Joe & Kendra: Looking Forward To Side Hugs

[Mojitogirl]

Joe seems like a nice husband and Kendra’s mom is a nice mom but Joe and Kendra are going to pump out a baby every two years. Her mom is pregnant with whatever number kid and neither of them has ever been exposed to a family that “controls” how many kids they have. 

Jessa is looking rough and comes off as the uneducated child she is. Her smugness rivals Josh’s. 

ETA: If she has a tendency to stop breathing and pass out when I’m pain, why didn’t she just get an epidural?  

Edited June 30, 2018 by Mojitogirl

[LexieLily]

1 hour ago, Pingaponga said:

This would be the first Duggar grandbaby born (a) intentionally in a hospital and (b) without a horde of Duggar women around.  Even Anna had Michelle and a bunch of the sisters there when she had her first several kids, if not all of them.  I'm guessing there was less enthusiasm from the Duggar clan when Garrett was born because they were shut out of the proceedings as they happened. 

And clearly, Joe and/or Kendra decided they were going to handle the birth their own way and not the Duggar-sibling-way.  More power to Joe and Kendra. But I'm guessing Joe's sisters' noses were out of joint because what was good enough for them obviously wasn't good enough for Kendra.  Even though Kendra's way was infinitely more sensible and safe.

I'm kind of loving Kendra's mother.  I have a tendency to stop breathing when I'm in pain too, and her advice regarding Kendra's breathing was spot-on.  You know Michelle would have been there with her camera to take a photo/video of Kendra fainting rather than calmly helping her through her contractions. 

I wonder also if Jessa, Joy and/or Jill weren't jealous (do they even know what that feels like?) that Kendra, the new shiny sister that isn't technically one of The Duggars, had a (relatively) fast and (relatively) pain-free birth in a hospital with competent medical care and had a husband that was helpful and attentive to her wants/needs during labor. I will also be interested to see how they act in regards to the birth of Jinger's daughter if Jinger has a hospital birth too.

[SMama]

Kendra had a male doctor, Boob and Mullet must have been horrified. For some odd reason the aforementioned makes my heart sing.

Edited June 30, 2018 by SMama

[xwordfanatik]

I'm pretty sure I've heard that the Caldwells share most of the Duggar belief system, which I think sucks.  Still, Joe must have backed Kendra in her birthing plan, and stood up to any Duggar participation.  If he's that much about Kendra and at the same time, saying no to his mother and any sister being there, I applaud him, and good for them both.

Take that, you home-birthing-at-all-costs people!

[Lunera]

Jessa is probably salty her husband and Boob wouldn't pay for her hospital birth. Jessa seems like the type who would want to birth in a hospital but had a home birth because it was her only option. Same for Joy. It seems like maybe Kendra's family took charge of her care as soon as she became pregnant and ensured she had prenatal care and a safe birth.

[luvbadtv]

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

I wonder also if Jessa, Joy and/or Jill weren't jealous (do they even know what that feels like?) that Kendra, the new shiny sister that isn't technically one of The Duggars, had a (relatively) fast and (relatively) pain-free birth in a hospital with competent medical care and had a husband that was helpful and attentive to her wants/needs during labor. I will also be interested to see how they act in regards to the birth of Jinger's daughter if Jinger has a hospital birth too.

She also disproved their nonsense about how having a birth in the hospital means you are hooked up to machines and stuck flat on your back.  

[dargosmydaddy]

1 hour ago, Mojitogirl said:

Joe seems like a nice husband and Kendra’s mom is a nice mom but Joe and Kendra are going to pump out a baby every two years. Her mom is pregnant with whatever number kid and neither of them has ever been exposed to a family that “controls” how many kids they have. 

The Caldwell kids seem somewhat spaced out (I think there are some four year gaps in there). Maybe Mrs. Caldwell can pass a few tips along to Kendra, or maybe Mrs. C. just isn't as ultra-fertile as Michelle (which hopefully she also passed on to Kendra...). Not saying they won't have a big family, but there's a big difference between 8-10 and 15+.

[Heathen]

55 minutes ago, xwordfanatik said:

I'm pretty sure I've heard that the Caldwells share most of the Duggar belief system, which I think sucks.  Still, Joe must have backed Kendra in her birthing plan, and stood up to any Duggar participation.  If he's that much about Kendra and at the same time, saying no to his mother and any sister being there, I applaud him, and good for them both.

Take that, you home-birthing-at-all-costs people!

I think the Duggars are outliers even for GotHardites. We've discussed before the difference between "leaving it up to god" and "trying everything to have as many as kids as possible." The Caldwells are the former, the Duggars are the latter. I'm not surprised that the Caldwells seem able to use critical thinking skills as far as childbirth goes, while the Duggars tend to get dumber with each successive birth. 

