Jessa, Ben and Their Brood: Making a (Diaper) Mountain out of a Mold House

[BitterApple]

For chrissakes, I don't arch my back that much when I do bridges in my Pilates class. It's okay Jessa, everyone knows you're pregnant hon. I give you permission to stand normally now.

[Ljohnson1987]

It's going to be Jill 2.0. But I bet before Baby Benessa make it's debut. Dillard 2.0 will be announced.

[Literata]

I know she's arching her back and all, but that's an awfully big belly for a 3-month pregnancy, especially a first pregnancy.

[BitterApple]

It's going to be Jill 2.0. But I bet before Baby Benessa make it's debut. Dillard 2.0 will be announced.

Oooooh, wouldn't that be the ultimate F.U.? I think Jill is desperate to redeem herself after the way she mishandled her delivery, I can definitely see her announcing a pregnancy this summer. The only way she can be one-upped now is if Jessa is having twins.

[Jellybeans]

I hope Jill and Jessa do not see pregnancies as competition.

[zenme]

She seems large. Obviously everyone is different but she seems large for her point in pregnancy, and Ben doesn't seem as tall as Derick. Maybe it is twins...

[Mariva]

I've seen other photos of Jessa from that same day where's she's standing up straight, you know, like a NORMAL person, and her bump doesn't looks quite as big. I do think that compared to Jil's pregnancy, it appears that Jessa is gaining weight more throughout her whole body. Whereas Jill was pretty much all belly and not much else IMO.

[NikSac]

For chrissakes, I don't arch my back that much when I do bridges in my Pilates class. It's okay Jessa, everyone knows you're pregnant hon. I give you permission to stand normally now.

 

I was thinking the same thing!  Well not about the Pilates as I don't take those classes, but holy crap she's got a huge arch in her back. I know people who work out/exercise a lot who aren't even that flexible. It hurts just to look at it.

[Clemgo3165]

I don't know, we all thought Izzy was conceived prior to the wedding because of how much Jill was showing at the same point in her pregnancy. I think the Duggar girls, or at least these two, show early and all in front.

[zenme]

I don't know, we all thought Izzy was conceived prior to the wedding because of how much Jill was showing at the same point in her pregnancy. I think the Duggar girls, or at least these two, show early and all in front.

 

Well, I wouldn't say "we all" thought Jill's baby was conceived prior to the wedding, but where Jessa is concerned, it wouldn't completely shock me if she was pregnant on her wedding day.  I doubt that's true, but Jessa strikes me as different from Jill where that kind of thing is concerned. 

[yogi2014L]

I know she's arching her back and all, but that's an awfully big belly for a 3-month pregnancy, especially a first pregnancy.

And her boobs are massive! Is that normal, I mean for them to grow that much so early? Never been pregnant and I have a fairy small chest, maybe a little larger than Jessa pre-preg. I plan on getting PG soon and OMG i wouldn't know what to do if my boobs were that big, holy hell. Will they get even bigger during the pregnancy????

And yes her belly to me looks really big for 3 months but it must be a genetic thing jill was the same way

[zenme]

And her boobs are massive! Is that normal, I mean for them to grow that much so early? Never been pregnant and I have a fairy small chest, maybe a little larger than Jessa pre-preg. I plan on getting PG soon and OMG i wouldn't know what to do if my boobs were that big, holy hell. Will they get even bigger during the pregnancy????

And yes her belly to me looks really big for 3 months but it must be a genetic thing jill was the same way

 

yes! They have grown! That, for me, was one of tell-tale signs that Jessa was indeed pregnant.  I didn't start showing until I was about 7 months with my first pregnancy, which is why it seems so unusual to me that they are showing quite well this early on.  Jessa's boobs were on the smaller side pre-pregnancy, and it looks like these two Duggar girls have Michelle's build. 

 

 

[Saylii]

I think the girls carry big with some backarching for emphasis. When I was pregnant, one of my coworkers was two months ahead of me. I looked bigger then her every step of the way. When we stood side by side, everyone thought I was the one two months ahead. When nine months came, I would joke that my belly was in a different zip code.

