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

[Sew Sumi]

Is it really a Gothard rule that all women must be thin?

I think he used the word "slender." But yes, it was one of his fetishes. 

[GEML]

Yes, Gothard expects women to control their weight. And Jessa's weight at her wedding was not healthy. Her skin was stretched so tightly around her eyes it made her look aged. Regardless of anything, she looks SO much healthier now, so Ben has been good for her in that regard.

I've also wondered about food portions for the Duggars. Not only for the women, but for all of the younger children. I think the "men" get to eat, but I'm not so sure about anyone else.

[Saylii]

I'm hoping she's not pregnant myself. I would think if she was pregnant and the event they are going to this weekend was scheduled in advance that TLC would have switched the announcements. Surely they wouldn't take the risk of Jessa playing spoiler before People and TLC get their exclusives.

[Sew Sumi]

She'll wear one of those frumpy long skirts that she's favored of late with a looser top. Not super baggy, but more along the lines of what the girls used to wear before they became more "modern modest." Think of their wardrobe five years ago. THAT look. 

[Wowzer]

I think Jessa's lifestyle (food and exercise) has improved since marrying Ben. She is more fit rather than simply slender. I don't think the older Duggar kids had access to a lot of food growing up. I was surprised when Derick said that Jill would take her food and eat it in the bathroom. What was going on there? When Jessa was young it was probably due to their tight finances. Later, it was potentially extreme portion control to prevent weight gain. I'm happy for her that her whole disposition has changed. Her smiles are real.

I think that the pressure to have children is on both Jessa and Ben. Jessa is probably getting hassled by her sisters while Jim Bob may be making gross comments to Ben. It would be irritating if Jim Bob was pointing out to Ben that Israel was a honeymoon baby and that Jessa wasn't expecting yet. I hope that Ben and Jessa have secretly decided to wait but the family definitely isn't making that easy.

[WalrusGirl]

I'm getting suspicious, but still clinging to optimism - odd that she looks more pregnant in front pics than side shots. Hoping she's just gained a few needed pounds but not updated her closet...and isn't reading the pregnancy speculation. If she wasn't a Duggar (or a friend we knew was trying), we could just as easily be assuming it was a happy few new pounds. If she is pregnant, I love that the official hold-up indicates that she isn't feeling very competitive with Jill - she could have easily announced via People or her own social media accounts before (or right after) Jill delivered.

Also can't knock her for shopping in the juniors section - a) she's only, what, 20? and b) I'm 10+ years older than her, and in department stores still have to shop for dresses and suits in the juniors section to supplement the thin (no pun intended) petite section. I'm just excited for her that she's getting new clothes in addition to secondhand finds!

I only thought AR might not participate in the exchange because many of the Reddest of the Red States have declined. I just assumed AR to be one of those states. Silly me. :)

The reddest of the red also tend to have a higher rate of citizens who would benefit, so some adamantly oppose on principle but reluctantly opted in because it was best for their constituents.

[3girlsforus]

Yes, Gothard expects women to control their weight. And Jessa's weight at her wedding was not healthy. Her skin was stretched so tightly around her eyes it made her look aged. Regardless of anything, she looks SO much healthier now, so Ben has been good for her in that regard.

I've also wondered about food portions for the Duggars. Not only for the women, but for all of the younger children. I think the "men" get to eat, but I'm not so sure about anyone else.

 

I would love to meet Gothard some day and ask him what male's responsibilities are. Women have to do all the house work. They have to school the kids. They have to have the kids. They have to put out but aren't a priority for sexual pleasure. They have to be thin. They have to have long hair. It's not even like he's advocating men should be out working hard to bring home money. He seems to advocate home type jobs so the man can stay home and lord over his manor. Being a Gothard man is a pretty sweet deal.

[GEML]

You do have to give up your control to other men above you. And you are likely a fearful man to be attracted to it in the first place. It's an odd thing - you'd think such a sweet deal would attract powerful and successful men, but the opposite holds true. Older sons who might be successful stay, but intelligent, hardworking, successful younger sons nearly always leave, while the less successful ones cling further down within a few generations.

Then, some starts some new offshoots and the process starts all over again. :)

[Foghorn Leghorn]

If the girls are supposed to be thin there are a few Duggar daughters who look a little heavy as does Michelle.  

[Fuzzysox]

If she is pregnant and puking all day long I can see where she just doesn't feel good enough to shave her legs so the long skirts hide the non-shaving days.

[BitterApple]

I agree Jessa doesn't look overweight by any means but I don't feel bad speculating about a possible pregnancy. Jessa and Bin say far more offensive things on their social media accounts. Mentioning a five pound weight gain is pretty tame in comparison.

[JenCarroll]

They say things that are offensive to me personally, but not about me, individually. So that's a difference, but on the other hand they have to know there are real live individuals involved in whatever they're denouncing on a given day. And they put themselves out there. Granted she didn't have a choice as a child, but she's about 22 now and she's choosing to put herself out on social media fairly aggressively. And on the third -- or fourth? -- hand, girls and young women, can be and have been so very badly damaged by the Thin is Everything culture that I think that's going to trump all other considerations. Speaking for myself only, no more speculating until she talks about it herself.

[Ljohnson1987]

People are saying that Tuesday's big announcement is a Benessa pregnancy. Don't they usually announce these blessings on the Today Show?

[Readalot]

People are saying that Tuesday's big announcement is a Benessa pregnancy. Don't they usually announce these blessings on the Today Show?

. It's been or a year or so, now all their announcements are on Good Morning America.

[CarolMK]

I thought that the Today show was only announcing when it was Michelle who was pregnant..though they did for Josh and Anna's first 2 kids, I think. Now it seems to be  either their tv show "special announcement" or People magazine.

[Clemgo3165]

Jessa's always been pretty careful with her appearance, particularly once she reached adulthood and was no longer forced to wear the frumpy jumpers. If she'd had a weight gain, I'm pretty sure she'd be wearing clothes that fit her new shape better. But she's fuller in the face, boobs, and tummy, looks like the sure signs of the early stages of pregnancy to me. 

[graefin]

I thought that the Today show was only announcing when it was Michelle who was pregnant..though they did for Josh and Anna's first 2 kids, I think. Now it seems to be  either their tv show "special announcement" or People magazine.

People mag pays for photos. I don't think the Today Show pays their guests (aside from covering the costs of transportation, etc.). So it's definitely more lucrative and convenient to announce it this way. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but TLC must have an "in" with People. I doubt the Duggars have their own publicist.

[truelovekiss]

I would assume Blessa's Blessing is going to be Tuesdays very special announcement. What else could it be, besides another courtship? Would they really announce 2 courtships so close together? If it is another courtship, it would either be...

A) JD, because they would want to trap whatever unfortunate lass that got stuck with him

B) Jana, to put an end to the CinderJana rumors

C) Joe, if he is with Tori Bates, because JB wants to announce it before Gil does.

In any case, I definitely think this is going to be Jessa's baby announcement.

[ChiCricket]

Ugh - that just gave me a creepy thought. Anyone wonder if JB and Michele keep a chart of the daughter-in-laws cycles so they can tell them when the best time to get pregnant is? 

I sure as heck don't want to even think of my kids and kids-in-law having sex (just as I'm sure they don't want to think my husband and I do.)

 But we aren't the Duggars. (thank goodness)

  I could totally see JB and Michelle getting all up in these adult's baby-making business. Yucky thought indeed.

(my daughters-in-law would tell me to take a flying leap if I even suggested anything like this.)

Edited April 17, 2015 by ChiCricket

[BitterApple]

Lol, can't you just picture some poor, unsuspecting Fundie girl being invited to the TTH for dinner only to be shoved in front of a camera as JD announces they're courting? He must be feeling pretty desperate right about now.

[ginger90]

People mag pays for photos. I don't think the Today Show pays their guests (aside from covering the costs of transportation, etc.). So it's definitely more lucrative and convenient to announce it this way. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but TLC must have an "in" with People. I doubt the Duggars have their own publicist.

Perhaps to Michelle,  "publicist" and "scheduler" are interchangeable ?

[asuwur]

I would love to hope that if she is indeed "in a family way" that perhaps Jessa and Ben have found a way to opt out of having the whole thing documented from test to delivery. She's clearly more private so if she wants to gestate in peace, it'd be awesome if she was allowed to.

[Katydid]

Have they officially announced Smuglet IV (aka- Anna & Josh's 4th) on the show yet? I can't remember. If not, that's a possibility for the Tuesday announcement. But I think it will be about a BlessaRmin Blessin'. I do think she's preg. Even the aiprort side photo looks like it to me, though I think it's taken at an odd angle so it's hard to say. I don't really feel bad about speculating Duggar pregnancies because they kind of have invited it by having babies be their claim to fame. It seems they are constantly speculating among themselves whether someone is or isn't, or when they will be, and singlehandedly keeping pee stick companies in business. So I don't feel bad about belly watching the newlyweds. If Blessa really has just gained few, that's fine too. No shame in that & hopefully she's happy and enjoying herself. But I can't see the Duggar offspring worrying too much about speculation of pregnancies... I imagine they probably love it.

[3girlsforus]

I sure as heck don't want to even think of my kids and kids-in-law having sex (just as I'm sure they don't want to think my husband and I do.)

