18 Kids and Counting: "Duggars at the Doctor" and "First Grandduggar"

First of all, can I just say "wow," Anna Renee Keller Duggar, I am so proud you! I'm sure she's been surrounded by pregnancy and childbirth her whole life, just living in that lifestyle, but she delivered her first child, at home, mostly unassisted save for a doula and a couple family members toward the end, and completely without drugs! Seriously, I am impressed by this girl!

So, the shows. The first episode was a regular half-hour episode they were obviously planning to show anyway. It began with Anna and Michelle having back-to-back OB/GYN appointments. How adorable. Anna: "It's unusual having a mother in-law who's expecting... and not as far along as you are." Josh managed to drag himself out of bed to get his wife to her appointment on time, which was considerate. However, I have the feeling that when he moaned that "It's really early in the morning," it was probably like 7 AM. Josh called his parents and said he and Anna would pick them up because "we know you don't have any vehicles over there." I don't know if that was sarcastic or not, considering we always see like 10 cars/vans/busses parked in front of the Duggar house. Anyway, remember back when Josh and Anna got married and I said there could potentially be a Father of the Bride II situation? I was right.

At the doctor, Jim Bob proudly announced to the receptionist that both his wife and his child were expecting babies. I don't think she knew what to make of that. Even though the Duggar girls were praying hard for twin girls, this child is a singleton (which means Michelle will have to get pregnant one more time to get to an even 20). Anna got her exam first, then sat on her husband's lap to do a little interview with the cameras, because even at 30 weeks pregnant, she cannot sit in her own chair or go without touching him. After her exam, Michelle shares her exciting news with Josh and Anna - they're 9 weeks pregnant (Anna: "Oh neat!"). They got pregnant on Father's Day. Do you know where the entire Duggar family was on Father's Day? Touring around the country on a bus. Groooosssss!

In the second half of the episode, Jim Bob "held down the fort" while Michelle, Anna, and the older Duggar girls went to a giant kids' consignment sale about an hour away. Anna needed to get some baby furniture and stuff, and Michelle apparently needed five more of those bouncy baby seats. Surprisingly, this group of women was allowed to spend a day out by themselves without any men to protect and supervise them! The mystery of whether Anna and Michelle share that same green maternity shirt was solved - they each have their own! Meanwhile, Jim Bob took care of the younger kids back home, which included letting them run around the house and get hurt every five minutes, and making his famous canned tuna + BBQ sauce recipe (it's in their book). One of the boys was trying to operate a can opener with his mouth - was that the same boy who tried to adjust the crutches with his mouth a few weeks ago?! Jim Bob to Jennifer (or Hannie?) playing with a glue stick: "That'll make a big mess, so we're going to make it disappear. [Does some slight-of-hand move and glue is gone.]"

The second episode was an hour-long birth special they managed to throw together in four days. I have to say, as much as I love watching the Duggars, 90 minutes is a bit much. And First Grandduggar was mostly filler - they didn't even get to the actual birth until like the last ten minutes! A lot of stuff in this show seemed to be a direct shout-out to the internet fans, however:

• How do Josh and Anna have enough money from the car lot to get by?
  They almost don't, and business this summer was slow (maybe because they were traveling on the DuggarBus most of the summer?), so they nearly had to dip into some savings, but then didn't. Josh needs to sell six cars a week (a month? I think it said a week) to earn enough for them. I am also thinking this is why they chose to have a home birth - way cheaper than going to the hospital.


• What do Josh and Anna do all day?
  From the looks of things, they wake up whenever, roll onto the car lot sometime after 10 AM, sit around all day, maybe pray? (Anna: "Once you get to the car lot, you never know what's going to happen." Yeah, it seemed really exciting there.) Anna is learning about selling cars - the problem is, I don't think she can even drive. She doesn't know the difference between automatic and "standard" (I assume she means manual) transmission, so I'm sure she really helps make those sales.


• Does Anna really have a purse that says "JOSHY GIRL?"
  Yes, they zoomed in on it sitting there!


