And baby makes 20?

[Lei Liko]

Source (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGLldJQ6jfrhtpucMGCDi5Hu8cUAD90I61OO0)

Happy Mother's Day: Woman pregnant with 18th child

By JILL ZEMAN – 1 day ago

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — It's a happy Mother's Day for an Arkansas woman — she's pregnant with her 18th child.

Michelle Duggar, 41, is due on New Year's Day, and the latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers. There are two sets of twins.

"We've had three in January, three in December. Those two months are a busy time for us," she said, laughing.

The Duggars' oldest child, Josh, is 20, and the youngest, Jennifer, is nine months old.

The fast-growing family lives in Tontitown in northwest Arkansas in a 7,000-square-foot home. All the children — whose names start with the letter J — are home-schooled.

Duggar has been been pregnant for more than 11 years of her life, and the family is in the process of filming another series for Discovery Health.

I get the feeling mom won't even have to push when it comes time to deliver. One cough and baby will probably just jump right out.

[tutusue]

[...]
I get the feeling mom won't even have to push when it comes time to deliver. One cough and baby will probably just jump right out.
IIRC, the last 2 or 3 deliveries have been aired on either DiscoveryHealth or TLC channel. The announcement that #18 is due was made on the Today Show yesterday morning, with all 19 present and accounted for on the set. A few of the girls were excited; a couple of the boys just shook their heads!

The ladies of the Today Show all remarked about how well mannered all the kids were. I was thinking the same thing. I've seen a couple of their specials on cable and have been amazed at how everyone seems to amicably and lovingly work together for the sake of the family. Michelle Duggar has the most peaceful, sweet and loving disposition...at least on camera!

As a kid I lived across the street from a family who eventually had 15 children. They had 8 when we were neighbors and the 3 oldest and I were buddies. Eventually, mom and eldest daughters were giving birth at the same time. #3 daughter gave birth to triplets and was in the hospital at the same time as her sibling was being born. IIRC, mom and daughter were hospital roomies!

Nowadays I don't know how anyone affords to raise one child much less 15 or 18. The Duggars appear to be able to handle the expense of raising a crowd 'o kids. I've not heard how college, if applicable, will be handled.

And, yes...come mid Dec. I hope Mom Duggar doesn't sneeze or cough in an upright position! I went directly from the car to the delivery room with youngest (#2) spawn. With #18, a little excess gas might've been all it took! :D

[Lei Liko]

The Duggar Family website gets redirected to the Discovery Health website now. Still, it says here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bob_Duggar) that the Duggars live debt-free and I recall reading elsewhere that the family does not receive government assistance. Jim Bob's a realtor and owns several commercial properties.

I know the Duggars became the butt of all jokes once their Discovery special aired, but I in a way I admire their organization and the fact that their kids are very well mannered. In a world where so many children are neglected, abandoned, and mistreated, it's great to see these children loved and cared for.

[matapule]

When I lived in Tonga, a man's stature in the village was dependent on how many children he had fathered. You didn't amount to anything if you hadn't fathered AT LEAST 20 children! The more children you fathered, the more virile you were considered. A woman was not considered a marriage candidate until she had proved her fertility by having a child out of wedlock. My wife worked in a family planning program, working with women. It was a difficult assignment.

I wonder if today's high rate of teen pregnancy amoung Hawaiian polynesian cultures isn't related to this concept.

I'm the happy father of two beautiful children, having a wonderful Mothers Day weekend.

[tutusue]

[...]
I know the Duggars became the butt of all jokes once their Discovery special aired, but I in a way I admire their organization and the fact that their kids are very well mannered. In a world where so many children are neglected, abandoned, and mistreated, it's great to see these children loved and cared for.
Yep...every once in awhile people who should have children do have children! But...18? <faint!>

Seriously...they have a 7000 sq. ft roof over their heads, an RV, plenny food, matching outfits and...most important...lots and lotsa love. It appears they're doing something right. I give them credit.

[SusieMisajon]

I have a friend who is one of twenty one children....but not all from the same mom....her dad had four children, then his wife died, and he remarried and had seventeen more with the second wife.

My friend tells me that she had all of her kids at home, and also that they were all mostly ten or eleven months apart (actually, she said that he 'went at her' directly after she'd given birth).

My friend only has one child.

[SusieMisajon]

...and the 'funny' thing about this family....my friend always refers to her family as 'us and dad's four'.

It must've been hell for those four elder kids, who, it seems, got all the hard work of caring for the youngest ones.

The dad was a business man, and money was not a problem. But he was also very domineering and used to beat his wife...until the day that the boys all got together and beat HIM up, and afterwards the dad went down into the cellar for four days and when he came back, he never hit his wife again.

[oceanpacific]

The beating administered by the sons was probably long overdue .............

[SusieMisajon]

The beating administered by the sons was probably long overdue .............
Yeah, and the mom never got pregnant again after that, either.

All twenty one of the children are still alive (my friend is in her sixties, and she was number twelve), all in good health, and all happily married...although none of them with big families of their own.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

I admit to a fair amount of Duggar fixation. These "bedouins of Arkansas" are fascinating. As for Mother Duggar, aside from the likelihood that her pelvic floor is collapsing, her life is not that bad. Her older daughters do all the housework and kid care. She is only responsible for nursing the baby. Everyone else has a "buddy" who cares for them. The other childrens' reaction to hearing there would be a new one to take care of, cook for and change diapers was not one of overwhelming joy. They have to make an appointment to spend time alone with their mother. She claims to be all about natural family planning and such, but she weans her babies at five months and hands them off to his/her buddy. She most likely does so to make sure she is fertile again. Her obsession with her fertility is freaking weird. Any woman who has her daughters "watch the calendar" and track her cycles is freaking weird.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

When I lived in Tonga, a man's stature in the village was dependent on how many children he had fathered. You didn't amount to anything if you hadn't fathered AT LEAST 20 children! The more children you fathered, the more virile you were considered. A woman was not considered a marriage candidate until she had proved her fertility by having a child out of wedlock. My wife worked in a family planning program, working with women. It was a difficult assignment.

I wonder if today's high rate of teen pregnancy amoung Hawaiian polynesian cultures isn't related to this concept.

Considering that every teen pg I know resulted in a great deal of shock and anger on behalf of the parents, I wouldn't anthropomorphize like that. If anything, it is the combination of sexual instinct, lack of education and a whole lotta denial.

[tutusue]

[...]Her obsession with her fertility is freaking weird. Any woman who has her daughters "watch the calendar" and track her cycles is freaking weird.
Sounds like a good lesson in birth control and family planning for the daughters! ;)

[Lei Liko]

You too can vote for Baby #18's name! (http://health.discovery.com/convergence/duggars/baby-name-poll.html)

Someone on another message board I belong to propsed Jesus, Joke, and Jezebel.

[craigwatanabe]

They should become Jehova's Witnesses. That way their Christmas holiday will be a non-event saving all that money for gifts for more essential items like food and clothes for that little army. :D

But can you imagine their Economic Stimulus package check? :eek:

[Kalihiboy]

I guess they get pretty good tax returns, with that many kids they'll need every penny!

Aj

[MixedPlateBroker]

Looks like this (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dulamae/175866636/) jocular faux poster of the family will need to be updated.