Another Duggar is on the way

[DietCokeLover]

Josh and Anna Duggar announced she is 3 months pregnant this morning on the Today Show. They said they are thinking of starting with the letter M.

Congrats to them!

[mamaoftwins]

I was just coming on to post this! :) Congrats to them.

[DebbieJ]

Wow, that didn't take long.

[hellokitty]

Why do they insist on picking a letter and using that for all of their kids' names? It seems a bit weird to me to tie yourself down like that. Anyway, I'm not surprised they are pregnant, I hope everything goes well for them. I'm wondering if they are going to have as many kids as Josh's parents.

[Neatfreak]

I suspect that there would be a lot of pressure from the media to pick a letter. Maybe pressure isn't the word I meant to use, really, but I think it would be a popular question ...

[happy2bamom]

Am I the only one that feels bad for them? I mean, they went from never kissing or any intimate contact until the wedding (I think in December) to being expectant parents a month later. After waiting so long to be intimate, I think that they rushed into parenthood and didn't give themselves a chance to be newlyweds. For never being intimate before, I would think that they would want some time to have fun and explore each other before stepping into the role of parents. Not to mention, they seem to be very open to having lots of children so she'll probably spend the next 20 years pregnant. Just my opinion.

[Veronica's Mommy]

:yeahthat:
Even his parents waited a few years. But to each his own, and I wish them all the best.

[egoldber]

I worry about how much choice this young couple really had in this.

[Laurel]

Suppose I am happy for them, but found the "Today" segment a little odd. Anna kept talking about being really disappointed in past negative pregnancy tests- how long could they have possibly been trying? Two months? It seemed like the pressure on her to conceive immediately was immense. Talk about involved in-laws!

I also agree that it would have been nice to see this very young couple enjoy some time as newlyweds. Michelle herself waited until she was married for 3 years to have her first!

[maestramommy]

Am I the only one that feels bad for them? I mean, they went from never kissing or any intimate contact until the wedding (I think in December) to being expectant parents a month later. After waiting so long to be intimate, I think that they rushed into parenthood and didn't give themselves a chance to be newlyweds. For never being intimate before, I would think that they would want some time to have fun and explore each other before stepping into the role of parents. Not to mention, they seem to be very open to having lots of children so she'll probably spend the next 20 years pregnant. Just my opinion.

This.
Although I've known friends with similar views to the Duggars and they not only don't believe in BC, they are eager to be fertile. And though I don't doubt for a second that they enjoy intimacy, when they think of the joys of marriage, it seems that their priorities are in slightly different order than mainstream society. Not right or wrong. But they do look at things differently. Besides, since they live near both sets of ILs and extended family, I imagine they will have a "village" to support them when needed.

[gatorsmom]

I think if this couple agree on the same goals, have positive, happy role models and lots of support surrounding them, then they'll be fine. Their families and social surroundings ARE their mainstream. I'm sure they'd look at our ways of life and feel sorry for us.

Funny how we all assume OUR way of life is the best one and feel sorry for others who don't have it (myself included).

Congratulations to them!

[egoldber]

I don't feel sorry for them. I just wonder how much is their choice vs the choices being pressured on them by TLC, media expectations, the parents, etc.

[DietCokeLover]

I could be completely wrong, and certainly can't speak for them, but my guess is that they have not experienced any pressure to have children quickly. I just don't have the impression that their families would pressure them in that area. I live in the same community as the Duggar's, and have posted on here before, that even though they choose to live slightly different than mainstream society, they are a happy, loving, well adjusted family. I think they truly wanted to start their family early and are looking forward to being parents. I think Anna, like anyone who is hoping to get pregnant, experienced disappointment when the pregnancy test comes back negative.

If this is what they are excited about and what they are looking forward to then I say hats off to them and I wish them only the best.

[egoldber]

Color me cynical, but I just can't imagine that what with living life in the fishbowl of media like the Duggars currently do, that they and their children are impervious to media expectations. They are on TV all the time, Oprah, The View, The Today Show, etc. And these are just the ones I happen to know about and I don't even really follow them. I was watching an episode the other day of the family getting filmed in a Walmart when they were doing a book signing. They were also, at the same time, being filmed by a French film crew doing a French special on the Duggars. (I also saw an episode where a crew from....hmmm....maybe Korea? was also doing a special on them.) In an interview, one of the younger Duggar children commented on how odd it was to watch. They were being filmed by the French crew and the TLC crew was filming the French crew filming them.