• Isn't Josh getting so fat?
  Yes, he knows it, and everyone else knows it. Their Bradley coach mentioned it ("Josh has gained a little weight, along with Anna..."), and Josh himself brought it up a couple times ("Anna's gonna drop that weight, and I'm gonna be stuck with this - hopefully not for life").


• Did Anna get to see her family at all?
  Yes, her mom and sisters came for her baby shower, and it was the first time they'd all seen each other in nearly a year (except for sister Suze, who spent most of the summer with them). Her sisters seem pretty trendy, less plain and conservative than Anna, and definitely more fun-loving! Maybe Anna is just shy on camera, but her sisters seemed more like Cousin Amy (also, they love Cousin Amy!). Suze got a pretty rockin' haircut since she'd returned home, and I wonder why - is it because she's a celebrity now after being on TV, or maybe because she's more "worldly," having traveled around with the Duggars?

Other notable moments: Josh hosing himself down with a can of hairspray - just like his dad! Anna saying they're not trying to set a record with having kids - woo hoo! Jim Bob saying that during the baby shower he might take the boys "someplace where kids eat free." Jill and some little J'boy curling ribbons for shower decorations (Boy: "I do that with a pocket knife." Jill: "Really?" Boy: "I cut myself." Jill: "Oh."). Joseph Duggar is growing into quite the cutie! Michelle corrected a potential cake wreck by correcting the spelling of her granddaughter's bizarre name. Everyone freaking out over that chocolate-in-diaper baby shower game like they'd never heard of such an amazing idea before.

Finally, we get to the actual birth. Josh, in his "iPray" t-shirt, tracked Anna's contraction times on an iPod. Anna is asked what is the most painful thing she's ever experienced. "I haven't had a lot of pain. I've had chicken pox?" It was ten days before her due date, so I guess Dr. Sarver, Cousin Amy, and the entire Duggar family thought it was safe to travel (doctor was "out of town," Amy was in Disney World, and the Duggars were at ATI family camp in Big Sandy, TX). So with literally everyone away, Josh and Anna decided at the last minute to have a home birth with their Bradley coach as their doula. And this is where I'm so impressed with her. For most of the day it was just Anna, Josh, the doula... oh and a three-person TLC camera crew. Michelle and Jill (who I guess won the birth lottery and got to attend while her sisters corralled the little ones in Texas) flew home and arrived at Josh and Anna's literally just in time for her to deliver. I have to admit, the delivery scene was pretty sweet, and it was cute to see Josh holding the baby, cutting the cord, weighing her, and all that.

And then they appeared on the Today Show! Just another normal family…

By the way, let's add a new rule to the Duggar Drinking Game: take a sip every time Michelle mentions a "season of life."

"Duggar School Daze"

I was so disappointed by this episode of 18 Kids and Counting. Mostly, I once again felt mislead by TLC. The episode seemed to advertise that the Duggar kids were going to see what public school was like, but that really wasn't the case at all. Instead, the four oldest girls (plus baby Jordyn and Josiah, one of the middle boys, for some reason) went with Michelle as the guests of honor at a local elementary school's assembly about authors. Attending an assembly arranged especially for you is not really getting a taste of what public school is like. High school-aged children going to an elementary school isn't really seeing what public school is like. But we'll get back to this in a minute.

The first half of the episode focused on the Duggar's homeschooling methods. In their earlier TV specials, we were shown scenes with all the kids gathered around the table while Michelle instructed (which was weird, since they probably ranged in age from K through 12). We've also seen them on a couple "field trips" where they learned "per-pen-dicular" and "A-ma-zon." We now know these scenes were totally staged, because Michelle explained how their homeschool curriculum actually works. For the first three years, the younger kids work out of workbooks, directed by Michelle. To illustrate this, we are shown an endless stream of kids basically arguing with her about fetching their workbooks from the upstairs office and claiming they've already done the lesson. They clearly hate their schoolwork and it looks like a neverending battle to get them to sit down and do it. And Michelle getting pulled in a million directions with the various kids' lessons, diaper changes, and discipline obviously can't devote enough attention to all those "students." The house is basically chaos and it's surprising that anyone can learn anything there. Michelle says getting them to work is "a challenge. But amazingly, they learn!" After 3rd grade, the kids do all their schoolwork on the computer, with work graded online. One of the older girls has the password to go in and check everyone's grades. So Michelle is pretty uninvolved at this point? So much for homeschooling fostering family closeness and whatnot. But I guess she's got her hands full with all the little ones.

