Monday, February 11, 2019

'Love is in the Air' Recap

Counting On "Love is in the Air"

  • Jinger’s due date is almost here, and she hopes to have Felicity soon so she can avoid having an especially large baby like some of her sisters. Jeremy cooks a spicy Indian dish to try to get things going. The spice is so strong that Jinger, Jeremy, and all the cameramen start coughing and sputtering.
  • Back in Arkansas, the other siblings try to stomach different levels of hot sauce. Jason wins the challenge.
  • John and Abbie have been courting for a couple months, and they are ready to take their relationship to the next level. “Within the first week, it was like we had already known each other forever,” says John, who introduced Abbie to the family as his “girlfriend” within two weeks of knowing her.
  • During their courtship, John has visited Abbie every weekend. “He’s very steady,” Abbie says of John. “Nothing much riles him. He likes to have fun.”
  • “The more I get to know Abbie, the more I love her,” says John.
  • Now it’s time for John to plan the proposal! He has enlisted the help of a photographer, Lori Blythe, who works near the Fredericksburg, Texas, airport, which is where John will propose.
  • On proposal day, John and Jana fly to Ada, Oklahoma. “Jana’s been my wing woman for years,” says John. “She’s been a great blessing to me.” 
  •  Meanwhile, Abbie and her twin sisters, Maggie and Carinna, are at home making peach salsa. “John is very romantic,” Abbie says of John. “He buys me flowers. He paints my nails.”
  • While Abbie is in the kitchen cooking, John walks up behind her and surprises her. John tells her to pack a bag so they can go on a journey.
  • While the group flies to Fredericksburg, photographer Lori is at the airplane hanger setting up for the proposal.
  • When they started their relationship, John and Abbie sat down to decide on their courtship standards. Their courtship is different than John’s siblings because they are allowing themselves to share more side hugs and show more affection than the others have. "Mine and Abbie's courtship standards have been slightly different than some of my siblings, although we all get to make the decision on what our standards are,” says John. 
  • When John, Abbie, Maggie, and Jana arrive at the Fredericksburg airport, they eat dinner at the Airport Diner, and then they walk over to the hanger, where everything is set up for the proposal. Jana and Maggie hang back, and John leads Abbie to a pile of rose pedals in the shape of a heart.
  • John and Abbie are both smiling and giggling as John shares a few words: "Life's been wonderful since about, May 6th. I wanted to know if you wanted to keep flying with me. I'm kind of wondering, wanting to know, do you have anything going for the next, say, rest of your life? Cause if you don't really have any big plans, I'd love for you to spend the rest of your life with me. Will you marry me?" 
  • “I would be honored to marry you," replies Abbie. The couple shares a few frontal hugs as they rejoice over what has just happened. John is giddy with excitement as he recounts the engagement. 
    Right after the big moment, the photographer does a photo session. “I think the world must have stopped at that moment cause I don't remember much except for John being there," says Abbie. 
  • During Jinger’s 38th week, the Seewalds, Jana, and friend Laura arrive in Laredo to help the Vuolos set up the nursery. The first order of business is to remove the bed and move Jeremy’s soccer jerseys to the garage. The Vuolos have four bedrooms—a master, office, guest room, and now nursery.
  • “I wasn’t actually prepared for the jerseys to be removed…” says Jeremy. “I think I had flashbacks of my precious books being locked in a closet.”
  • When asked by the producer if she feels bad for Jeremy, Jana says: “No. He’s getting a girl added to his life. He’s getting his first daughter. That’s way more precious than your soccer jerseys.”
  • “I really don’t have a vision,” admits Jinger. “So that’s why I leave it to the girls.” The nursery theme will be Southwestern.
  • Later, Jinger and Jeremy travel to San Antonio for a visit with their midwife.
  • Jinger’s birth team will consist of Jeremy, Michelle, Jana, Laura, and Jeremy’s mom. Jeremy’s dad will be at the hospital but not in the room.
  • “I really wanted my mom there because she’s been through this countless times, and I think that would be one of the biggest comforts for me,” says Jinger.
  • Three days before Jinger’s due date, she heads to the hospital to be induced. “I am not nervous and anxious for her,” says Jeremy. “If anything, I’m anxious for myself. I hope I can…be the strength I need to be for her.”

131 comments:

  1. Watching the nursery remodel, I kept thinking... Why is that shelf with all the chatchkies on it so low? Put it up higher! Felicity will pull all that stuff down!

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    1. Haha, I was thinking the same thing! But it'll be easy to move the shelf in a few months.

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    2. They can move the crib to a different spot before she gets that big.

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    3. lol. You'd better translate. Christians don't speak Yiddish. They call them knick-knacks.

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    4. Yeah. You'd think they'd never had a baby around the house before. lol

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    5. 8:15, your comment is extremely rude.

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    6. Oh my goodness. I cannot believe that Anon 8:15 said that. Even meant as an lol, it comes across arrogant at best. I am a Christian deacon, and I use the word chatchkies. I can’t decide if the person is being snide about Jews or Christians, maybe both. What kind of person thinks of that stuff. Not funny.

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    7. Yeah, there are a number of Yiddish words that have made it into common American usage. We Christians are not ignorant of them, just as non-Christians are not ignorant of certain Biblical expressions (the apple of your eye, for example). I don't know why 8:15 made that comment, but it wasn't really humorous or accurate.

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    8. Anon 10:55 Don't get your dander up. Although the word is commonly used in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast (along with several other Yiddish words) most people living in the rest of the country have never heard it and have no idea what it means. Would you recognize some of the Spanish slang words commonly used in the Southwest US?

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    9. Anon 10:55 You are probably from New York, where the word chatchkies is used the most, because of NY's large jewish community. It's not really Yiddish in itself, it comes from Polish I think, but was used by Polish jews, and so it might be popular in the areas with the history of jewish immigration. Maybe LA now too. But honestly, in Arkansas nobody probably heard that.
      Nothing arrogant at all in not knowing some word that is not used in the area where the show films.

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    10. Anon 2:08. It's a regional term. I live in the rural South and had never heard the term before my daughter moved to NYC and began incorporating it and some other terms I'd never heard before into her vocabulary. Yiddish is called the "mother tongue" and tends to have words from various languages. My late mother-in-law was Russian Jew and the Yiddish her family speaks has a lot of Russian words in it. I think the comment the OPs were so upset about was intended as a joke because the Duggars are from the "Bible Belt" and most likely would not recognize the term.

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  2. am i the only one who missed what the surprise was tonight?

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    1. I wondered the same thing...let downs all around on this episode.

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    2. We won’t find out until next week

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    3. They said it was coming up this season, not the first episode.

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    4. TLC has to stir curiosity so people will tunein next week,the ratings are propably falling,anyway bet it wont be anything big either Jessa's pregnancy and she's surprised because she did'nt expect James to tell the show before her or something small about Jana,maybe she's just gotten a job as a doola.

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    5. Exactly! I was waiting for that special announcement. Maybe it will be just that Jessa is expecting, no real surprise here. And why Kendra would be saying "This is just crazy!" Nothing is crazy with yet another baby for Jessa. Or maybe Kendra is pregnant herself? Garrett is 8 months now.

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    6. 3:50, Jana already was a doula in the past so that wouldn’t be very shocking.

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    7. Of course it will be a letdown. It’s TLC after all. And they continue to reel us all in.

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    8. The promotional video in which they teased an announcement wasn’t for the first episode, it was for the whole season. That’s why nothing happened this episode. However, I’m sure that the announcement will be something we already know, like Jessa’s pregnancy.

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    9. Maybe amy's store?

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  3. Time 3:03AM Tues 2/12/19
    I finally got to see the 1st episode of season 9 of counting on it was great the proposal that John did was good. Very sad about Lauren & Josiah having a miscarriage. Don't you worry guys God will bless you with a baby soon.

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    1. I don't think this helpful to say to someone who just had a miscarriage. Maybe God won't bless them with a baby soon and even if he did it they might not find it helpful now.

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    2. I think Needy was being encouraging to them, I thought what she said she said was sweet.

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    3. 2.16pm Although not worded right Neddy is saying it with the best of intentions.

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    4. Although many people say it with the best of intentions, 2:16 pm is correct that it's a faux pas to say "don't worry, you'll have another one" or equivalent after a miscarriage. Imagine if someone's spouse died - would you say "don't worry, you'll remarry?"

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    5. I totally agree, Neddy is just trying to be encouraging. From reading this young woman's blog messages regularly now for quite some time I don't think she has a bad bone in her body, quite the opposite especially where the Duggars are concerned, she is always sticking up for them & does not like people saying anything bad about them. I'm sure Neddy would be very upset if she thought she had said anything that would upset Lauren or Josiah.

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    6. Hi Julia K -- Neddy is one of the sweetest people on DFB and is loved here. She was meaning to comfort and encourage, I'm sure.

