SabineElisabeth

I've never seen a direct quote from either of them, either in an article or on the show, saying one way or the other. On the show, they (and especially Courtney) seemed to have a lot of trepidation about having a girl, but then they did seem (cautiously) excited at the gender reveal when they found out they were having three girls. So, who knows, but they seem quite taken with all 9 of them! Reminds me of my little sister, who always said she could only see herself as a mom of boys. Her first child is a boy, and she was hoping for a boy the second time around, as well.... right up until the ultrasound when they were told they were having a girl. My sister said in that moment, the thought of only wanting boys never crossed her mind, because she suddenly just knew that having a little girl was what she'd wanted all her life. :-) (And now we have my sweet nephew and niece who are, in my very unbiased opinion, amazing kiddos). ;-)

I totally agree that it seems like we're missing a big piece of the puzzle as to how exactly the fertility drug fits in to things. However, I'm not sure that wanting a girl is that missing piece. In fact, I got the distinct impression that they would have been perfectly happy to have ended up with 6 more boys and no girls at all!

Ouch!! Having just gone through one myself, I find it hard to imagine disliking anyone to the extent required to find divorce funny? Much less a "bitter" divorce. And especially not one involving young children. :-( In any case, IMHO, it was obvious from the first episode of their show that Matt and Amy were just tolerating each other at that point, and I don't get those vibes from Bill and Jennifer at all. They've been through a lot together, and seem to truly be a very close and generally happy family. And for the whole family's sake, I sincerely hope there's no impending divorce on the horizon for them and that they enjoy many more anniversaries about which they can talk ad nauseum. ;-)

With everything going on in their lives, I'm always impressed that these families not only think to give back to those who have given to them so generously, but actually make it happen. Even with all the help they have now, that's still a lot to take on with so many kiddos. And taking them at their word, the husband had the idea to hold a 5k for the community's benefit immediately after they attended their own 5k/gender reveal - meaning the idea wasn't driven by a tv show, but by sincerity (as I don't think the tv show was a thing at the time they did the gender reveal; hence, why we got home footage of it). If I remember correctly, I think one of the very first episodes of Outdaughtered also showed Adam and Danielle helping out a family whose home was destroyed by a fire? While that was obviously after the show started filming, it was early enough in the process that I would believe it wasn't a producer suggestion either, but something the family would have done tv show or no. (Or, maybe I'm just a sucker, lol, but I have a hard time not giving people the benefit of the doubt). :-) Speaking of, writing this got me thinking back through TLC's stable of multiples shows, which made me wonder about the Hodges. I wonder if they'll be back, or if they opted out once one of their little ones died earlier this year? They seemed like a nice family, from what little we saw, but extremely overwhelmed, and I can totally understand not wanting to live out something like that with a camera shoved in your face. I briefly considered that TLC chose not to bring them back, but I certainly hope that's not the case, as I would find it a bit off-putting, to be honest, if TLC wasn't willing to show the ugly - and much more common - reality of having micro preemies, while profiting off the rainbows and unicorns side of it.

I would guess that renting out venues is done mostly during filming, which I think comprises a relatively small part of their lives? I would think that generally speaking, they move about in public like most everyone else, and I can't imagine that Will and Zoey don't have to wait in line/share at school like all the other kids. I mean, yes. they are on a reality tv show and have more money than your average family, but we certainly aren't talking about kids/families who live a Brad/Angelina or George/Amal kind of life.

So maybe the missing piece here is that while Courtney did take a drug intended to treat infertility problems, Courtney did not take it because she had trouble conceiving, but because she has a blood-clotting iseue that makes it difficult for her to carry a baby to term? I have no idea what the connection is between whatever medication she was taking and the disorder they were trying to treat, but I do know that she wasn't using it because she had trouble conceiving. Thus, it struck me that maybe it's neither fair nor accurate to look at this through the lens of a woman using medication to try and get pregnant; and given that was not the reason for taking the drug, maybe there are factors and considerations about which I truly have no idea... and therefore really can't judge or even have an informed opinion in this particular instance. As for IVF and its risk of producing high order multiples relative to the use of oral infertility drugs only, I wonder if people get more riled up and accusatory when IVF is involved because choosing to implant a certain number of embryos seems at first glance to be more intentional than just popping a pill does? And the more intentional the cause, the more judge-worthy the outcome appears?