There were a couple interviews about letting the kids persue education outside their home. Jinger (who has a talent for photography, according to her brother Josh), says she's considered taking additional classes in photography... then sort of trails off. How sad. Let her take the classes! Jim Bob says they've discussed further education with the kids, including college or training for a specialized career such as a midwife. Of course, if they did that they might meet people who challenge their beliefs..! Quick interviews with the kids reveal that most of the boys want to be missionaries when they grow up, one wants to be a policeman so he can shoot a gun and help people, John David is fixin' to start a tow truck business (so much for that dream of being a pilot...), and little Hannie wants to play outside and eat yogurt. She is darling. When asked if they're still helping support Josh (and Anna), Michelle says that Josh was on his own financially the moment he said "I do." Of course, they gave him a business as a wedding gift, sooo...

The last part of the show was the trip to the public elementary school. What a contrast to the Duggars' home school! The kids were polite and well behaved. Some of the student ambassadors need to work on their handshakes and greetings, but otherwise, normal kids. Weird that the Duggars pride themselves on "training" their children on self-control, yet they were totally out of control at home. The public school kids start their morning assembly by doing a little dance routine. The Duggars are invited to join in, but of course, they can't dance. Michelle at least seems to enjoy watching the other kids dance, but the older girls just look on in horror.* Michelle introduces herself and the kids she's brought with her. The assembly today is about authors, because the school kids apparently just completed a project where they wrote their own book. The Duggar girls go on stage to play a song on their violins, for some reason. (Though Jana, Jill, and Jinger are in the floor-length skirts, Jessa's hits around mid-calf. You go, girl!) Around this point, Michelle straps on her Breast Friend pillow, dons her nursing poncho, and wears baby Jordyn around for the rest of the day with her little legs sticking out from underneath. It looked ridiculous and I don't see how it was at all safe. Also, nursing I thought was supposed to be a bonding time for mother and child, not a "strap 'er on and let her suck if she wants" thing.

After the assembly, the Duggar family is split up to speak to smaller groups of kids. Michelle, strap-on Jordyn, and Josiah all go with a group of younger kids, where she reads them a book. Jessa and Jinger go to another class. Jana and Jill do a Q&A session with a group of older kids. One of the kids asks Jill what she likes to write about (I guess the students were mislead into thinking that all the Duggars were authors, even though it was really just Jim Bob and Michelle who wrote their book). Jill says she journals about her day - I can just imagine how boring that would be! "Cooked breakfast. Laundry. Changed diaper. Cooked lunch. Laundry. Practiced violin. Changed diaper. Cooked dinner. Laundry. Bible time with Daddy. Changed diaper. Bed." Another kid asks what her favorite book is, and she recommends Before You Meet Prince Charming (which isn't really a book for kids to read so much as a manual for girls looking to remain pure), or The Reverend Spy for boys (who I guess don't need a purity manual as much as girls do).

At the end, annoying Josiah comments that there are more kids in public schools than in his family homeschool. Very good, 200 is more than 18! Wow, that homeschool really works! However, he says that he thinks they get more attention from Michelle than a public school teacher would be able to give their large class, and I have to disagree. First of all, he might not have realized that what he saw were a school-wide assembly and large groups of students by grade, not individual classes. Also, Michelle has students in basically every grade, all working on different things (plus diapers to change, other kids to discipline, etc.). So I would think she's much more scattered and unavailable than a public school teacher, who probably is responsible for the same number of kids, but they're all working on the same thing together.