The Caldwells' belief system is abhorrent, but at least they're not risking the lives of their women and children because they don't want a male doctor seeing their genitalia. 

[Mollie]

1 hour ago, SMama said:

Kendra had a male doctor, Boob and Mullet must have been horrified. For some odd reason the aforementioned makes my heart sing.

Jill had a male doctor for the birth of Israel.  Remember, she just showed up at the hospital emergency room after her failed homebirth and in that scenario you are given the doctor who is there at the time.  I don't think she was seeing any personal doctor for prenatal care.  If she had been, she would have been informed that the baby was not in a correct position for a homebirth.

 

[ginger90]

2 minutes ago, Mollie said:

Jill had a male doctor for the birth of Israel.  Remember, she just showed up at the hospital emergency room after her failed homebirth and in that scenario you are given the doctor who is there at the time.  I don't think she was seeing any personal doctor for prenatal care.  If she had been, she would have been informed that the baby was not in a correct position for a homebirth.

 

Derick and his bare feet in a hospital. Idiot.

[SMama]

I didn’t mention Jill having a male doctor because she didn’t have a choice. I could be wrong but obviously Kendra planned a hospital birth. But what do I know. 

Edited June 30, 2018 by SMama

[Heathen]

9 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Derick and his bare feet in a hospital. Idiot.

Jill in bare feet in a hospital, tripping over that stupid skirt while holding a newborn baby and after an emergency caesarean section. Idiot!!! 

[DragonFaerie]

So I finally got to watch the videos - a couple of times because I kept getting interrupted.  I'm so glad that Kendra had her mother and her sister.  They seemed calm and making it all about Kendra.  Joe was great at taking care of her.  Her dad was there and was supportive.  The fact that it appears she's been seeing an OB for her pregnancy is so relieving and wonderful.  

I think Joe and Kendra currently win the biggest set of brass ones.  They are living on the Duggar compound and still made the decision to have prenatal care, a REAL OB/gyn, planned a hospital birth, have a clean and tidy house.  She called her mom in, instead of grabbing the how many folks at the TTH when she was in contractions.  The Duggars weren't in the birthing room - I'm sure they were horrified.  

I found in interesting that both Mom and Pop Caldwell commented when Garrett was born how big and long he was, while Mecheelle threw shade on the blog to say he was the smallest grandchild at birth.  The fact that we hear Mechelle as they leave the birthing room, and leave her standing there but never see her makes me think TLC is learning.

The Duggars part - Ben had the best comment about the new normal after kids.  Austin looked beligerient and angry and when Joy said that Joe needs to help Kendra because babies are a lot of work - that was definitely some shade thrown at her husband.  Jessa seemed ready to roll her eyes when she took the phone call from Kendra's sister Lauren.  And I think I may have hit on Jana's attitude.  We see multiple lost kids in the background, a twin playing on a laptop or tablet on the sofa, a lampshade half off a lamp and kids running around.  Meanwhile, Jana is making up fake flower arrangements, spreading butcher paper and cooking for SiRen's shower that is that day.  That's why they had all the cookies and brownies to take over to JoKen's - Jana had probably made them the night before for the shower, and now she has to cook more.  Not to mention, instead of getting help cleaning up and setting up, now everyone is making tacky banners to drive across the yard to go hang them up.

[ginger90]

9 minutes ago, Heathen said:

Jill in bare feet in a hospital, tripping over that stupid skirt while holding a newborn baby and after an emergency caesarean section. Idiot!!! 

That skirt is a hazard, in more ways than one! Barefoot too? Yup, idiot!

[DragonFaerie]

22 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Derick and his bare feet in a hospital. Idiot.

He's a total moron.  Does he not have an inkling of the germs in a hospital???

12 minutes ago, Heathen said:

Jill in bare feet in a hospital, tripping over that stupid skirt while holding a newborn baby and after an emergency caesarean section. Idiot!!! 

 

1 minute ago, ginger90 said:

That skirt is a hazard, in more ways than one! Barefoot too? Yup, idiot!

OMG.  They are sooo clueless.  That skirt is ridiculous, bare feet and holding a newborn???  I wonder if the doctor reamed them a new one after the picture was taken.  I hope so.  Or "accidentely" stepped on both of their toes.

[Annb67]

40 minutes ago, Mollie said:

Jill had a male doctor for the birth of Israel.  Remember, she just showed up at the hospital emergency room after her failed homebirth and in that scenario you are given the doctor who is there at the time.  I don't think she was seeing any personal doctor for prenatal care.  If she had been, she would have been informed that the baby was not in a correct position for a homebirth.

 

Oh my god!! He's barefoot on a freaking HOSPITAL floor!! What the hell?!

[EmeraldGirl]

I always remember Anna declining a hospital birth because her doctor was on vacation and she wasn’t “comfortable” with the replacement. I figured that was a man. 

Derick is making that doctor look like McDreamy. He’s startlingly unattractive in that pic.

[HooHooHoo]

I can’t believe the staff LET them be barefoot. I got home yesterday from a few days stay. They made me sleep in socks (which I hate) even though I wasn’t even allowed to get out of bed for a couple of days. Not that they would listen to advice,  but I just assumed it would be non negotiable. Sorry if my grammar and spelling are off. Painkillers!  Yesterday I texted my husband and asked him to bring me a “dirt coot”.  Then the bastard tried to make me laugh which is hell right now. Everyone else got “Diet Coke” out of that right???

[queenanne]

Isn't it often considered dangerous to, say, bring an elderly person into the hospital, because the germs will get 'em before a broken hip, etc., will?  MRSA, and the like?  

That poor doctor.  He looks like he'd rather be shot instead of taking a Duggar picture.

[jcbrown]

53 minutes ago, DragonFaerie said:

That's why they had all the cookies and brownies to take over to JoKen's - Jana had probably made them the night before for the shower, and now she has to cook more.  Not to mention, instead of getting help cleaning up and setting up, now everyone is making tacky banners to drive across the yard to go hang them up.

Those banners were really stupid. And how far away from TTH is the cabin JoKen are living in, does anyone know? Wondering just how lazy and hateful to the planet these nimrods are if they really just fired up that gas guzzler to drive across the yard.

[BitterApple]

2 hours ago, Lunera said:

Jessa is probably salty her husband and Boob wouldn't pay for her hospital birth. Jessa seems like the type who would want to birth in a hospital but had a home birth because it was her only option. Same for Joy. It seems like maybe Kendra's family took charge of her care as soon as she became pregnant and ensured she had prenatal care and a safe birth.

That's the vibe I'm getting as well. And for as blonde and pretty and freakishly youthful as Christina Caldwell is, her firm, calm demeanor was giving me whiffs of "don't fuck with my kid." She was 100% focused on Kendra and not mugging for the cameras or using them as an opportunity to wax poetic on her own labor experiences (looking at you, J'Chelle). I'm sure she's fully aware of the previous Duggar birth debacles and was advising her daughter before the pee stick dried.

[kaleidoscope]

7 hours ago, Mollie said:

Mollie, thank you so much for posting this!

[DangerousMinds]

I still need video proof that Kendra actually got prenatal care.

[McManda]

So Kendra's mom is expecting again. I'd be less judgy if she didn't have 19 years between her oldest and youngest and didn't already have 6 or whatever kids. Outside that, though, she seems like an pretty cool person.

Also, what other measurable pain has Joe seen Kendra in?

[farmgal4]

2 hours ago, Mollie said:

Jill had a male doctor for the birth of Israel.  Remember, she just showed up at the hospital emergency room after her failed homebirth and in that scenario you are given the doctor who is there at the time.  I don't think she was seeing any personal doctor for prenatal care.  If she had been, she would have been informed that the baby was not in a correct position for a homebirth.

 

I’m guessing that he was the doctor on-call, so Jill didn’t have any other option.

[Mollie]

16 minutes ago, McManda said:

So Kendra's mom is expecting again. I'd be less judgy if she didn't have 19 years between her oldest and youngest and didn't already have 6 or whatever kids. Outside that, though, she seems like an pretty cool person.

Kendra's parents got married in January of 1998 and Kendra was born on August 11, 1998.  (Do the math.)  Christina Caldwell was 18-years-old when she married and is only 37 now.  She could have several more children in the next few years.  The baby she is carrying now will be child number eight.

[farmgal4]

12 minutes ago, Mollie said:

Kendra's parents got married in January of 1998 and Kendra was born on August 11, 1998.  (Do the math.)  Christina Caldwell was 18-years-old when she married and is only 37 now.  She could have several more children in the next few years.  The baby she is carrying now will be child number eight.

So it was a shotgun wedding??

[sixlets]

2 hours ago, McManda said:

So Kendra's mom is expecting again. I'd be less judgy if she didn't have 19 years between her oldest and youngest and didn't already have 6 or whatever kids. Outside that, though, she seems like an pretty cool person.

Also, what other measurable pain has Joe seen Kendra in?

2

Any Sunday dinner at the zoo TTH house or any interaction with his family in general.  

That doctor has beautiful hair.  I'm jealous.  

The TLC clips were nicely done.  Joe & