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Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, with baby Josie. Credit: Scott Enlow, TLC
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar's 19th child is still dealing with digestive issues, but her family is optimistic about her outlook.
When Josie Brooklyn, the newest star of TLC's reality TV show, 19 Kids and Counting, was born on Dec. 10 at a gestational age of 25 weeks, she weighed just 1 lb., 6 oz. Now, she's making strides and weighs in at 5 lbs., 14 oz. Josie's adventures will be featured on the family's Mother's Day special on Sunday, May 9 at 8 p.m.
We talked exclusively with uber-Mom Michelle Duggar about life with the new baby, her plans for Mother's Day and how she teaches her kids to deal with naysayers.
ParentDish: Tell me about Josie. How did you come up with the name?
Michelle Duggar: When I was pregnant, we discussed with the family some name possibilities for a boy or girl. Everybody really liked Josie. Then Jessa mentioned the middle name Brooklyn and that's what it was.
PD: Have you been to Brooklyn, New York?
MD: Yes, we've been there! [Laughs]
PD: When you were pregnant, we held a ParentDish poll asking folks to vote on the next Duggar name and the one that won was Jillian, but I personally love the name Jewel.
MD: Jewel is a beautiful name. That's a great idea!
PD: A great idea for the next Duggar? Are you trying to tell me something? Are you planning another baby Duggar?
MD: I'm 43 right now and I know my time clock is ticking so I may be able to have more, I don't know. We are so grateful for the ones we have and I couldn't imagine life without one of these. They represent a future home one day, and will do whatever God calls for them to do in life. I would be thrilled to have more if God sees fit, but we take it one day at a time. Our focus is on Josie right now.
PD: How is she doing?
MD: She's doing great. We are so thankful. She's growing and gaining and that's what we need to happen for her. She has tummy issues that were working out right now. Our doctor said from the very beginning that having a preemie is a roller coaster ride. Parents in the NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] will tell you, 'never trust a preemie.' One day she'll do great and the next day she'll have a setback.
PD: What are the doctor's concerns right now?
MD: Josie loves to eat but she has some challenges pooing and you gotta do both to make it work right, so we have to figure that out. She's taking her feeds well and that thrills my heart. She's kind of at that place with preemies where she's trying to thrive on eating and growing. We're rejoicing because she's approaching the six-pound mark. Josie wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Lord and the expertise of this facility [Arkansas Children's Hospital]. We are so grateful for every day we have with Josie.
PD: You are amazing for holding everything together. What are your guilty pleasures to help you decompress?
MD: At this season of life, it probably would be sleep. You go through different seasons of life as a mom and so I relish getting extra sleep here and there when I can. Josie is approaching five months and I have to breastfeed frequently, every three to four hours, so there's a lot of interrupted sleep. It's a supply-and-demand thing. I feed my babies on demand when they're newborns. Thankfully, my milk supply has been great.
PD: Switching roles, how's life as a first-time grandma?
MD: I am elated. I dreamed about the day I get to be a grandma. Mackynzie is a chunk, a rolly polly grandbaby. She's approaching seven months now and it's just so sweet. I had her sitting on my lap the other day and she was smiling and touching my face. So much fun being a grandma.
PD: What are your plans for Mother's Day?
MD: I actually don't know. I'll spend some time at the hospital with Josie. I don't know what the family has planned. I don't want to mess things up so I don't ask any questions because my little guys will say something they shouldn't, so I don't ask. We'll be at church in the morning. We go to the Friendly Chapel in Little Rock and Victory Baptist Church.
PD: Any Mother's Day gifts coming your way?
MD: Usually Jim Bob has something up his sleeve. Handmade cards are my favorite. Those are my keepsakes. Daddy will usually give the kids paper and the older girls will work with the younger ones to make special Mother's Day cards for me.
PD: Sweet. Breakfast in bed, too?
MD: They've attempted to make breakfast. That's been interesting. They know I like eggs over easy and they become scrambled over easy when the little guys try their hand at it. They're kinda crunchy. And the toast, they try to get it just the right color two or three times, then they load it with butter. I enjoy it and I eat it. I'm along for the ride.
PD: You have a ton of fans who wish you and the family all the best, especially on Mother's Day. But how do you deal with your detractors and the negative comments on the web?
MD: We receive a lot of feedback, positive and negative, and we've told our children who help with our correspondence that people have their opinions in life and we have to understand that people don't have the same perspective we do. They are entitled to their opinions and we always go back the same place.
PD: What do you mean?
MD: We know that this is where God has called us and we know everyone has their own calling and place in life. You're always going to have the negative naysayers and you're not going to please everyone. You please God and you seek to do what he's called you to do and you will have peace. When there are criticisms, you listen and you take that through the grid of God's words and ask if there's something you can learn from them.
PD: That's pretty hard to teach kids.
MD: We teach them to never just blow people off and not listen. If there's something that you need to change, that's fine, and if not and if it's off the course, move forward and don't get bogged down. You can't please everyone. There are so many things you come up against in life, but we do what God wants us to do in training and loving our kids. We will be the first to tell you we are not perfect. We are still learning every day, but we are finding our answers in God's words, and there's joy and peace and enjoying the fruit of that. As parents, we're all in this together and we're learning as we go along.
PD: What are your biggest challenges as a mom?
MD: Laundry, dishes. I had this mountain of laundry this week. We had gone a whole week without doing any and you can't do that. Keeping up with laundry is number one, and number two is keeping up with dishes and mealtime. Of course, keeping up with their hearts and just asking the kids how they're doing and what's going on and allow them the freedom of opening up and helping them navigate their years and keeping them grounded. All of those concerns are most important in life. We just have to keep at it and encourage them along the way.
Related: Michelle Duggar Chats About Morning Sickness.
For more on the Duggars, visit Duggarfamily.com.
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ReaderComments (Page 5 of 34)
5-06-2010 @ 3:57PM
noel said...When there are so many children that the oldest become surrogate parents, it time to evaluate her worth as a mother. She seems to be as obsessed having babies as Heidi is adding body parts.
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5-06-2010 @ 3:59PM
Ellen said...I think the older children should all be in college and not babysitting the younger ones everyday. If you're going to have that many children, take care of them yourself or get paid help.
the older ones have a right to more than just being married off and having to go from raising their siblings straight to raising their own.
there's more to life than what they are being allowed and I hope those older girls and boys bust loose one of these days.
They say they are ok and happy because they never experienced anything else. GIVE THEM A BREAK!
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5-06-2010 @ 4:00PM
pat said...the duggars are the reason we ought to have china's rule of one baby per family. It is impossible for two adults to give a child the love and ATTENTION it needs with so many siblings. Did I mention ATTENTION? I feel sorry for that baby and all those that will come after it and all those that came before. Overpopulation...look it up, Duggars.
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5-06-2010 @ 5:27PM
Sam said...Pat seeing as China has 3 times out population and no where near as much land mass as the U.S. I think 1 child per family would be excessive here in America. I would however agree with a cap of 3 children though. Also since divorce is prevalent the cap shouldn't be just on women it should also apply to men so they can't keep impregnating woman after woman. I think welfare systems should also offer men and women who have children already a $2-$3000 incentive to voluntarily get sterilized (vasectomy/tube tying). Then they should offer the general population who has kids already $1k-2000 to get sterilized voluntarily. It would cut down on population and abuse of the welfare systems.
That system would compensate for people like the Duggars and others who refuse to keep their family size under control. Better yet the government should stop giving tax breaks/credits for dependents after 4 children.
5-06-2010 @ 4:06PM
Melissa said...I'm just wondering when these people have time to have sex. I mean with that many kids, you would think they would be to tired to evn think about sex.
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5-06-2010 @ 4:09PM
Sam said...So "God told them" to give birth to as many babies as humanly possible? This is a frightening concept since people around the world of all faith believe God has given them directions with varying results. Destruction, murder and hate from all religions come from these imaginary conversations with an invisible entity.
Giving birth to 19 children is just as destructive to this world. How selfish. How ignorant. How oblivious to the human condition on this planet. These people are just as criminal as jihadist.
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5-06-2010 @ 4:05PM
Kathy said...I think this family is perverted......who's paying for all these children anyway? She needs to keep her legs closed!!!
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5-06-2010 @ 4:06PM
BothPartiesFail said...What a disgusting family. Hey, Mrs. Duggar - you have a vagina, NOT a clown car. Enough already.
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5-06-2010 @ 9:17PM
jet said...that is to funny ... not a clown car . omg cant stop laughing over this one! thanks
5-06-2010 @ 4:06PM
maggie said...as much as i hate to point fingers or speak badly of people, i have to do it now. i can understand the desire to be godly, but honestly, that many kids is just stupid. it's more than stupid, it's obscene. there are thousands of kids without parents or homes out there; you want to multiply? adopt.
personally, i don't understand why they're still reproducing when i don't think they do a good job with the ones they have. i second the opinion that the older kids should be in college, and high school for that matter. they're not building the skills they'll need to get by in the world, just the skills to be nanny to younger siblings.
tlc needs to take this show off the air. i didn't like jon and kate at all, but at least their kids came due to in vitro instead of the idiocy that god will decide whether they would have more. hate to say this, but god decided when he gave out eggs and sperm and libidos. then came that free will thing.
think about it, duggers, cause you might just be failing this test.