Will has been addressing the camera guys for a while now. I remember last season he called out to them when he opened the space shuttle toy his grandparents gave him for Christmas, and a couple other times, but I can't recall the specific episodes.

Definitely not names I would've chosen, either. But, as I've said before, I do quite enjoy y'alls comments on them. ;-) (Out of all of them, I think the 3 girls got the better names. "Better" being relative, however, lol). :-)

Per the CDC's website, in 2016, the most recent year for which complete data is available, 3,945,875 live births occurred in the US, of which 31 births were of quintuplets+. The 31 births in the US of 5 babies or more include those conceived both naturally and using any method of reproductive assistance, and most of those 31 births were quints. I suppose it depends on one's subjective definition of how high or low those odds really are, but to me, they seem infinitesimally small, period - not taking into account the actual method of conception at all. Infinitesimally small, IMHO. YMMV, however. (-; https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/multiples.htm

The show also (mostly) portrays the foreign love interests as lying scammers who are willing to do anything for a chance to come to the US....and most foreigners I know are anything but lying scammers desperate to come to the US. In other words, I don't think the people on this show (both the American citizens and the non-American citizens) are a very accurate representation of the two groups taken as a whole. Intentionally, of course - as that wouldn't make for nearly as good tv. ;-)

I've never been a fan of responding to someone with "it could be worse....." IMHO, things can always be worse, and the person sharing his/her feelings isn't trying to say otherwise. At least, I don't recall Courtney saying at any point that out of all parents of sextuplets, they have it the worst. To me, Courtney was sharing her feelings hoping for empathy and understanding, not "perspective" on how her experience compares to all other experiences. And to respond to Courtney pouring out her heart with "it could be worse" invalidates, dismisses, and marginalizes her feelings....which are not diminished just because a worse experience exists. I once heard it said like this: "While, objectively speaking, your broken leg probably hurts worse than my broken finger, that knowledge in no way lessens how much pain I'm in at this moment from my broken finger."

It definitely seems like every day one can find more and more unsubstantiated and inaccurate information online, with no indication of the source of said information and on what basis the unidentified source can be considered reliable, or the existence thereof even verified. And more and more this "information" is presented as fact, not just speculation, by various gossip websites, online publications whose fact checking requirements prior to publishing articles must be nonexistent, etc. So, it's certainly understandable that you've seen a lot of things about this family on social media, blogs, etc, that simply is not true - but it can make it a bit confusing to try and determine the real story. With Eric and Courtney, I would suggest trying out the tv show itself, as it's been quite informative to me to actually hear the story straight from the two people directly involved. Although I think 3 episodes have aired to date, pay specific attention during the first part of episode 1, as Eric and Courtney discuss clearly and plainly their history of miscarriages, deciding to treat the condition causing them with a very low dose of an oral fertility drug and the infinitesimally small change of having so many babies using this method. Once you hear them explain the situation themselves, in their own words, directly answering questions from production, there's no mistaking that they're not another Kate Gosselin or Octomom who actually had IVF and had a crap ton of embryos artificially inseminated outside the womb and eventual implanted into the womb in hopes a baby(ies) would result. I meant this to be short, lol, but I really do suggest watching the show and hearing the couple explain in their own words how they say it all went down, because if you clear away all the misinformation, I suspect there might at least be a chance you find yourself liking them versus being so enraged at this over things that never happened. And to me, so far, it looks like it should be a somewhat cute show, so hope it grows on you, and we see you around often! (Also, thank you for answering my previous question and clarifying your thoughts for me; sometimes people here get so touchy if you say you don't understand, as they take that as criticism or something, but I was truly curious, and I appreciate you not taking offense to the question and giving such thorough responses. ;-)