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    7. Oh, I know the intentions were good. And I'm sure there's no need to worry, since I doubt the Duggars read the comments on this blog. It's a fantastic blog but the events are not new to them - they're new to us fans. ;)

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    8. Early term miscarriages happen all the time. It is sad of course, but it was not like when Michelle had her miscarriage after Josie when she was I think 14 weeks, so the baby was quite developed at that time. Or Lily Allen had a miscarriage 6 months into her pregnancy.

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  4. "Cause if you don't really have any big plans, I'd love for you to spend the rest of your life with me." I think that came out wrong. He made it sound as if she'd have to put aside any "big plans" she had for her life to marry him instead. Or that if she married him, she wasn't going to get to have any other big plans. What if she wanted to marry him AND had big plans? What could her answer have been then?

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    1. 🙄🙄🙄🙄 do you reeeeeally need to hyper analyze his proposal? Abby knows what he means as does any other logical person who heard his proposal, you’re just trying to start something.

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    2. Yeah. He said it in a cute way, and I'm willing to cut him some slack for being nervous. Even though he wrote down a script, that part could have been off-script. But at face value I agree, it came out wrong for the reasons you list.

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    3. I think she knew what he meant, and she seemed delighted enough with his proposal.

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    4. I thought the big plans line was adorable!!!

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    5. Yeah. "Oh by the way, if you don't have any plans, then please marry me". Yikes. That's WHY you don't have your proposal filmed. It obviously came out way different than he meant it to. lol

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    6. I think it was a very cute proposal. The rest is just wording, I don't think we need to over-analyze.

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  5. Time for Jana to have her own home to decorate. (A husband is not a prerequisite.)

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    1. If Jana wanted to move out by know she would have. Their are pros and cons to her living at home, and she has obviously decided that for her the pros outweigh the cons.

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    2. It is in that family,anyway why would she want to be in a house all on her own when she loves being with her family,she would'nt want it any other way.

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    3. It would be so tough being alone after all these years of living with many siblings and now nephews and nieces!

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  6. First his books, now his jerseys. Surely there is some compromise other than relegating Jeremy’s things to the garage. Jana’s comment was rather dismissive and cold, IMO.

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    1. Well when you have a baby you have to make adjustments. Jeremy's relics are less important than the new baby. I do wonder why Jinger and Jeremy aren't able to do things (like set up the nursery) without Jana though.

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    2. Hopefully, Jeremy can find space in his office to hang the jerseys. I'm guessing there is no basement in their house...too bad, because a games room in the basement would be a perfect spot to hang them!

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    3. Anon @12;21 I'm sure they would manage perfectly well on their own, but it makes for another storyline for the show.

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    4. I don't care where his jerseys end up...you don't go marching into someone's house and start moving their things around like you own the place. Jeremy doesn't seem to ever get any say about where his things land. I think that's rather overbearing of the women, even if it is only done for the cameras.

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    5. Anon 3:22 I noticed that also. My husband and I did these things together and my sister's did it with their husbands. That's one of the fun things that a married couple do together.

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    6. I hope some of this is contrived for the show because it is weird how they keep getting rid of things important to Jeremy. Marriage means embracing both spouses interests. Babies should be kept in the same room as the parents for 6-12 months anyway so I never understand all the fuss of having a nursery ready. A newborn's needs are very different from those of a one-year-old.

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    7. I'm sitting in a room that has framed memorabilia from when my husband was in the military. Is it my preferred decor? No. Do I leave it there because it's his, and this is his house, too? Yes indeed! I wouldn't let my sister come in and remove it either. Those girls need to realize that their way of decorating and making every room look like something from Pinterest isn't necessarily the best for the whole family.

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    8. Jinger asked for her sisters to decorate and Jeremy’s objects don’t have a place in the baby’s room. If they’re that important to him he can put them in his office

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    9. It needed to be done for the baby, but the way they did it was disrespectful. Life for Jeremy didn’t just begin when he married a Duggar. She fell in love with who he is, and his past is part of that. At least acknowledge that it is important to him and help him find a place for that. It’s not amusing. It’s rude!

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    10. I'll bet that if this baby was going to be a boy, those soccer jerseys would have remained.....

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    11. 6:52 and 8:52 -- Bingo!

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  7. Sorry to say, this was just an all around disappointing show. One big repeat and a very sad disclosure. I am so sorry for Laura and Josiah. Praying for healing and peace of mind.

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    1. I know. Where was the "surprise" from Jana? And no "twist" in Jinger's labor. Guess they will do those next episode.