 But we aren't the Duggars. (thank goodness)

  I could totally see JB and Michelle getting all up in these adult's baby-making business. Yucky thought indeed.

(my daughters-in-law would tell me to take a flying leap if I even suggested anything like this.)

 

I'm completely with you on this. My brother and I are adopted and we decided long ago it was because our parents don't do that LOL. I don't know want think about it or know about it. But I figure if the girls track their mom, maybe the mom tracks the girls. UGH UGH UGH. Not only do they need to make sure the kids are following the 'make a billion babies for God' path but they have to keep the TLC train going. If Michele's baby maker is done someone else has to do it.

[graefin]

Perhaps to Michelle,  "publicist" and "scheduler" are interchangeable ?

Maybe, but I very much doubt it. I think "scheduler" to her means, at most, telling other people what needs to happen and the rough time frame it should happen in.

[Sew Sumi]

The Duggars have a dedicated publicist. 

 

Oh, to be a fly on the wall when Blessa takes the stage at her last Southern Women's Show appearance tomorrow. You KNOW that the question will be asked, especially given how TLC is teasing the announcement on Tuesday. It won't be IN the show; it is definitely another commercial break deal, as we saw with Dilly gender reveal way back when, M4, and Mariah announcements. 

[3 is enough]

I still think it will be the M4 gender reveal.  That has not been addressed on the show yet, and Josh and Anna need to remind people they still exist.

[Readalot]

People mag pays for photos. I don't think the Today Show pays their guests (aside from covering the costs of transportation, etc.). So it's definitely more lucrative and convenient to announce it this way. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but TLC must have an "in" with People. I doubt the Duggars have their own publicist.

I swear years ago I went to their website and they had a publicist listed to contact for appearances? And since then I read they had an agent from a Christian agency? Yes, no?

[BitterApple]

Do Jessa and Bin actually give a prepared speech at these events or do they just take audience questions from leg humpers? I ask because public speaking is hard. Other than standing on stage repeating "abortion is murder" for an hour, I'm not sure what Bin would talk about.

[Sew Sumi]

There was a report from someone who went to the one in Nashville. She said, and pics confirm, that Benessa were on stage and talked about relationships. LOL They took pre-screened questions from the audience, mostly from seniors and 5 year-olds. They deftly sidestepped the pregnancy question by saying (paraphrasing): "Watch the show." 

 

They are nowhere near the show's timeframe to announce M4 gender. Since it was already revealed, I don't think TLC is going to address it until Anna goes for the ultrasound ON THE SHOW (meaning, sometime next fall, rather like what we just saw with Jill).

 

During an episode dedicated to Benessa (and for which they were certainly paid well, given cameras followed them throughout Europe - verified by fans on social media), it can be nothing other than a pregnancy announcement. 

[Wellfleet]

I think that the pressure to have children is on both Jessa and Ben. Jessa is probably getting hassled by her sisters while Jim Bob may be making gross comments to Ben. It would be irritating if Jim Bob was pointing out to Ben that Israel was a honeymoon baby and that Jessa wasn't expecting yet. I hope that Ben and Jessa have secretly decided to wait but the family definitely isn't making that easy.

 

I think this is precisely what Boob is saying to Ben - no doubt at all. And he follows it up with that Hee-Haw hyuck-hyuck grin if his...

Edited April 17, 2015 by Wellfleet

[Wellfleet]

Perhaps to Michelle,  "publicist" and "scheduler" are interchangeable ?

 

To sane people, of course not. But in her mind, possibly. These are people who spin everything to make themselves appear smarter and [far] more accomplished than they really are. Josh played around with a postcard or invitation template on his computer and is now labelled a "graphic designer" by the family. I seriously doubt any of them could define what a graphic designer actually does.

[BitterApple]

Sew Sumi, thanks. I'm not surprised to read it was all pre-determined, softball questions. It makes it much easier for Bin and Jessa to keep their lines straight.

[dorcastrilling]

This newer special announcement has JB almost giggling while looking at the brood mare. Since that scenario is not only 99.999% impossible, but disgusting as well....I am holding out hope that the announcement is that M4 will be named Michelle...that it will appease the two of them and Josh and Anna will close up shop.

Also noticed that earlier promos had Jessa saying " French something. French fries" and Ben adding "French kissing'. That is gone, and I know I didn't imagine it.

[Mrsjumbo]

To sane people, of course not. But in her mind, possibly. These are people who spin everything to make themselves appear smarter and [far] more accomplished than they really are. Josh played around with a postcard or invitation template on his computer and is now labelled a "graphic designer" by the family. I seriously doubt any of them could define what a graphic designer actually does.

Let's hope they hired a REAL publicist & not someone like the "wedding planner" at Jessa & Jill's wedding.

[hlemommy]

There is a new pic of them on instagram but jessa is wearing black and is kinda far away so you can't tell if she is or isn't preggers

[Sew Sumi]

Here ya go:

 

https://instagram.com/p/1l9G_BjftS/?taken-by=jessaseewald

 

eta: Black IS slimming and hides a multitude of sins, especially when someone takes your picture from a distance, and you stand *just so.*

Edited April 17, 2015 by Sew Sumi

[EarlGreyTea]

Here ya go:

 

https://instagram.com/p/1l9G_BjftS/?taken-by=jessaseewald

 

eta: Black IS slimming and hides a multitude of sins, especially when someone takes your picture from a distance, and you stand *just so.*

 

Didn't they go to that creationist museum? I wonder if they think that fossil is fake.

[JoanArc]

Must've been contract negotiation time for the fetus since they stopped by the TLC mothership.

[Maizie131]

I'm holding out SO much hope for Jessa that she's not pregnant, and will be greatly disappointed if she is.  If so, it would only further cement my belief that the Duggar family is, indeed, a religious cult.  What a shame for these young kids to be missing out on so much of life. 

[Sew Sumi]

Apparently, that dino is at the TLC/Discovery offices. I think they just went ahead and picked up their paycheck for the upcoming European Honeymoon episode, lest JB get his grimy mitts on that $$$ first! :D

[cmr2014]

I have been reading all the speculation about Jessa and hoping against hope that it isn't true and that she and Ben will wait a few years before popping out an army of "blessings," but last night it occurred to me that there is simply no chance -- unless they have fertility issues -- that Jessa will not have a baby ASAP.

 

It is her JOB to have babies, and it is Ben's JOB to put those buns in the oven. JB isn't paying Ben to "work" for him because he needs help, his job is to impregnate JB's daughter -- nothing more and nothing less. If they were to decide to wait a year or two, I think they would disappear from the show, and Ben would no longer be on JB's payroll. JB's ministry (television show) is about witnessing to the world about the joys of large families. 

 

For what it's worth, I think that he will lose interest once the show ends, and I think that they will all be cut off and left to fend for themselves with whatever number of children they have. by then.

[Wellfleet]

Let's hope they hired a REAL publicist & not someone like the "wedding planner" at Jessa & Jill's wedding.

 

On the contrary, I'm not hoping they hire a competent publicist. I'm hoping they can scare up another bored fundie SAHM like Sierra to do it. Although I do wonder which would be quicker at bringing about an end to the whole Duggar crazy train. Lots of publicity? Or hardly any? Something to ponder... :>)

[Micks Picks]

Why, that dino looks suspiciously like the one great grandpa duggar shot and preserved.  Too danged big to hang on the wall at home, and mounting only the head wouldn't have shown great grandpa's true killer power.  Or maybe it was his pet.

[MichaelaRae]

I'm a huge proponent of home births, but if Jessa's pregnant, I confess part of me is hoping that she's immediately like "I'm going to the hospital at my first contraction, getting an epidural the minute they put my ass in a bed and getting a C if the kid's not out in 4 hours" - just as a giant FU to her mother and St. Jilly Muffin. I'm so petty.

[BitterApple]

Whatever Jessa chooses, I sincerely pray she doesn't use Jill and her cohorts for her prenatal and delivery care. By all means go the midwife route but choose a CNM, not a Gothard-approved, Google-educated practitioner.

[Zahdii]

During my first pregnancy, I lived 140 miles from the nearest hospital.  Going to birthing classes and the like was not an option, so I bought books and tried to figure out how to be pregnant and the delivery stuff from then.  I learned some helpful things, but when you only learn from a book, you often find out afterwards what stuff you read was really helpful and what wasn't.  Anyway, the best piece of advice was this:  "Everyone you know is going to tell you what to do.  It might be someone who heard from someone else to do this or that, and it might be your grandmother who had 11 children and is convinced that drinking some kind of tea every day is the key to a successful pregnancy.  You can't fight them, and they might be your support system at some point, so simply thank them for their advice, and if necessary tell them you'll check with your doctor.  They might think you don't know a thing, but most people won't argue with a doctor."

 

If Jessa really wants to go against the flow, she'll let Jill yammer on all she wants, but hopefully Jessa has a real doctor or experienced midwife in the wings and goes with the educated advice instead.

[autumnh]

I don't think that there is any denying that a baby Seewald is on the way.

 

 

[Chai]

I am so bummed seeing that picture of them above. Oh well what can I expect? They were raised to do this and this only. So sad. 

 

Of course I'm happy for them if they are expecting and they are happy over it. 

 

Not one of those kids looks around and thinks this is it? 

[asuwur]

If the baby is ill behaved, they'll have their very own See-Monster!