When I first started watching the show, I was just amazed that she somehow consistently managed to get five identical outfits washed and located at the same time. Without fail, if I were trying to do that, I'd come up with four outfits found and one missing every, single, time, lol. I also initially figured the matching outfits were done for the cuteness factor - most likely just when they are filming or going out. But, on one episode they finally addressed it and said the main reason they dress the quints alike for now, in public, anyway, is because it makes it much easier to keep an eye on them/spot them if it's crowded....which does make sense. Of course, I have to think some of it is because they think it's cute, but I'm not sure that's such a big problem right now as far as stunting their development of individual identifies. Generally speaking, children don't begin to develop a more complex sense of self until about 4-5 years old. At the quints' age, most kids have a self identify based on much more simple things than a personal sense of fashion; for example, 2-3 yr olds' identity consists of things like, "I am so and so; I'm a girl with blond hair and blue eyes; I like to play with Parker Kate; I love Cinderella, etc." As kids grow and construct a more complex self-identity, I think they naturally start to use clothes as a way to express in tangible form their internal view of themselves. And somehow, I don't see Danielle and Adam forcing the kids to wear matching outfits forever, even as the kids howl in protest "But mooooooooooom!!! None of the other kids at school wear matching outfits!!!" ;-) ***Not saying that kids the quints' age don't express opinions on clothes, just that those opinions are not yet formative as to a self-identity nor indicative of an advanced level of self-awareness - normally.

There were NO embryos implanted. She took a very lose dose of an oral fertility medication to treat a condition that makes it difficult for her to carry a baby to term. So not sure how "medical science" put in embryos in this scenario? I'm sorry, but can you please clarify what you mean by that, as I'd like to understand what you're saying and finding so upsetting, but am having trouble getting it? Thank you!!

I was defining "do her own thing" as "not being attached at the hip to Derick 24/7, literally." As in, following him like a lost puppy to class all the time. Not saying I agree she never does her "own thing," but for purposes of my above comment, was setting a pretty low bar. ;-)

Good, because it would make me really sad for Jill if she was choosing to sit through law school classes just to be with Derick rather than do her own thing, because that would indicate no small amount of emotional insecurity/neediness. And I mean that with all sincerity. It would suck if tagging along to law school seemed like your best option.

Law school terror can make for some good tv, and while true that we didn't know ahead of time when the professor was going to call on us to answer a question, going all the way back to kindergarten, I can't think of one time ever where I was given a head's up that I was going to be called on in class. TV/movies like to portray law students being humiliated in front of the class if called upon and he/she is unprepared or doesn't know the answer....because that's entertaining, and the purpose of tv/movies, by and large, is to entertain. While I can certainly only speak to my experience, which comprises some infinitesimally small percentage of all the times professors have randomly called on law students during class, so may or may not be of much value, I never once observed (or experienced myself) a professor terrorize a student in class. (Keep in mind, also, that when someone was completely unprepared/behind, it was common to just skip class that day and stay home reading like a fiend trying to get caught up for the next class....and you can't get called on if you aren't present lol). I also never experienced any of the cut throat, classmates purposely sabotaging/undermining each other crap you hear about. Not saying it never happens, but from my experience, it seems to be the exception, not the rule. As far as Jill attending class with Derick.... I sincerely hope that she went only because the professor was indeed encouraging it for whatever reason. If that's the case and Derick wanted her to accompany him, then it was a supportive, kind thing to do for Derick. If it wasn't by invitation, then I can't imagine why in the world you would choose to attend law school classes with your spouse - unless you're jealous AF, needy AF, or happen to be really interested in law (and I seriously doubt the latter applies to dear Jilly Muffin). And I don't mean that last statement as an insult, but Jill has never given any indication that law interests her at all. I mean, I was enrolled in law school, I (mostly) enjoyed what I was learning, and I can tell you that often, given the choice, I could have come up with A LOT of things I'd rather have been doing than going to class. ;-)

But why, lol??? I really like this family, but y'all are cracking me up with your commentary on the names. :-)