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  8. I guess I'm missing something here, but I can't imagine having my proposal professionally photographed and aired on national TV. The life the Duggars lead is not for me.

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    1. And that’s why it is their life and not yours💁🏻‍♀️

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    2. They have the births of their kids aired on live tv. lol. They live their lives for the cameras.

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    3. 9:32 -- I'm with you! I like my privacy. :)

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  9. Hi, Ellie
    I’m just a bit confused.... In the sneak peek for the season premiere it said that we would see the birth of Felicity and the unexpected turn of events with her delivery. Now I can’t watch the show, but there’s nothing written in the recap about it. It ends with her going in for induction....🤔

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    1. If you want to see her give birth, you'll have to watch the show next week. TLC likes these "cliff hangers"

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  10. We enjoyed watching the show. So excited the season has started. John David is so romantic. We are very happy for Abbie and him. Can't wait to see the wedding again.
    I enjoyed seeing the birth of Garrett again. Kendra's got to remember to breathe.
    Jinger and Felicity birth was great. I love watching them. I enjoyed the previews of the season. Very sad to hear the news about Lauren and Josiah. Natasha B.

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  11. Enjoyed it, looking forward to next week. Happy they showed Jana a lot

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  12. I'm so glad Laura is getting included in family activities.

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    1. 11:56AM: Laura has been included for a long time. It isn't something new

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    2. Why wouldn’t she?

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    3. Laura is busy with a new job...

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    4. Yeah I thought it was weird when Jinger said she invited Laura to the birth but not Jessa who she is very close to. Can't understand that.

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    5. 5:26, Jessa has two little kids and Lauren does not. Maybe Jessa and Ben originally thought they couldn’t make it and then surprised them when their plans cleared up.

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    6. it would be hard for Jessa to attend since she has 2 small children.

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    7. I'm sure she did,but when you have a family many things come,Jessa propably has to watch her kids while Ben is busy in church,does'nt he work there.

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  13. I watched both shows. In the episode of eating around the world I found that Austin’s use of “etiquacy” to be funny . Also he showed a lack of manners by wearing his hat at the table! Congrats to John and Abbie. I think Jana could start a decorating business on her own. She is full of good ideas.

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    1. "Real" American men only take their hats off when the national anthem is sung. lol

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  14. Can’t say I liked the “southwestern” theme for the nursery. Oh well, to each his own. I’m surprised Jinger doesn’t have more faith in her creative ability. She is a pretty decent photographer so I would think she would be more than capable of decorating a nursery. It’s nice she included her sisters in the process but it’s still her (AND Jeremy’s) home.

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    1. IDK. I sort of got the idea this was done for the show and they probably could have done it on their own.

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    2. I think Jinger is very capable of decorating her own nursery and knows it. However, she is so far from her family and including Jana and Laura in the episode gives her the opportunity to be with family members again, most likely paid for by TLC. Sounds like a win/ win situation for them all.

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    3. Is Laura a family member now?

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    4. Jinger has a stunning fashion sense whereas Jana seems to be the expert at interior design. I'm artistic in many fields, but I'm not good at those two in particular! I'd love it if family members helped me with both.

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  15. Jessa has talked so much about the pain of labor with Spurgeon to the point where his birth has traumatized me, lol!

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    1. I think she should have had an epidural and stopped playing "martyr". lol

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    2. She does talk about the pain of labor a lot, while it is easily avoided by going to the hospital and getting an epidural (like Jinger did).

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    3. Jessa talks about labor pain ALL the time. She’s a broken record. Get an epidural or get over it.

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    4. Hospitals don’t prevent pain. They frequently mask it with epidurals (which, by the way have side effects all their own, such as stalling labor by inhibiting natural oxytocin production, elevating baby’s heart rate, inhibits endorphins which are the natural pain controllers, triples your chances of receiving pitocin which obviously has its OWN side effects, and increases risk of csection.) I’m all for people having choice for themselves, but let’s not act like hospitals and epidurals are healthier than being home. The mortality rate is not diminished within a hospital. It’s higher in a hospital. Additionally, frequent and unnecessary interventions and inductions cause way more problems than occur at home. With homebirths, you are less likely to have hemorrhaging, postpartum complications, “assisted delivery” (think forceps,) resuscitation for the newborn, meconium aspiration, and vaginal tearing, among other things. I can provide peer reviewed studies if interested.

      I homebirthed after having three natural hospital deliveries, and the homebirth was a way better experience for me. I’m happy everyone has the freedom to choose what they want, but acting like a hospital is “better”, more sanitary, healthier, or more refined is crazy when statistics actually prove the opposite.

