Georgia

@ElectricBoogaloo, I blacked out with rage at that point. Rebecca is a saint for not instantly losing it. It shows that he doesn't value what Rebecca does for the family. Hand-sewing costumes isn't a minor thing (not to mention that the house always seems spotless, everyone is always neatly groomed, they sit down to meals she cooks,etc.). Kid Randall is playing too young. It was weird to me that he wouldn't be able to figure out that Kyle died. 10-year-olds know the euphemisms for death. T

Oz was literally the child from The Emperor's New Clothes. They did a good job of showing how Kai is devolving by his reaction to questions that could have easily been explained away. They also made a point to tell us that his name means king of kings. That, coupled with the paternity stuff, makes me wonder if they're setting it up for Ally to take over the cult for Oz to inherit. What are their options at this point?

I hate how they're doing the foster kid storyline. I'm a CASA volunteer, so I've worked with foster kids. One thing that is so important in foster placements - don't interrupt the birth order. The foster child should always be the youngest child in the home. Randall is 100% correct in his realization of how hard it will be. Older kids who have been in the system generally have dealt with years of trauma. Randall has recently lost a parent, Beth's mother is sick, and Randall is still learning to manage his anxiety - this is not the time for them to foster. The process is also much, much longer than they're portraying. In addition to the extensive background checks, they have to attend classes. It is realistic that they'd get a child placed with them almost immediately after getting certified, though, because there's such a shortage of foster homes. I got where Kate was coming from with Rebecca. My dad is like that. He can't help himself. I was a dancer and he had notes for me after every performance, even when my instructors did not. My youngest brother didn't tell him when he made the football team, because he didn't want him at games. I intellectually understood that it was coming from a place of love, but it never stopped bothering me. Performing is so emotionally taxing that you're really vulnerable afterwards. When one of my daughters decided to become a dancer, I read a lot about parenting elite athletes. Basically, the only thing you're ever supposed to say after a performance, game, etc. is, "I love to watch you dance (play, etc)." You're never supposed to criticize or give notes. Rebecca needs to take some responsibility for the issues in her relationship with Kate. Of course Kate needs to do so, as well, but that's obviously going to be part of her storyline. I'm with everyone who thinks the face cupping thing with Jack was too much. I get that it was supposed to be sweet, but it misfired as creepy. And what a burden to place on a 16-year-old.

The second picture is worse to me because both of them: a) Have their fingers on the triggers, which you never do unless you're ready to fire b) Aren't pointing their guns at the ground, which is the only safe place to point them when not shooting (because of, like, physics and how what goes up must come down - stuff not covered in homeschool presumably) They are violating the basic rules of gun safety and that makes me furious as a responsible gun owner. These idiots are going to kill or injure someone.

Don't plays have understudies? I know they're reform, but I think she would know that Maccabee stands for hammer (it's also a Hebrew acronym for "Who is like you among the powers, O G-d?").

#DuggarInterview It actually did make me feel better. On every single social media platform, they are being mega-trashed. This was a huge PR mistake. Good.

I'm hoping some of y'all will throw up some bullet points or some kind of recap (or point me to it). I'm not in a place where I can stomach watching it at all, but I'm morbidly curious about what these people have to say.

There is a sex scandal emerging from Horace Mann (an exclusive private school) in the Bronx. My husband is from that world (though he didn't go to HM) and I went to college with a lot of people who went there. I'm starting to put 2 and 2 together about some people that I know personally and I honestly don't know how I'm going to manage the shock and sickness I'm feeling. These kids are not like the Duggars - they are from wealthy, connected, educated families. This could well take spotlight from the Duggars. Or the people who covered it up for decades could just make it disappear, as usual. I sincerely hope neither of these things happen. We have so far to go to keep children safe. I just happened to remember today being surprised when a couple of the girls (can't remember which ones) gleefully mocked Josh's weight gain. They seemed to take such pleasure in making fun of him. Makes sense now, like so many things. (*As an aside (will of course delete if not appropriate), Lillian Gilbreth did, in fact, share some parenting methods with Michelle Duggar. She and Frank Sr. saw themselves as management, responsible for overseeing the children, who performed the actual household tasks. But she was an engineer in her "spare" time and a brilliant, hard-working woman. I highly recommend the bio Making Time, by Jane Lancaster.)