And I guess I was also commenting from the fact that there has been speculation on tons of message boards about how long it would take Anna to become pregnant. I don't care how grounded of a person you are, being the center of that much media attention affects you. Maybe it is their choice. Maybe they even think it's their choice. Maybe I'm totally wrong. I hope I am.

[boolady]

:yeahthat:

[AngelaS]

Maybe they don't follow the media hype around them and don't know what people are saying about them or expect of them. Maybe they just want to have babies. I know plenty of people who don't wait to have children after their wedding. I know plenty who have them before weddings too.

[egoldber]

Like I said, I hope I'm wrong and they just can't wait to start their family.

[gatorsmom]

I don't feel sorry for them. I just wonder how much is their choice vs the choices being pressured on them by TLC, media expectations, the parents, etc.

I'm sure they are getting a ton of pressure. I'm guessing it's not all from their parents and media, though. My bet is that there are lots of people asking them questions like, "are you going to have as many kids as your parents?" "Don't you want to wait a while before you have children?" and the like. I'm sure mainstream America is putting plenty of pressure on these people to live a more, "normal" life.

[Moneypenny]

Heck, DH and I don't come from large families but the second we got married people were asking us when we were going to start having babies (and they didn't stop asking until 10 years later when we actually had one!)

[Sillygirl]

Why do they insist on picking a letter and using that for all of their kids' names? It seems a bit weird to me to tie yourself down like that.

THAT'S what strikes you as a bit weird about this whole scenario?

[jgenie]

Heck, DH and I don't come from large families but the second we got married people were asking us when we were going to start having babies (and they didn't stop asking until 10 years later when we actually had one!)

Really, they waited until you were married? People were asking us about when we were going to have kids during our engagement! Drove me nuts!!!! They also asked if we were having more DC when I was pregnant w/ DS - our only child!

[Fairy]

Shocker!


I worry about how much choice this young couple really had in this.

I also wonder this.

[purpleeyes]

Did anyone else notice that the expectant father (sorry, I don't know his name!) told HER that she was pregnant when he 'got home from work'. Doesn't anyone else have a problem with that?

I feel so very very sorry for that poor girl. I think she has no idea what she is getting into. She has known no other life, no other options and now, here she is, in the media spotlight on the cusp of such a huge life changing event...
I don't think she had a bit of choice about how her life was going to go-how can you make a choice when you don't know any alternatives? Her father made the choices, plain and simple.

[kijip]

I was not much older than them when T was born. (What are they, like 20?- I was 22). So I don't count their youth against them in the least. I hope it is a decision they will live to be happy with. I can't imagine going from 0 to 60 on the intimacy/sexual side of things (nothing to conceiving a baby) but to each their own.

She comes from a family of 10 or so? I doubt they have as many as Jim Bob and Michelle even if that is what they wanted to do. Honestly, few women have that kind of fertility. Even in large families where birth control is never used, few can bring about a pregnancy every 1-2 years for 20 years on end.

[tnrnchick74]

Did anyone else notice that the expectant father (sorry, I don't know his name!) told HER that she was pregnant when he 'got home from work'. Doesn't anyone else have a problem with that?


The story I read from MSNBC was that she didn't want to look at the pregnancy test (she took it at work - they work together at the car dealership they own) herself because she was afraid of more disappointment. He wanted to keep her in suspense a little longer...so he waited until after work to tell her they were going to be parents.


"Anna said that she had taken several pregnancy tests since her marriage to Josh last September. When it came time to take another in early February, she told Vieira, she didn’t want to be disappointed again. She took the test at the used-car dealership she and Josh own and operate, then left it in the bathroom without looking at it. She asked Josh to check it for her.“Wow! I’m going to be a father,” Josh said, describing his reaction when he saw the positive test.
Instead of telling Anna right away, he told her he’d tell her the results when they got home from work that night. She called her parents in Florida first, and the next day they told his entire family."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30156915/

[gatorsmom]

Honestly, few women have that kind of fertility. Even in large families where birth control is never used, few can bring about a pregnancy every 1-2 years for 20 years on end.

That's true. Even in the years before birth control was available families that size were rare. My mom was one of 10 and the youngest is now 58. People were always commenting on their family's size.