      -Hayley

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    5. Not everyone wants an epidural, there are potential side effects that not everyone wants to risk. Each woman gets to make that decision for herself, and there is no wrong choice. Choosing to not have an epidural doesn’t mean that you can’t talk about pain, and it’s not being a “martyr”, it’s sharing your experience.

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    6. Dear Hayley,
      I'm glad you had a healthy and fulfilling home birth experience. You are confusing the interpretation of statistics. Extremely few babies and moms die at home because the midwife would call an ambulance or mom would go directly to the hospital if there was distress. Almost no one would just sit at home and watch mom or baby die without trying to get to a hospital. Home is fine for very low risk births but accepting that, if there is an emergency, you are far from help that needs to be immediate. The best option is birth with a midwife inside a hospital that has obstetrics back-up seconds away.

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    7. 2:11 and 4:22. We all understand there are risks with epidurals. Getting one is as individual a choice as homebirth. Each decision should be respected. However, I don’t think that’s the point of this conversation. It’s Jessa’s incessant droning on about the pain of labor. She has chosen homebirth so with that comes..wait for it..an unmedicated delivery which will include pain.

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    8. Hayley, I agree that every woman
      Has the right to choose if they want a hopsital or home birth. Or use a birthing center or a midwife.... however, both home deliveries and hospital deliveries have their own associated risks. Homebirth can be just as dangerous as hospital births and vice versa..... Jesses first home birth could have been deadly. Joys attempted homebirth turned into an emergency that could have killed her if she didn’t seek medical care. Both of Jill’s failed attempts of homebirth placed both her and her children’s lives in great danger. Sam suffered a medical emergency after birth that no one has discussed..... thebduggar daughyers aside from jinger haven’t made the best home birth plans and decisions.
      I suggest you do more research on the dangers of home births. They are just as dangerous as hospital births. And for the record I’ve had 6 children. 4of them were natural deliveries 2 of them were hospital births. The one that was the easiest and “safest”? The one where I delivered my own son in the car on the way to the hospital. Granted we made it to the hospital parking lot so I guess technically he was born “at the hospital”

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    9. LOL@6:49! I’ve often thought “poor Ben”. You just know he is going to hear Jessa’s droning ( good word!) for the rest of his life!! I know he, and men in general, are tarred and feathered if they say “hey, Honey, how about some meds”? You know, then how can she say “you hit your thumb with a hammer? Really? Do you even remember my 200 hour unmedicated labor and delivery to bring your children into this world?” Yeah. I thought not!

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    10. Yes, emergencies go to hospitals. That’s what hospitals are for—medical events. Pregnancy and delivery are not medical events. It’s nature taking its course. Of course in the event of an emergency or a high risk pregnancy you go to the hospital. The data I quoted is explicitly dealing with low risk pregnancies at home vs low risk pregnancies at a hospital. Home birth is safest in that comparison.

      -Hayley

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    11. Haley, the problem is emergencies can happen instantaneous during and after delivery leaving no time to get emergency care. Why risk your child’s life?

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    12. Most hospitals do not have a properly outfitted NICU or emergency response staff. So what you REALLY mean is that one is only wise and not risking their child’s life if they travel to such an equipped hospital, instead of birthing at an ordinary hospital and being transported to a NICU hospital later. That’s the only way your last comment isn’t hypocritical.

      And my obvious response, part two, is that 98% percent of births begun at home do not result in death. So clearly the transport to hospitals in emergent situations is successful, despite delayed intervention.

      My response, part three, is that some feel there is a greater risk to life within the hospital and evidence to support that.

      -Hayley

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    13. Hayley is absolutely correct. The studies show planned home birth is safer than planned hospital birth for low-risk pregnancies.

      To answer one good question about when things go wrong and you go to the hospital, the studies compare births where the *plan* was to do it at home vs. births where the *plan* was to do it at the hospital. So, for the purposes of the study, births that happen after an emergency transfer from home to hospital (like Jill and Joy's, for example) still count as planned home births. And accidental home (or car) births that happen before someone could make it to the hospital as planned still count as planned hospital births.

      The conclusion was that planned home births (even accounting for emergency transfers) are still safer and develop fewer complications than ones planned at hospitals.

      My speculation is that that's largely because epidurals and pitocin - only pushed in hospitals - start the cascade to needing lots of other interventions. And because hospitals are germy, and OBs are knife-happy.