As for bra size I went from a 38D to a 44DD. Most of that was straight up boob. I haven't breastfed for 8 months and I'm only back down to a 42DD. I'm only ten lbs off my pre-pregnancy weight (which I think is all squirreled away in the boobs).

So I don't think Jessa's timeline is too off if that's how she carries. She posted a picture on Instagram today that a) makes me think she's wearing jeans and b) is on point with someone who is 16 weeks in my experience.

[Wellfleet]

Joel Osteen took broadcasting courses at Oral Roberts U. He's become a pretty effective snake oil salesman peddling a "Gospel of Prosperity" in which he manages to convince the not so prosperous to make him ever richer. A true con man. I don't see Bin going down the same road. He is definitely more Bible oriented and, I think, sincere in his beliefs. Problem is Osteen's message resonates with his followers because he's telling them it's ok to want nice stuff and that God blesses folks who want the good life. It's a message that's easy to swallow. Bin, on the other hand, is all about sin and being saved. His message is a downer and he doesn't have the Billy Graham type charisma to be able to pull it off if, indeed, he wants to launch some sort of career as a preacher. I would advise him to worry more about finding gainful employment other than cleaning Boob's toilets. He has a wife and a baby on the way. Those are adult responsibilities and he needs to man up. (Still shaking my head that JimBoob sanctioned this. What percentage of parents would be ok with their 21 or 22-year-old daughter marrying an unemployed teenager and then getting pregnant right away? It boggles the mind.)

 

Answer to this question - the stupid percentage.

 

PS - the bold in hpmec's quote above is my own.

[3 is enough]

Congrats to Ben.  It did look to me like he was wearing honor cords, so kudos to him for that.  

 

Jessa appears to have back arching down to an art.  

 

From the photo they appear to be filming Ben's birthday episode.  It's actually tomorrow.  More timeline wizardry...

[JoanArc]

The cords were honors cords, I believe. Good for him. I'd love to see wheat happens when if/when Bin takes higher level classes that require lots of critical thinking. He better be careful not to grow too much, or get good at dummying up around the house.

Edited May 18, 2015 by JoanArc

[neural-plasticity]

Yes, as others noted they absolutely are covered even if married, but their children (grandchildren of the policy holder) are not. Babies pop out and right away they become little healthcare consumers, so that's an issue if Jessa is on her parents' policy.

I assume Jill has coverage through Derick through his employer. Why wouldn't she?

 

I wish I would've known this! When getting married last year, I read that as once you're married and have access to another insurance (i.e., your spouse's) you can't be on your parents' insurance anymore. My husband is a teacher and the only option is individual plan (around $20 a month) or family ($300 a month), so we were hoping I could stay on my parents' for awhile longer. Long story short, we're paying the same amount for our insurance as we would if we had 19 kids! :) Boo. However,  Bin probably doesn't have his own insurance since he's basically unemployed, so that would make since that Jessa would still be under the Duggars'.

 

As for Ben's graduation - I also wish him the best of luck with his new degree. I hope that he goes on to get at least a BA at an accredited school, too. If not, I hope he puts his new degree to good use and doesn't do whatever just to make his in-laws happy. 

[GEML]

I think Jessa starved herself before the wedding and was gaining weight even before the pregnancy. (And eating out accelerated that.). Now that she's pregnant, she's storing that weight even faster. Joy is very curvy. There's genetics for it somewhere.

[Literata]

Jill and Derick have a pseudo-naturalist vibe going on, and part of that, I think, is that they do seem to pay attention to good nutrition. Derick seems to have been great for Jill in that regard. But I see Bin and Jessa as teenagers on a perpetual date, enjoying actually getting to go out to dinner with a significant other and giggle and hold hands. So I'm thinking GEML is right, and maybe the weight is only "happy weight" from many shared desserts at Cracker Barrel.