Honestly, from the previews, I thought the mom might be a little over the top and annoy me, but I'm a sucker for these shows, so decided to give it a shot....and was quite surprised by them. And especially impressed with the way they handled the religious aspect of it. My understanding from the first episode is that prior to finding out they were pregnant with sextuplets, they would have dismissed selective reduction (a/k/a abortion) out of hand. When they found themselves in that situation, however, they spent weeks agonizing over what to do - and having been raised Baptist in the South myself, I can tell you that the fact they considered it at all, nevertheless SO seriously, kind of shocked me. Add to that the fact they openly admitted it. And if I understood them correctly, they ultimately decided to continue the pregnancy with all the babies not because they had decided selective reduction was "wrong" or sinful, but because after weeks of praying, talking over the options, etc, they felt a peace about doing so, and I think it's fair for them to attribute that peace to God. Not a new concept, at least not in our part of the country. They also seemed to get the gravity and seriousness of the risks to Courtney and their existing children more so than other parents of high order multiples with tv shows have - or, at minimum, they articulated their thought process about it better, I guess. These were not two people who were told they were having six babies and immediately started thinking about tv shows, matching outfits, and how cute and idyllic life was going to be. Courtney said that when they found out, it took "all their happiness," or something along those lines. These people were devastated. And again, they openly admitted it. I also did a double take when they said that having all the babies home was "miserable." They were exhausted, worried, overwhelmed - and they were real about it. Just two episodes in, and not as though you can really know people from tv anyway, but personally, I've been pretty impressed with them so far.....exaggerated Southern drawl and all. ;-)

Meeting them pre-dated my (amazing) discovery of PTV, so I hadn't heard anyone snark on their hygiene at that point.....meaning it wasn't on my radar as something to pay particular attention to. So, with that caveat, I can say their hygiene/cleanliness isn't something that registered in my mind at all, one way or the other, so it must not have struck me as being outside the realm of normal. I apologize for not being able to provide a more detailed answer, but hopefully that's at least somewhat informative as far as your question goes! Really, other than the fact there are A LOT of them, on the surface, they seemed pretty much like all the other people I grew up around in the South. And given that outside of watching them on tv, my entire personal experience with them consists of 3 hours, give or take, I can only speak on a surface level with any degree of certainty. Any other opinions I offer about them here are just that - opinions. ;-)

I think the thought of double dipping and it being a little gross really did cross his mind, but I got the impression he only made such a big deal about it because he thought he was being funny. And if I’m being honest, I did laugh at him a few times when he just kept going on and on about it, because it didn’t occur to me as I was watching that he was really being all that serious. Joy-Anna apparently also didn’t think he was being very serious, as she straight up double dipped right in front of him and clearly thought it was funny when he called her out. She obviously had zero fucks to give about his “directive” and her amusement over being “caught” makes me think he’s not really the cold, controlling guy he gets painted as sometimes, because nothing in Joy-Anna’s interactions with him says to me that she’s the least bit worried about his reaction to her spunky, contrary, sarcastic self. I have a feeling he thought Joy-Anna sneaking in a double dip was pretty cute; he’s just not exactly all that animated most of the time, and so it’s hard to read him, I think. Joy-Anna definitely seems whipped lately, but I think it’s life – being a wife in general, a new mother, renovating a house, etc – as opposed to being exhausted from constantly worrying about pissing off Austin. Our Joy-Joy does not seem to be walking on eggshells to me....

You must not be from Texas, ;-), because almost all "yards" here, including theirs, from the glimpses I've seen of it on the show, are about the size of a postage stamp. Having moved from a place where most lots are at least an acre+, I have never been able to get used to the teeny tiny strips of grass that East Texans apparently think pass as backyards! In fact, it's not at all uncommon for a regular sized pool to literally take up the entire backyard here, which is still soooooo odd to me every time I see one, even after living here for 8 years now.

I officially have a girl crush on Ximena. Every time the girl opened her mouth and started going off again, I died. <3

I know, right!?! I was shocked at how long she managed to carry them!! What, 1 day shy of 30 weeks, IIRC, with SIX decently sized babies inside a uterus meant to hold ONE!? I think Danielle on Outdaughtered, who (I think?) was about 5 years give or take younger than Courtney when she had the quints and was also in amazing physical shape, only got to a little over 28 weeks before she delivered, and that was "just" (yes, I know, "just," lol, but you get my point) with 5 babies (and to be clear, 28 weeks and a few days is still a huge feat mixed with a ton of luck). Amazing effort and dedication by both moms to go through that - forcing themselves to eat a crap ton of calories every day, months of bed rest, weeks hospitalized, trouble breathing because the babies were taking up so much room, pain, etc. I definitely don't envy the amount of pain and discomfort Courtney was in towards the end (and even Danielle, to some extent), but I guess when you're going to be a momma, you'd do anything in your power to deliver healthy little ones - so good for them and I hope all works out for the kids/families. :-)