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    14. Julia, I like the last portion of your comment. Haha It is, sadly, true. My husband remembers his L&D classes during his nurse and nurse prac education. All they teach is “get the baby out fast, don’t let nature take its course, push pitocin.” It’s really sad, because that produces a biased and uninformed medical staff and therefore an ignorant general population of women. Very sad.

      In one class in particular, the professor asked my husband’s class, “How do you get a woman’s uterus to shrink postpartum?”
      Husband: “Have her breastfeed.”
      Prof: No. Anyone else?
      Other student: Pitocin.
      Prof: Correct.
      Husband: My wife never had pitocin, and her uterus shrunk.
      Prof: Theh probably slipped it in her IV without your wife knowing.
      Husband: She didn’t have an Iv.
      Prof: Oooh, you’re one of THOSE people.


      Yeah, one of “those.” You know, the ones who allow their natural hormones to do the work more efficiently than synthetic ones could ever dream. Haha
      So sad.

      -Hayley

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    15. Haley...some of us required synthetic hormones i.e. pitosin and Dr and nurse assistance to deliver our babies. I thank God for their knowledge. I had a very difficult delivery after the death of my first child. Those nurses in particular were true God-sends. They coached, they monitored, they administered meds; they helped my child to live. Perhaps tone down your know-it-all rhetoric unless you have walked in some of our shoes.

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    16. Amen@5:01 And I’m terribly sorry at the loss of your first child😢

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    17. @5:01 I clearly stated all of that stuff is great in emergency situations. :)

      -Hayley

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  16. The “ Duggar girl’s “ home births are a great commercial for the importance of hospital births. Epidurals and immediate emergency care make all the difference. Don’t be traumatized.

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    1. Studies show planned (not accidental) home births are safer than planned hospital births. Part of what makes them safer is skilled midwives who don't unnecessarily push interventions like epidurals and pitocin that increase the risk of perineal trauma, fetal distress, C-section, and postpartum depression.
      Source:
      https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1523-536X.1997.00004.pp.x

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    2. I'm nothing but happy for Jinger's birth, and part of what makes a good birth is being educated and empowered to make one's own medical choices. If Pitocin and an epidural were really what made her feel comfortable despite the risks, more power to her.

      Typically, inducing labor early raises the risk of C-section more than allowing even a large baby to start labor spontaneously. But I'm happy to give her the benefit of the doubt that there were good reasons for an induction that were not mentioned on the show. They deserve some privacy and I don't expect them to discuss everything.

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    3. AND don't have a lay midwife in charge. lol

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    4. Jinger was induced on her due date. Family history of large babies, going overdue, and peace of mind that there would be immediate intervention if necessary led to Jinger deciding on a hospital birth. The epidural wasn't in her birth plan and was used once labor wasn't progressing in hopes that her body would relax enough to fully dilate. While induction may raise the risk of c-section, she didn't have one while Jill and Joy unfortunately did. She based her decisions off her sisters' experiences. This was all discussed on Monday's show and the birth special.
      Jinger, her midwife, and doctor made decisions that she was most comfortable with and that is what matters. She doesn't need viewers' benefit of the doubt or approval when she had medical professionals guiding her choices. Kendra also had a hospital birth and the only intervention mentioned was oxygen to ensure she didn't pass out.

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    5. Julia. We don't have any information on the decisions made regarding Jinger's labor, but I think they made a decision based on the information they had. The other home deliveries the Duggar girls had did not involve a CNM so the statistics regarding the safety of a home birth don't apply in their cases.

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    6. 4:58, actually they’re a great commercial for the importance of a CNM who goes through real training, over an CPM who has very minimal training.

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    7. Julia K, After a critical reading of that article, the analysis is misleading. The home birth pregnancies were low risk, that includes over-sized babies, by the way. Obviously, there will be less inventions or none at all in low-risk pregnancies, even those that take place in hospitals or birth centers, at least in this country. Those pregnancies (at least in this country), even in hospitals, are allowed to progress naturally.

      It also follows that there will be more inventions during hospital birth. Why? It is a biased data set because hopeful home births mothers, when complications occurred, are transferred to a hospital. And then their births are no longer counted in the "home birth" ledger.

      A study I have read found that low-risk pregnancies are AS SAFE as hospital births,provided a qualified nurse-midwife is in attendance. The key words are "low-risk" and "qualified nurse-midwife".

      Sometimes, complications occur and a low risk pregnancy can become high risk, requiring invention to save the lives of mother and child. Being at a hospital already can save lives.

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    8. Three out of the four televised Duggar home births ended with the need for medical intervention. While Jessa delivered Spurgeon at home, she was transported to the hospital for a blood transfusion. There are real questions about the skill level of the midwives the Duggars use.

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    9. Reply to Julia K, epidural should not cause fetal distress or postpartum depression, the later is often caused due to a traumatic painful delivery which would be negated with an epidural. As a qualified nurse of over 30 years & a midwife for over 25 with 3 degrees (bachelor of nursing, masters in midwiffery & a doctorate in midwifery) It concerns me greatly that the Duggar girls have had deliveries at home with certified midwives. In the UK we don't have such things, you have to have at least a 3 year bachelor of science degree to practice & most midwives have considerably more. Unfortunately I think the fact Jessa still talks of the pain of spurgeons birth with such distress is a clear factor that the pain has traumatised her & no woman should have to suffer in this way. Most women want to go into labour naturally as induction can cause labour to be more painful & therefore induced mothers often need epidurals to deal with the pain more than mothers whose labour starts naturally. However epidurals give excellent pain relief & also help lower blood pressure in mothers who this maybe an issue for. As for giving jinger the benefit of the doubt that there were good reasons for her choosing an induction, I don't know how things work in your country but where I practice no woman is ever induced unless it is medically necessary for the health of the mother, baby, or both.

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    10. Julia K.- There is recent research to refute your claim about home births being safer than hospital births. As another poster said, people often times draw conclusions based on biased data. Scaring mothers into thinking that hospitals are unsafe does not help anyone.

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    11. Fuzzyferet, good post!

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    12. Fuzzyferet -- Thanks for the info. I was induced out of medical necessity, then had an epidural and an emergency c-section. All glory to God for a safe delivery and for my epidural -- no pain, easy recovery.

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    13. correction.. "The home birth pregnancies were low risk, that excludes (not includes) over-sized babies, by the way."

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    14. Where did you collect the data to back the statement “most hospitals allow labor to progress naturally?” That’s an opinion masquerading as a fact, and even something as simple as anecdotal evidence or something as concrete as L&D education courses and protocol would debunk it.

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    15. “...but where I practice no woman is ever induced unless it is medically necessary for the health of the mother, baby, or both.“

      Layman’s Translation: Inductions are common and forced under the guise of medical necessity, justified by doctors saying babies post 40.5 weeks will get too big, run out of fluid, and probably kill the mom too, despite majority of evidence to the contrary.

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    16. Someone mentioned oversized babies not being included in a home birth safety analysis. While I’m not sure why they didn’t include oversized babies in the study, the fact that they didn’t doesn't discredit the findings of the analysis at all. It just means most babies are not oversized and were not included.

      But this makes me ask another question...why was it implied that “oversized” babies pose a bigger risk in delivery? Assuming the baby is naturally large, not due to gestational diabetes, there are no greater risks involved in delivery.

      Leading problem of “oversized babies” (which, by the way, is any baby born over 8.13oz): baby may get stuck by the shoulders and require more pushes to get out.

      All of my babies have been oversized but one (no diabetes.) Their weignts:
      8.12
      8.14
      9.8
      10.5

      You know which two got stuck? The biggest and the LITTLEST. I had to push two extra times and they popped out. They suffered “shoulder dysplasia,” which means their shoulders were stuck. Dysplasia causes no issues 80% of the time, with the remaining 19% occurrences self correcting within 6 weeks and only .8% occurrences having issues lasting beyond 6-12 months postpartum. However, regardless of all of this data, shoulder dysplasia occurrences are equal in frequency among normal weight and “oversized” babies. So if it’s equal among the weight classes, the fact that it is the #1 concern for oversized babies doesn’t seem that bad.

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    17. In response to 4:48 pm, the study compared low-risk planned home births to low-risk planned hospital births. Both groups were low-risk. Hospitals are best geared toward high-risk births, no arguments there.

      A second correction: hopeful home birth mothers who had complications occur and transferred to a hospital were in fact still counted in the "planned home birth" ledger. That's why they specify *planned* home birth.

      And inversely, for hopeful hospital birth mothers who didn't make it there in time: still counted in the "planned hospital birth" ledger. I think that's actually why people have a bad impression of home birth, because everyone knows someone like my mother, who gave birth on the toilet right before leaving for the hospital. :O that's nowhere near as nice or safe as a planned home birth with medical staff.

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    18. @12:25 Oversized babies for the mother can be very dangerous. It is more than just getting the shoulder stuck. And not all oversized babies are that way because of gestational diabetes but gestational diabetes would, I suspect, be one risk factor that would exclude a woman from a home birth.

