. In fact, she was 7lb 3oz, so certainly not far from term, if early at all. (The story I read can be found here.) Is it possible the episode you saw referred to another upcoming birth? Did they perhaps miscarry and conceive again?

 

Adding my prayers for this family.

[Ginevra]

I just Googled Jordyn's birth, and didn't find anything about her being premature. In fact, she was 7lb 3oz, so certainly not far from term, if early at all. (The story I read can be found here.) Is it possible the episode you saw referred to another upcoming birth? Did they perhaps miscarry and conceive again?

 

I don't know. :confused: At the very least, she was due New Year's Day but was born Dec 18th, which isn't premature, at least not like I was thinking. But I certainly did think it was the pregnancy with Jordyn they were talking about on that show. Maybe it was this one, Josie.

 

As far as I know, they have only miscarried once early in their marriage.

 

 

About the news articles being "cheery", I did think that, too. It fits the Duggars, though.

[Wee Pip]

Two out of my 3 kids were 2lb preemies due to preeclampsia - with my 1st preemie, I was shocked & surprised by all the "congratulations!" since it didn't feel like a "birth" to me. But it was, and I'm glad that everyone was celebratory about it. I can appreciate what some of the other moms have said about life being celebratory, even if it is just for a short time. And can relate to celebrating every small cc of milk dripped into my baby's tummy. Someone asked about preeclampsia & why so early? As explained to me, once diagnosed with pre-e, you have 1 week or less before it becomes severe & lifethreatening. Sometimes a mom can hang out in the mild pre-e & be fine for several weeks, or more - but the chances are greater that severe pre-e will develop & baby will need to be born within a week diagnosis. Once you are diagnosed as mild pre-e, it's just a waiting game to see when it's going to go severe.

[tdeveson]

about 25 weeks gestation iirc.

 

That's bad. :( Wikipedia says: "50 to 70 percent of babies born at 24 to 25 weeks [are viable]." But it jumps to 90% at 26 weeks. I hope things turn out well.

[lionfamily1999]

Ok. This is interesting and IMO rather saddening.

I'm not a fan of the duggars. Nothing against them really, just not my cup of tea.

 

But a baby is ALWAYS cause for joy and celebration, I don't care what condition they arrive in or situation born into - it's cause for celebration no different than a full term birth of a perfectly healthy baby.

 

Joy and celebration doesn't mean anyone is being blind to hardship. It is entirely possible to fully do both.

 

In fact, I would pose that the harder the situation, the more important it is to celebrate the life while they can.

:iagree: From "Ok." to "can."

[tdeveson]

How did I not know she was pregnant? I thought she just had one. Praying for them as well.

 

She always "just had one." :) That family sure loves babies -- hopefully the baby will gain weight and all will be right. These days they can bring around tiny babies that would have been lost 20 years ago, plus she knows how to take care of herself when she's pregnant, so the baby has a lot going for her.

[Brenda in FL]

Oh my! That is so horribly scary!

 

Not to divert the thread, but I was very confused when they had Jordyn Grace last year before Christmas. I thought she had been due in March. In fact, I was just watching re-runs and that is what they said at the time - that the baby was due in March. Because they even said "We conceived on Father's Day!" and I thought, "Please!!!TMI!!!! ;)" But then she was born before Christmas and I wondered if she was premie, but I heard nothing of that nature. Did anyone hear anything about that discrepancy?

 

Oh, poor little tiny baby. :(

 

I thought they were referring to this pregnancy . . .

[Erica in PA]

Ok. This is interesting and IMO rather saddening.

I'm not a fan of the duggars. Nothing against them really, just not my cup of tea.

 

But a baby is ALWAYS cause for joy and celebration, I don't care what condition they arrive in or situation born into - it's cause for celebration no different than a full term birth of a perfectly healthy baby.

 

Joy and celebration doesn't mean anyone is being blind to hardship. It is entirely possible to fully do both.

 

In fact, I would pose that the harder the situation, the more important it is to celebrate the life while they can.

 

News stories don't normally take that sort of tone though. I'm not attributing it to the family, because I wouldn't think that they write the press releases, but just reading through the news stories, I found the tone odd, considering the circumstances.

 

But even extending to a family, yes, if I had a good friend IRL who had a baby at 20-something weeks, and I got an email from them saying, "Yay, our baby is here!!!!," without acknowledging the hardships at all, I would find that sort of odd, too.

[luvnlattes]

I was so sorry to hear about that. We're praying here as well...

[Whereneverever]

Oh, no! I hope that Michelle and her baby do well.

[Slartibartfast]

I will keep them in my prayers. :(

[EthiopianFood]

Oh no! :( I hope she hangs in there, and is home very soon!

[Murphy101]

News stories don't normally take that sort of tone though. I'm not attributing it to the family, because I wouldn't think that they write the press releases, but just reading through the news stories, I found the tone odd, considering the circumstances.