One of the reasons I post and read here is because it's so interesting to me that we all watch the exact same show and yet end up with such vastly different perceptions of things. Fascinating to me that you can take the same show, run it through viewers' life experiences, values, beliefs, current life circumstances, personal happiness/contentment, and so on, and come out with so many different and often vehement ideas about what we all saw on the same show(s). (And yes, I know that sounds lame to find that intriguing, but....kind of a nerd here, lol). For instance, Hazel really does seem pretty laid back to me, relative to her sisters, at least. Not that she never cries/whines, but all 2 years old do so, and she seems generally good-natured to me. I have also never understood why people think this is the "Hazel Show." I mean, her nystagmus is a story line and well, wouldn't it be kind of weird if while talking about Hazel's eyes instead of seeing Hazel we saw say, Parker Kate and Lulu playing together during the every convo? My perception is if you take away the focus on Hazel that has to do with her nystagmus (i.e. a big story line the producers developed), then she really isn't highlighted on the show more frequently than the others in any way that jumps out at me. Granted, I've never timed the amount of screen time each quint gets, counted the number of times each quint's name is said, etc, but when I watch, I don't come away with the impression at all that Hazel is focused on more than the others for any reason other than her eye condition (aka "the story line"). Yes, it's true that Dale refers to Hazel as his favorite because she was the first quint he held in the NICU, but IMHO, and YMMV, I find that completely harmless. One, it's rather normal for adults to form closer bonds to some kids in the family versus others and vice versa, some kids choose the adults with whom they feel most comfortable to attach to versus others. Nothing hurtful or mean spirited about it, just means this person clicks with and has a special connection with this person - which is how life works! And, further, we've also seen that Dale has a special thing with Riley Paige over her now quite well-known full on slap of him in the face. To me, while he teases her about it, it's done with affection and is their own inside joke they share together. And who knows what other adults/kids have special connections that we never get to see? In my family, for example, my grandmother and I fell in love with each other the first time she held me, and we were inseparable from that moment (when I was 30 mins old, lol) until she passed last year; she's also the person I loved and admired most in the world. Then came my little sister and while my grandmother loved her just as much and they had a good relationship, they never clicked in the same way - and my sister went on to form close bonds with others in our family. Same with our parents; my daddy and I were alike in so many ways and had an instant connection, and my sister and mother similarly share tons of interests and are very close. Not that my sister or I have ever doubted for a second that both parents loved and adored us, but for many reasons, some people just end up being closer than others. And if not done in a malicious and hurtful manner (and I don't see anything that even comes close to resembling that on this show), it's not bad or sinister, it's just how life works, I think. In my family, it's also one of our most frequently used running jokes (and we have many; we have a rather sarcastic sense of humor and crack ourselves up constantly lol). For example, my little sister has 2 kids and lives near our family, and as soon as she had the first, the joke became, "Okay, fine, you win. Finally! Hehe. You're the favorite now. I can't compete with the cuteness that is my nephew (and then niece)!" Then, a few years ago, one of our cousins who lives out of state and had 2 kids already called and announced he and his wife were having identical twins. My sister immediately called me and said, "Quick!!! We have a crisis here, and I need your opinion right now. Which wins favorite? 2 kids that are local and come to visit every other weekend, or 4 kids (two of whom are identical twins) but who live about a 5 hour drive away????" Before I could even answer, she sighed dramatically and said all fake forlornly, "Nevermind.....I already know the answer. Of course twins are going to push our cousin into favorite position. It doesn't matter if they live on Mars. Four kids, and two of them are identical twins! Seriously, though?? Twins?? Really? I did not authorize that! But oh well, I guess I've had a good run as favorite...." And then we both laughed until we were practically snorting, and immediately added that story to the list of jokes we'd tell at every family get together. Because, if we were going to laugh until we oh-so-unattractively were snorting, so was everybody else in the family lol - and they did. ;-)