      Depending on the mother's age (how flexible her bones are), the number of previous births, and the size of the baby, the child may not just fit into the birth canal. Shoulder dysplasia is just one issue. And although, as you said, it has no lasting impact, you could need a qualified nurse-midwife to help 'unstuck' the child. It might need more than 2 extra pushes.

      Better safe than sorrier.

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    19. @11:20 No, ma’am, a baby’s large size poses no significant risk, according to data, unless that baby’s size is due to diabetes, bringing us to the conclusion that it’s the diabetes that causes the issues, not the larger baby.

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    20. @12:45 Really? As a woman who HAD to have an C-Section because the baby was TOO BIG for me and NO, I did not have diabetes, I disagree. My baby was over 9lbs 4ozs and I am a small woman. If I did not have the C-Section, both of us would have died.

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    21. In general, maybe home births are as safe as hospital ones. But Jinger was looking at her sister's experiences - her older sister Jill was suffering at home for 50 hours, started having complication, and ended up having an emergency c-section with a 10 pound baby.
      Then her other older sister, Jessa, goes for a home birth, suffers for hours a lot, gives birth to a 10 pound baby, and loses so much blood, she has to be transferred to a hospital after a 911 call. Jessa has an easy delivery with her second baby, who though was almost 9 lbs.
      Then Jill again goes for a home delivery, has to be transferred to the hospital, has another emergency c-section, the baby stays in NICU for 2 weeks. And a 10 pounder again.
      Next her younger sister, Joy, tries for a home delivery, and after hours of labor they discover the baby is breach, so now Joy is taken to the hospital for an emergency c-section, and has an 10 lbs baby too.
      So obviously Jinger, who is skinny and weighs like 110 bls herself is scared that the trend might continue, with pain, emergency c-sections, baby being in distress and at 10 lbs too.
      Because she looks at the example of Bates's girls, and they all have easy deliveries of 6-8 lbs babies, no complications. So it might be something running only in Jinger's family. Who knows, maybe some hips structure. But I understand why Jinger decided to be induced and go to the hospital and have an epidural. Because she is a healthy person and does not want to subject herself to a torture.

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    22. @12:06 Really. There’s no significantly greater risk of having a larger baby, according to science. Every labor is different, and every attended doctor responds differently. Some are patient and some jump to csection if the baby hasn’t come in 30 minutes. I have no evidence that your csection was due to a 9lb baby, and you don’t know you wouldn’t have had a csection even if the baby was 7lbs. I am glad you felt comfortable with the care you received in your labor. But it IS silly to argue with the statistics that prove large babies pose no greater risk (unless enlarged by diabetes.)

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    23. You shared a little bit about your story, @12:06, and of course you don’t have to share anymore than that. But since you brought it up, how do you know for a fact the baby’s girth was the instigation for the Csection? Like I said, feel free to ignore this comment if it feels too personal. I’m just curious how a dr is able to make the call that a baby is too large to be delivered naturally when there’s no way to know how big the baby is until it is born. I also wonder if there were other factors at play that triple the risk of csection, such as an epidural or Pitocin.

      9% of babies are born weighing over 8.13, yet 30% of low risk/headfirst/healthy pregnancies result in csection. Clearly csections are common (and overused by at least 20% according to the WHO), and it isn’t because of big babies, since big babies only make up 9% of all births.

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  17. great show enjoyed watching. Glad that the show is back on one of my favourite on television.

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  18. I expect that by the end of this season they announce that Josih and Lauren are expecting again - it's been now 4 months since October, they definitely could get pregnant right away. And who knows, maybe Abbie also can be expecting already. In fact, they might have the same due dates. I don't think Joy is pregnant, she probably will wait after her c-section. But Anna can easily have the 6th child now.
    Last year there were 3 new grandbabies. This year could be the same or more.

    Also maybe one of the twins (or both) will get engaged.

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    Replies
    1. Well we know Jessa is pregnant. I wouldn't be surprised to learn Abbie and Anna are also pregnant. I'm not sure about Lauren but I hope she doesn't get too discouraged to try to have another baby.

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  19. Maybe the twins will court twins. That would explain Kendra’s “That’s crazy,” reaction.

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  20. My two cousins that are brothers, married sisters that are twins.

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  21. why on earth would she want all those people there when giving birth all she needs is jeremy so much for being modest

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    Replies
    1. I'm OK with her having whoever she wants with her, but giving birth on a TV is by no stretch of the imagination being "modest". I mean there's the TV crew filming away and they get to see EVERYTHING even if it's edited out for the show.

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