 

But even extending to a family, yes, if I had a good friend IRL who had a baby at 20-something weeks, and I got an email from them saying, "Yay, our baby is here!!!!," without acknowledging the hardships at all, I would find that sort of odd, too.

 

Well it may be that the media doesn't want to look bad. And premies really aren't that uncommon anymore either, so they feel there's no news there. Or maybe this us one of the rare moments where the media is getting something right.

 

And the media ain't their good friends.

 

If my irl good friend emailed me like that, I'd presume they were making a silent statement that they needed uplifting. Or that their medical issues were none of my business. Or maybe they ate too busy to go over all of that with everyone, esp as it's not what they want to discuss with everyone anyways.

 

I'm sure there's some station out there speculating that they had it comming eventually and how they shouldn't have more now and so many other conjectures. I imagine when things are more settled in a couple months, we'll hear all about it.

[LibraryLover]

I will keep them in my thoughts. I think those kids are absolutely wonderful. I love how they have such distinct personalities. (I don't take lightly to hating on the Duggars. There are worse things in the world than having a bunch of kids. Someone like Donald Trump does more carbon footprint damage than those folks). Go Josie!!

[Tammyla]

:grouphug:Josie, poor baby is so tiny.:grouphug:

[Mom-ninja.]

That show talking about conceiving on Father's Day was Josie. They actually had Jordyn with them at the appt.

 

I hope all goes well. That poor little girl. She is surrounded by love though. I hope she pulls through nice and healthy.

[Scarlett]

That show talking about conceiving on Father's Day was Josie. They actually had Jordyn with them at the appt.

 

I hope all goes well. That poor little girl. She is surrounded by love though. I hope she pulls through nice and healthy.

 

So are Jordyn and Josie less than a year apart? Or almost exactly a year apart?

[unsinkable]

So are Jordyn and Josie less than a year apart? Or almost exactly a year apart?

 

accord. to wiki, Jordyn was born 12/18/08.

 

I wonder which teenager is her "buddy."

[Scarlett]

accord. to wiki, Jordyn was born 12/18/08.

 

I wonder which teenager is her "buddy."

 

Wow. So they are just at a year apart. Wow.

 

I am not against them having all the kids they want, but I wonder how much more her body can take. I think it might be trying to tell her something since she is now having preemies where she didn't before.

[TammyinTN]

:grouphug:I hope they both will have a positive outcome. Saying prayers for their family.

[Ginevra]

That show talking about conceiving on Father's Day was Josie. They actually had Jordyn with them at the appt.

 

I hope all goes well. That poor little girl. She is surrounded by love though. I hope she pulls through nice and healthy

 

I'm so glad that is cleared up for me! :o I got all confuzuled with watching re-runs. Wish I had DVR like everyone else; then perhaps I would see the current shows.

 

Honestly, I feel sorry for them for the public smack-down that I expect is coming, no matter what happens with little baby Josie. Seriously, how can they "win"? I assume her fertility will return quickly and...then what? I'm sure they are talking about it between themselves and perhaps have already formulated a mental plan if something like this happened.

 

If Michelle would get pg again while Josie is still in critical care, or other bad situations happen, they will draw serious venom, I'm sure, probably like nothing seen yet, which is sayin' something. I don't doubt there is already lots of "they had it coming" talk. I saw a comment left by someone on TLC's board that was quite hateful. :cursing: And I'm sure there are more where that came from, although I mainly saw prayers and support.

[Quiver0f10]

I'm so glad that is cleared up for me! :o I got all confuzuled with watching re-runs. Wish I had DVR like everyone else; then perhaps I would see the current shows.

 

Honestly, I feel sorry for them for the public smack-down that I expect is coming, no matter what happens with little baby Josie. Seriously, how can they "win"? I assume her fertility will return quickly and...then what? I'm sure they are talking about it between themselves and perhaps have already formulated a mental plan if something like this happened.

 

If Michelle would get pg again while Josie is still in critical care, or other bad situations happen, they will draw serious venom, I'm sure, probably like nothing seen yet, which is sayin' something. I don't doubt there is already lots of "they had it coming" talk. I saw a comment left by someone on TLC's board that was quite hateful. :cursing: And I'm sure there are more where that came from, although I mainly saw prayers and support.

 

And if they decide to not have anymore there will be venom. No matter what they do there will be people saying/leaving nasty comments.

[Mommy22alyns]

This really hits home for me because I can only imagine if I'd had Becca before Christmas (My due date with her was 3/29). I wish them nothing but the best and it just saddens me that some people are going to twist this to negativity no matter the outcome. I really heart the Duggars even though our lifestyle is pretty opposite.

[Scarlett]

This really hits home for me because I can only imagine if I'd had Becca before Christmas (My due date with her was 3/29). I wish them nothing but the best and it just saddens me that some people are going to twist this to negativity no matter the outcome. I really heart the Duggars even though our lifestyle is pretty opposite.

 

Me too. And I don't understand the venom. I mean good grief let's save a little of that for Tiger Woods or Mass Murderers or something. :tongue_smilie:

[AngelBee]

Praying for them right now.