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5-07-2010 @ 5:25PM
Margaret said...I wasn't too fond of Kate Gosselin, but I'll bet she has money invested for the University or College education for her children. The Duggar's oldest children are unpaid peons. They do all the housework and all the child care. I wonder what State labor laws dictate about money being invested for them. Do they receive any individual compensation for all the work they do?They never seem to do anything enjoyable alone and they never discuss any kind of career whatsoever. I think that is child neglect. These girls are not encouraged to live up to their potential. They are beautiful young women and I think their lives are very sad. They should be "Mothers" of the year, not Michelle.
5-06-2010 @ 4:12PM
laurie said...I think the mother is very lucky that so many of her older children were girls. If the oldest 7 or 8 would have mostly been boys I think she would have stopped having them long ago. Once she is done breast feeding the little ones get passed off to the older daughters to care for. And as someone else commented, those little boys are a bunch of hellions -- not the angels some make them out to be.
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5-06-2010 @ 4:14PM
Disgusted said...It looks like OCD to me. This poor baby is still in NICU and these two idiots are worrying about the ability to have more children? If this child comes out of this brain damaged, etc., I challenge any of you who think this couple is wonderful to question your own beliefs when she gets pregnant again. Who will handle the special needs baby while she's knocked up again and then maybe on bed rest? God said be fruitful and multiply, but there is a responsibility with that. If Mr. Duggar can manage to 'not' make his wife pregnant for 9/10 months, then he can do it longer than that. That is why I think these people are OCD and possibly have some other underlying mental disorder. Keep in mind, their 19th child is in NICU and they are talking about the ability to have more children. Sick.
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5-06-2010 @ 4:19PM
Amber said...Is there something wrong with this baby? She looks very bad in the face. I mean other than stomach problems. It looks like she may have mental retardation or down syndrome? Maybe it's just the prematurity issue that makes her look this way, but she doesn't look healthy to me. Poor little thing. It makes me so sad. I definitely don't think they should have any more.
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5-06-2010 @ 4:57PM
KT said...No Amber. She does not have Downs. She hasn't been diagnosed with mental deficiencies. She is just a thin, malnourished child trying to cope with her digestive issues. Hopefully, in the near future she will be better at digesting her food. She should then start filling out.
5-07-2010 @ 11:04AM
Beverly said...Amber, the baby just doesn't have any fat in her body yet. Once she begins to put weight on, she'll have the chubby cheeks and body babies normally have.
5-06-2010 @ 4:58PM
almostlucky said...Duggars I don't beleive your selfish or stupied I just hope and pray you really think long and hard before you have another baby I really beleive god is speaking to you. Don't let something happen to you- michelle or another baby. I think i would take this as a sign from god. Just think of all the grandkids that i know you'll want to be around for to love and hold and the 10 younger ones of your own you'll be 60 when josie graduates from High school I know at 43 you are still filling great most day but by the time you hit fifty its a different story. Just stay healthy and happy with what god has given you both to this point and just embrace the future and be as happy as you can god bless you and all keep watching and praying for you all. PS Grandma michelle rember those older kids are going to want you to baby sit. kids are kids
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5-06-2010 @ 4:20PM
WHITEROSE said...I honestly think she is mentally ill- There IS a psychosis with some women that makes them keep having babies.
Look at Angelina Jolie- Octo Mom- this Duggar woman talks like she 's some cult member.
And it's OBVIOUS those kids-from the oldest to the youngest- is STARVED for attention.
It is NOT humanly possible to give all these children the love and attention they deserve.
These"parents" are SICK.
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5-06-2010 @ 4:21PM
KT said...Everything we know about these people is through the eyes of a camera. Probably, they are all on their best behavior.
I think it is a shame that the family has to birth that many kids and can't find love for needy children who have no parents.
We are the caretakers of the earth and all that God has given us. Now it is time for them to give back by helping the less fortunate.
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5-06-2010 @ 4:22PM
Preemie mom said...As a practicing Christian, who attends a Baptist church, I say she needs to take God's hint, use the brain he gave her, and tie it up. My preemie is now 11 yo, and he was only 6 weeks early, but he has suffered all his life from his tough beginning. And I had time to take him to the therapists he needed to go to!
It's not about your love of babies, Michele-it's now about not birthing children who will suffer their whole lives. And don't go on about it being God's will that they suffer-your newest is suffering because of your mistake, not God's. Don't add any more!
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