 

But that's a five-months-pregnant belly if I ever saw one. I'm not trying to be a conspiracy theorist; as others have pointed out, they're married, so what would be the point in messing with the dates? Still, though, it's weird. Her belly is high and firm. She may have gained weight in her face, arms, etc., but out front, she's all baby.

 

Everyone's different.  But with my first, I was still tucking in my shirts at three months.

[becca3891]

I guess it really varies. I know someone who's six months pregnant, and she has less of a bump than Jessa. But the Duggar women do seem to show early, and as several have pointed out, wearing tight shirts and arching your back so no one forgets for a second you're pregnant also helps the image.

 

Derick does seem to be into healthy eating, but it's surprising Ben is so into fast food considering he's a gym rat. I guess you can get away with it if you exercise enough, though.

[NikSac]

I don't know, we all thought Izzy was conceived prior to the wedding because of how much Jill was showing at the same point in her pregnancy. I think the Duggar girls, or at least these two, show early and all in front.

 

I think arching their backs to a degree I didn't even know was possible for a pregnant person makes a difference too.

[Ljohnson1987]

Jessa is going to have back problems later in life.  Kinda like J'Chelle and the mystery of the missing back muscles.

Is Bin going to pretend he's going to be a lawyer, like Smuggar? That's what most people with a PS degree do.

[GEML]

Josh is now a political consultant. And I think Ben really does go down the minister route. My own husband was a PS major (along with philosophy and economics) and considers an MDiv for awhile. It's not, actually, that unusual of a BA to have. We all know about the POLITICS of religion (which I think has been a terrible thing for both sides, but that's me) but there's a lot of politics (small p) that go into ministry of any kind, when you consider that a great deal of it is about the ability to get along with different groups of people. The body politic, in the very real sense.

So I don't think Ben was foolish to spend two years on that, or even four.

[kandinski]

I was thinking of taking a shot of whiskey everytime Jenna giggles after he speaks,of course I would die from alcohol poisoning before the show ended.

Edited May 18, 2015 by kandinski

[RazzleberryPie]

It's not like they belong to a denomination that requires ministers/priests to have a four year degree before entering a seminary. There are TONS of unaccredited, church-based, totally biased towards a specific denomination, private Bible colleges, especially in the South. The degrees mean nothing to the secular world or the 'high church' world.  Some of them even award Master's or PhDs - not accredited by anything, but you can call them Dr. afterwards!

 

I know several ministers who've gone through these programs, and they're basically an amped up bible study with no math, science, literature, or anything a 'real' college would teach along with theology. There's a lot of study of specific books of the Bible and sometimes some Hebrew or Greek, but not really any comparative theology, or anything you can't learn in a Wednesday night Bible study. The theology is always skewed to the particular host church, and nothing is comparative.

 

There's a huge difference in a Master's of Divinity from say, Duke or Notre Dame, vs a degree in Bible Studies from Local Bible College or whatever. Sort of like the difference in a nursed who's passed boards to become an RN and finished a college degree to become a midwife vs. lay midwife training in somebody's bathroom. :-)

 

Anyway...........I think Jessa looks as far along as she says she is. I believe her when she says they waited until marriage. Jessa was super thin before, and if she's eating for two at all those fast food places, plus no longer exercising, she's going to pack on weight. First place I gain weight is my boobs, then belly, and Jessa may be the same. Combine that with an arched back, skin tight clothing and possibly a real bra that fits, is cute, and she doesn't have to share (hello, VS), and Jessa will look more like 5 months than 3. Speaking of the tight clothing, pics where shirts are so tight across a pregnant belly that you can see the mom's belly button = NOT MODEST. Doesn't matter if it's covered, if you can see every bend and curve, it's too tight.

[cereality]

I guess it really varies. I know someone who's six months pregnant, and she has less of a bump than Jessa. But the Duggar women do seem to show early, and as several have pointed out, wearing tight shirts and arching your back so no one forgets for a second you're pregnant also helps the image.

 

Derick does seem to be into healthy eating, but it's surprising Ben is so into fast food considering he's a gym rat. I guess you can get away with it if you exercise enough, though.

I think Ben is into healthy eating to some extent -- when they first got married, they were posting pictures of smoothies and omelets and I vaguely recall some discussion of him liking salads. But he's also a 19 or 20 yr old boy who is likely still growing. Teen boys can put down an enormous number of calories and still not gain weight; given that he's a gym rat, he probably needs fast food/fattening food once in a while to compensate for all his working out.

[truelovekiss]

I'd love to sit down with Bin and discuss world affairs . . .since he has that AA in political science now.

I'm sure he could educate you on the evils of abortion, gay marriage and Catholicism; and how they will lead to the demise of 'Merica. Good luck getting anything of worth out of him in regards to healthcare, foreign policy or the economy.

[Wellfleet]

Josh is now a political consultant. And I think Ben really does go down the minister route. My own husband was a PS major (along with philosophy and economics) and considers an MDiv for awhile. It's not, actually, that unusual of a BA to have. We all know about the POLITICS of religion (which I think has been a terrible thing for both sides, but that's me) but there's a lot of politics (small p) that go into ministry of any kind, when you consider that a great deal of it is about the ability to get along with different groups of people. The body politic, in the very real sense.

So I don't think Ben was foolish to spend two years on that, or even four.

 

Oddly enough, some coursework in poly sci is a trending concentration for business majors at many schools these days - both undergraduate and graduate. It's being looked on as a good investment of time. Similar to what psych courses were in the 60s/70s - and foreign language courses were in the 80s/90s.

[dillpickles]

https://instagram.com/p/21QOhrjfhT/

in case we all forget she's with child. She looks pretty here, at least.

[JoanArc]

She really wants to be mainstream.

 

I guess all the modesty stuff goes out the window when you're pregnant. Like men don't have pregnancy fetishes.

[McManda]

Is she doing bump shots in the mirror of her old bedroom at her parents' house?

[Vaysh]

Taken in her old girls' room...

 

OT, but I really hope that nook is Jana's now. She deserves at least a little bit of privacy.

[CofCinci]

How is it that she's wearing smaller shirts now?

[Absolom]

I know it's so strange that Jill and Jessa seemed to switch to smaller tee shirts after getting pregnant.  

Edited May 19, 2015 by Absolom

[questionfear]

I will defend Bens choice of major. He may simply find poli sci interesting, or he wanted a general liberal arts major.

I majored in philosophy and minored in women's studies. My family loves to tell the story of when I came home from college my sophomore year going on about my metaphysics class, and how we had discussed perception and how a chair is a chair because of what we use it for, and not because it has a certain shape. My younger brother slammed his hands down, turned to my parents and declared "Congratulations! You're spending 30 grand a year so [Questionfear] can tell you a chair isn't a chair."

Now I work in corporate America and financials. People are floored when I tell them I majored in philosophy, but they agree it means I tend to be more articulate and well rounded than someone who majored solely in a numbers discipline.

And my brother, who made fun of my degree? Went on to major in history and now he does something in advertising.

Majoring in a general liberal arts degree isn't a bad thing at all. You can always go back for a skills certificate or learn specific things on the job, but a job won't teach you about history, philosophy, or politics, and all of those things matter when it comes to life too. I learned my profession on the job, and my philosophy degree adds an extra humanist layer to my work. I may not agree with what Ben does with his politics degree, but it shows a lot of intellectual curiousity that he pursued it.

[RazzleberryPie]

I will defend Bens choice of major. He may simply find poli sci interesting, or he wanted a general liberal arts major.

I majored in philosophy and minored in women's studies. My family loves to tell the story of when I came home from college my sophomore year going on about my metaphysics class, and how we had discussed perception and how a chair is a chair because of what we use it for, and not because it has a certain shape. My younger brother slammed his hands down, turned to my parents and declared "Congratulations! You're spending 30 grand a year so [Questionfear] can tell you a chair isn't a chair."

Now I work in corporate America and financials. People are floored when I tell them I majored in philosophy, but they agree it means I tend to be more articulate and well rounded than someone who majored solely in a numbers discipline.

And my brother, who made fun of my degree? Went on to major in history and now he does something in advertising.

Majoring in a general liberal arts degree isn't a bad thing at all. You can always go back for a skills certificate or learn specific things on the job, but a job won't teach you about history, philosophy, or politics, and all of those things matter when it comes to life too. I learned my profession on the job, and my philosophy degree adds an extra humanist layer to my work. I may not agree with what Ben does with his politics degree, but it shows a lot of intellectual curiousity that he pursued it.

Excellent point. A political science degree doesn't guarantee or limit Ben to a career in politics, government, policy, etc. Plus, he's freakin' 19. NINETEEN. 19.  How many of us knew exactly what we wanted to do at 19, or are doing what we thought we'd be doing at 19. 

 

Drive, personality and personal connections matter as much, if not more, than what degree a person earns. A degree in chemistry or accounting doesn't always equal a steady, high paying income, and a degree in philosophy doesn't always mean you're going to end up in fast food.

[questionfear]

Excellent point. A political science degree doesn't guarantee or limit Ben to a career in politics, government, policy, etc. Plus, he's freakin' 19. NINETEEN. 19.  How many of us knew exactly what we wanted to do at 19, or are doing what we thought we'd be doing at 19. 

 

Drive, personality and personal connections matter as much, if not more, than what degree a person earns. A degree in chemistry or accounting doesn't always equal a steady, high paying income, and a degree in philosophy doesn't always mean you're going to end up in fast food.

Exactly. Or at least it will get you high end fast food (I worked at Panera Bread in college). :)

And if anything, if you're 19 and unsure what the future holds, a poli sci/philosophy/history/English degree is pretty flexible. You can jump from those into law school, teaching, general office work, all pretty easily. It's arguably less of a waste to major in a flexible liberal arts degree than it is to major in accounting only to realize you love chemistry.

[JoanArc]

 

Exactly. Or at least it will get you high end fast food (I worked at Panera Bread in college). :)

Bin, in a Starbucks uniform. Talk about Michelle's fantasy.

[Wellfleet]

Yes, you can also be president without anyone even knowing what your college grades were!

It will be very interesting to see if Ben is enrolled in college anywhere this fall.

 

Personally I was much more worried about George W's college transcript than Barack's birth certificate...

[Wellfleet]

I will defend Bens choice of major. He may simply find poli sci interesting, or he wanted a general liberal arts major.

I majored in philosophy and minored in women's studies. My family loves to tell the story of when I came home from college my sophomore year going on about my metaphysics class, and how we had discussed perception and how a chair is a chair because of what we use it for, and not because it has a certain shape. My younger brother slammed his hands down, turned to my parents and declared "Congratulations! You're spending 30 grand a year so [Questionfear] can tell you a chair isn't a chair."

Now I work in corporate America and financials. People are floored when I tell them I majored in philosophy, but they agree it means I tend to be more articulate and well rounded than someone who majored solely in a numbers discipline.

And my brother, who made fun of my degree? Went on to major in history and now he does something in advertising.

Majoring in a general liberal arts degree isn't a bad thing at all. You can always go back for a skills certificate or learn specific things on the job, but a job won't teach you about history, philosophy, or politics, and all of those things matter when it comes to life too. I learned my profession on the job, and my philosophy degree adds an extra humanist layer to my work. I may not agree with what Ben does with his politics degree, but it shows a lot of intellectual curiousity that he pursued it.

 

Well-said. And very, very true. I'm retired now, and the things I still think about and use from college are not from my professional training at all - but from electives and humanities-type coursework. In the broadest sense, those are the courses that teach you how to think, how to perceive the world, how others have perceived the world, how to solve problems etc.

[Wellfleet]

It really all depends. For graduate school you have to have good grades. For employment after graduation it may not matter.

 

Sometimes you don't even need grades for grad school, although in that case you better be a rich legacy, and making some serious coin available to the university. During my tenure in a graduate admissions office, we were once basically forced to admit someone to our MBA program who, had she been anyone else, never in a million years would have been accepted. The student, an heiress whose family ran an extremely-prominent and large local business, barely earned a C-average in college. She was a very personable girl. I met her on several occasions and liked her, but she hadn't been, as we liked to say, a serious student. Then suddenly a few years later, she's being primed by her father to assume a much-larger role in the business, which is now bigger. Had she been Nancy NoName and without $$, we would have sent a letter of denial faster than she could spell "MBA." I guess my point is this. Every college admissions office has stories like this. I've met too many people who technically have the credentials, but don't have brains or common sense. Now I'm never impressed by a degree - or the school for that matter. I stand back a while and wait to be impressed, or not, by the person and his/her work.

 

FWIW, the student in question here was conditionally-admitted to our MBA program and actually went on to do well, taking the full seven years to complete the program on a part-time basis while working full-time in her family's organization. I'm betting she wishes she had buckled down more  in her undergraduate years however; the required MBA math courses alone were heavy-duty.

 

Mods - maybe this should this be moved to Prayer Closet?

Edited May 19, 2015 by Wellfleet

[JenCarroll]

If Jessa got pregnant before her marriage, she'd be delivering in August. No one can say for sure that they didn't do the deed ahead of time, but she certainly wasn't pregnant! :-)

In the Instagram picture, she doesn't look heavy at all to me, except in the boobs and belly. As for how big would be typical at this point, I find it hard to judge. I had mine when one wore loose tops during pregnancy, and it would never have occurred to me to arch my back like that. Ow!

Edited May 19, 2015 by JenCarroll

[NikSac]

https://instagram.com/p/21QOhrjfhT/

in case we all forget she's with child. She looks pretty here, at least.

 

Yes she does, but the way she's standing still makes my back hurt just looking at it.

[abseedee]

Yes she does, but the way she's standing still makes my back hurt just looking at it.

from p&h.  jessa doesn't look like she's arching her back here so she's not showing much of a bump but she looks like she's gotten wider.  are striped skirts the norm for pregnant duggar girls?  i'm just gonna say it.  that brown top and and green stripe skirt combo is fugly..  aaaaand bin's helmet....i mean hair.  it looks like a bowl cut.

 

 

edited for spelling.

Edited May 19, 2015 by abseedee

[Zahdii]

Yeah, Bin's hair wasn't at it's best.  Grooming tips from JB, maybe?

 

As for Jessa, she's just standing at a slight angle, no biggie.  Although she looks comfortable, I don't like her skirt.  But she probably wouldn't like my clothes when I'm dressing for comfort, so there's that.  At least I can go to the store and not have random strangers want to take their picture with me.  That would get old fast.

[NikSac]

That's his hair? I thought it was a wig at first! Her outfit's not so cute, but I was glad to see her standing up straight.

[Micks Picks]

She should wear brown on the bottom and green on the top so she'd look like a tree.

[Vaysh]

I've noticed that both Bin and Derrick are now sporting Jim Boob-style mops so I can only surmise that a) they let their wives cut and style their hair and b) the Duggar girls apparently think that Lego Head is an attractive look on men, probably because that's the look Daddy's been rocking all their lives.

[CofCinci]

Jessa was tres chic in Paris. At Piggly Wiggly above, it looks like she couldn't even bother to try to match her clothes or brush her hair. Maybe many pregnant women slouch on their appearance. I was active duty military when I was pregnant with my daughter and still had to dress sharply.

Edited May 19, 2015 by CofCinci

[Fuzzysox]

Bin, in a Starbucks uniform. Talk about Michelle's fantasy.

LMAO Oh Mrs. Duggar isn't it past your bed time now? MEChelle: Oh Bin you look sooooo good in your uniform I just want to hang out longer to make sure your safe and pure....you know your going to be a daddy soon....I find that so sexy errrr I mean manly.......