I missed a lot of this because I was offline for the Jewish holiday of Shavout (celebrating when G-d gave us the Torah). I'm heartsick. I knew the rumors about Josh, but I assumed that his "sin" was normal teenage macking, with a fellow consenting teen. I actually felt sorry for him. As someone who practices religious modesty, I am outraged to see it perverted and twisted by these people. In the Modern Orthodox tradition it's about dignity and ensuring that men and women can connect and interact intellectually and spiritually, without being distracted by the physical. It's also about not drawing attention to yourself, so that your actions and words count for more than your appearance. It is NOT about keeping women and girls (barf) from "defrauding" men. Immodest dress is never, ever acceptable as an excuse to abuse women or children and it is a man's responsibility to manage his own urges. Since the rabbis in my synagogue are all also mandated reporters, they would definitely turn anyone like Josh in to the authorities. Knowing them as I do, it wouldn't even be a discussion. Nor would it be in most non-fundamentalist churches, I believe. I am also a mandated reported for my state and I have reported in the past. While we don't find out the results of the investigation (unless the child is removed from the home, etc.), we can still look out for that child. While we couldn't call people up and say, "Hey, I think Jessie's dad is beating on her or worse," we could and did say, "Hey, keep an eye on Jessie. I think she's having trouble at home." That is actually code that we used - "having trouble at home." It kept everything confidential, but it helped us to make sure that a vulnerable child had adults in her life doing their best to keep her safe. It's heartbreaking that none of the victims had that. I was a Religion major at (secular) college and I did my junior seminar paper on sex abuse cases within the Catholic Churches in the US and US evangelicals. From the research I've done, I feel confident stating that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm also sure that Anna and her parents knew everything. I remember reading about a man who molested 3 generations of his own family - his sisters, daughters, and granddaughters. They all forgave him and "sang him into the loving arms of Jesus," when he died of old age. There is no restitution in this culture - no penance to be done, no reparations to be made to the victims. Once the criminal asks for forgiveness and says that he gives himself over to Jesus, he's forgiven. This will cost them all, though, one way or another. The Catholic Church has lost $2 billion so far. Even the most dire prediction were only for $1 billion.

Actually, 1 in 9 babies is born prematurely. I gave birth easily to 5 children before I almost died having #6. We had 423 admissions last year in the small, private, suburban hospital NICU where I work. Modern obstetrics has mitigated many of the risks, but it still has a long way to go. Birth is dangerous - always has been and always will be. In general, birth plans are great. They are usually made with or approved by an OB or CNM and are a list of the mother's preferences. They shouldn't, however, be used as an ironnclad menu of demands. I hate pitocin and morphine and I prefer an epidural to a spinal, so I asked my OB to avoid them if it was safe for me and the babies. I needed all of these things in 2 cases, so my plan changed. I hope they're keeping an eye on Jill for PPD. Mothers whose births didn't go according to expectations tend to have a hard time.

I am so relieved that this baby is healthy. Honestly, I'm kind of nauseous thinking about what a close call they had. We have a baby in our NICU right now with GBS sepsis and he's not doing well. It's not the same as strep throat - it's very serious and can kill your baby. This is something that OBs and CNMs recognize. This kind of terrible judgment is exactly what I would expect from someone who has almost no critical thinking skills, a GED diploma* (I'd love to see her score on the science part especially), and lay midwife "credentials" from a distance-learning program that only requires you to attend 40 births (which is fewer than an OB sees in a week of residency). This is really upsetting. I'm dealing with parents who are devastated and blaming themselves when they did absolutely nothing wrong. The baby was born extremely quickly - before they got the GBS test back. The mom didn't realize she was running a fever and is so distraught that I had to call a psych referral. *I think GEDs are great. I just don't think they should be the highest level of education of a woman who delivers babies for a living. I would have written high school diploma if she had one - I don't think that should be the highest level either.

Of course I am happy for Jill that she has a healthy baby that she very much wanted. I'm glad the baby did not have to go to the NICU and I really hope his development is typical. I am also very sad for her. Because she would have had a much, much higher chance of avoiding a C-Section if she had induced at 39-41 weeks. Now she will have to reconsider her plans for future children. It's true that her mother had many successful pregnancies and births after a C/S (I think 12?), but Michelle Duggar is an outlier. It's unlikely that any of her children will have as many successful pregnancies and births as she did - it's a matter of regression to the mean. I had an emergency C/S with my 5th pregnancy and we wanted more than 2-3 more children. I was devastated that my daughter might not have any sisters. I went on to have 3 more children by 2 C/S (I have 2 sets of twins - that's why I originally started watching this mess lol). By #9 I was happy to be done, especially since I had 2 more girls and realized how much harder they are than boys. Most of us with large families truly wanted each and every one. I respect everyone's family planning choices, even if i strongly disagree with their parenting choices. I feel that Jill is the victim of her lack of education and opportunity. A midwife distance-learning program that only requires attending 40 births is a joke compared to the requirements to be a CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) or an OB. The lay midwife who trained her is not someone I'd let touch me with a 10-foot pole. I don't think Jill has the critical thinking skills (through no fault of her own) to do accurate assessments of risk and she's paying for that.

Good point. I will die laughing if Josh and Anna ever name a kid Mendel or Menachem. The nicknames for Israel used by Israeli and American Jews are Sruli (Sroo-lee) and Royi (Row-ee). It's also odd to me that DerekDillard is wearing an IDF t-shirt. My husband never wore his to any of my 7 births and we have friends and family who are actually in the IDF. Maybe they had to go quickly and he just grabbed it? Or maybe it really is a political statement. IV does not necessarily mean C/S. Many hospitals start IVs in laboring mothers so that they don't have to worry about placing one if the mother does end up in the OR. They also might have needed to deliver antibiotics ASAP for a number of reasons (Jill was febrile, strep B, etc.). I had 3 sections and I held the babies on my stomach - I had bikini line incisions, so it wasn't a problem. It also takes a while for the epidural to wear off and then you get morphine (maybe - I sure did), so there isn't any pain.

Just an FYI - Israel is a boy's name. It is the name that the angel called Jacob after he wrestled with him and G-d later confirmed, if you will. It is a very common name for Orthodox Jewish boys. In fact, I've never heard of a non-Jewish boy named Israel. I know (Jewish) boys and men named Israel in the double digits. Nobody calls them Izzy, though - that's a grandpa name to us. It's a bit startling to hear of a Christian baby named Israel - it's like hearing of a Jewish baby named Christopher. Not really. In English, it's Is- (as in "that IS the name") and -real (as in "for REAL, that is the name). In Hebrew, it's Yisroel (YIS rhymes with this, ro as in row your boat, and el as in bell. Glad mother and baby are healthy.

There absolutely is. We see post dates babies in the NICU all the time. The only 37/38-weekers we see have other issues (idiomatic sepsis, infection, hydrocephalus, etc.). The placenta cannot meet the needs of a 42-week baby. A mother risks her life, her baby's life, and her baby's brain function when she chooses to go postterm, and further when she chooses a postterm home delivery. The ACOG and AAP specifically exclude pregnancies ≥41 weeks from their home birth eligibility. Here's a mom whose 42wk3d baby didn't make it: http://www.thedestinymanifest.com/2012/08/she-was-still-born/ From the AJOG: Postterm pregnancies are associated with multiple, well-known complications, such as labor dystocia, increased perinatal mortality rate, low umbilical artery pH levels at delivery, low 5-minute Apgar scores, postmaturity syndrome, fetal distress, cephalo-pelvic disproportion, postpartum hemorrhage, and increased risk of neonatal death within the first year of life. BTW, the midwife Jill Dillard trained with was found negligent by the AR Board of Health regarding the birth of a baby with GBS (group B strep) and lost 2 babies in one week in July of 2014. This is all from her public FB page. Lay midwives are dangerous to mothers and babies. I do truly hope this baby is born safely and healthy.