* If Jim Bob and Michelle are really preparing those kids for the real world, they have to work more on how the kids react when presented with something that goes against their beliefs, and how to politely decline. When the waiter offered Josh and Anna a wine list at the restaurant on their honeymoon, Josh made a big deal of explaining how they don't drink, when a simple "no, thank you" (or even, "we're only 20") would have sufficed. When the kids at the school started dancing, the girls could have enjoyed watching them, instead of glaring at all these people whose souls will surely be going straight to hell (even though there's dancing - and wine, for that matter - in the bible).

Josh and Anna's Big News!

It's the news you've all been waiting for: Anna Duggar is pregnant! She and Josh actually concieved months ago, but unlike certain other people [cough cough, Michelle Duggar, cough], waited until after the first trimester before announcing it on the Today Show. On one hand, I'm a little happy for her: this is her life's goal, they basically said in their wedding vows they were going to have as many kids as possible, and Anna seems thrilled. But on the other, freakishly bigger hand, I feel very sad for Anna. She probably didn't realize that she was signing up for a lifetime of TV appearances for every little announcement. She's only 20 years old and has been married/kissing/etc. for only seven months, and only started holding hands with a boy last summer! Yes, this is what she obviously wants, but is it only because she's been locked into a life where she thinks this the only option for her?

Another TWoP-er said exactly what I was thinking regarding this public situation that Anna has found herself in:

Regarding the idea that Anna should have lit out like a bat out of hell from Gator Landing when she saw TLC show up, I think this is where I started feeling sorry for the girl and perhaps fan wanking a little: Here is this girl, sheltered, brought up her whole life to think that the best days of her life would be when she married and started having children. "Submitting" seems romantic: I am going to be so in love with this man that I will give him all of me to do with as he wishes.

Suddenly, she is being proposed to by a man that she has essentially been crushing on, her family comes back and Josh announces "she has her ring" in the exact tone you use at the county fair when you are buying prize-winning livestock, and TLC is sticking cameras in your face to record a moment you probably thought would be moonlight and roses and soft music. No wonder she looked like she was going to climb backward out of that booth.

By now, anything she doesn't like she's probably decided is her fault and is a test that God has put in front of her. If she isn't enjoying physical intimacy (and really, what are the chances?), she probably thinks it is her own failure to truly submit, to truly trust God in the form of Josh presiding over her. Poor girl.

So here's how the pregnancy announcement went, from what I can piece together from various sources: Anna had taken several pregnancy tests before (my own speculation here: when she didn't get pregnant after the first couple times they did the deed, she started taking a test once a month?), and was disappointed with the negative results. On February 2, she took another test, while she and Josh were at work at the used car lot. Not wanting to be disappointed again, she peed on the stick and then left it in the bathroom for Josh to check later. Josh checked it, but told Anna that he wouldn't let her know the results until later. (Now at this point, if I were Anna, I would have guessed that it was positive - otherwise, why the suspense? But maybe he just wanted her to focus on work at work and not worry about it one way or the other.) (My own speculation again here: Josh gets on the phone with the TLC producers, down the street at his parents' house, and says, "Boy, have I got a scoop for you! Meet us at our place at 6:00!")

When they get home that night, Josh cooks up some story about the TLC cameras being there to film some yardwork that they're planning on doing. Then he gets Anna to sit down next to him and announces the news. Next they call the Kellers in Florida to break the news, using a TLC crew member's iPhone (Dave's? Just guessing since we saw his iPhone in "Duggars on Ice.") Creepy Pa Keller comments that the book and DVD they were given for their wedding night must have really worked! Then the next day they announce it to all the Duggars (and the Bates!) at Grandpa Duggar's banana birthday bash.

I understand wanting to make the announcement with all their family present, but did they have to make such a fuss with the cameras and going on the Today Show and all? Wow, a healthy young married couple became pregnant with their first child. Is this newsworthy? Maybe when she hits number 14 she can get her first TV special, like the [original] Duggars, but I don't see why this particular situation deserves special treatment. They had better not bring the cameras to the delivery room! As one TWoP-er puts it, "It's the reality TV version of 'If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?' If a baby falls out of a Duggar uterus and there aren't camera crews present, does the child exist?"

• The whole Duggar family gets together to make the announcement on the Today Show (and here's their written article)


• Josh and Anna will be featured in a new web series on TLC.com, "Duggars - the Next Generation." The first video, Josh Tells Anna, is actually kind of sweet. They're both so excited! I just can't figure out if they're calling each other "Baby" as a pet name, or just repeating the word "baby" as in, "We're going to have a." And here's Josh and Anna's Big Announcement, which starts and ends with a long-awaited kiss, and includes mention of how their "activities" have changed (I assume baby-making activities?).


• Here's their article on People.com's Celebrity Baby Blog. It features a very immodest picture of Anna (from their post-wedding photo shoot - these pics keep popping up!) where it almost looks like she's wearing pants! No, I can't know that she has a crotch!
  

Duggar Videos on TLC.com

I know if I'm patient a new episode of 18 Kids and Counting will be on in just an hour, but I've been watching these Duggar videos on TLC.com and wanted to share some thoughts.

Let's start with Baby 18. Nothing particularly fascinating except that cousin Amy says "You have no idea what kind of family you're getting involved in," which is the same thing she said on the actual episode. Was this some sort of rehearsal? Also, in the episode she happily says baby Jordyn is "fearfully and wonderfully made." Check out the wall words behind her in this video - wonder where she picked up that phrase?

Next up, the hilariously edited Dating vs. Courtship. Oh my gosh, thank you TLC editors! Especially hilarious moments include:
0:15 - Josh: "Our relationship was courtship, not dating." Cut to Anna giving a look like "What the heck are you talking about?!"
0:58 - Josh and Anna share a giant pickle while Josh narrates that "the emotions are there but... I love her so much that I would not step over that line" (i.e. the "no kissing before marriage" line).
1:12 - It totally looks like Josh is going in for a kiss!
1:20 - Sounds like Anna didn't get the birds and the bees talk until a couple weeks before she got married?! At age 20?! She thinks it's important to wait until you need that information to get it because a lot of people get it too soon and regret their choices. (I can just imagine their conversation: "He's going to put what, where?! I'm glad I didn't know about this sooner, I wouldn't have accepted his proposal!")
1:58 - Producer: "Did you Google or YouTube 'how to kiss?'" Anna: "No! ...They have it on there?"
And the horrible Pa Kellar throughout. "Ohhh, I'm in love!"

In Caught On Camera, Jessa breaks a commandment when she says she didn't throw a bagel at the cameraman when they were at the animal park! Then when she's caught in her lie (they probably showed her the video), she goes, "Amy started it!"

Jim Bob Says Goodbye is actually pretty cute. The caption says "Jim Bob is usually the last Duggar ready to go - now we see why," so I thought it was going to be that he had to wait for Michelle to cook him breakfast and shave his neck, or he had to take time to Aqua Net his hair or something. But the real reason is very sweet. Also:
0:30 - Jim Bob asks Michelle where the new socks and undies are that he bought. I thought they only bought used?! (Oh and Michelle has no clue. But they're with the D batteries.)
1:25 - Michelle has scissors to cut off tags, and she pulls a size label off a shirt. Thrift stores don't use size labels like that! Again, what happened to "buy used and save the difference?"
1:40 - Jim Bob stiffly tells Michelle how he's going to miss her. "Take care of the baby, don't let her come out yet." JB continues his rehearsed speech for the camera while Hanny gets antsy.
And at the very end, see how Michelle's "Shhh" technique works on a noisy little boy.

And finally, I think my favorite of the bunch, Kids in Charge. This takes place during the episode that airs tonight, so maybe we'll see what they ended up getting to decorate the bathroom, which must have looked so horrible that all they can show is a shower curtain rod with towels over it. I liked seeing Jim Bob trust Jana with the money for the project - too bad, as a woman, she's not trusted to leave the house without a group of brothers with her. I liked seeing the kids at "school" (and hooray, it looks like they do get some non-Biblical education). Poor John-David, he'll probably never get his plane. And Jana's face at the very end looks exactly like Pam from The Office!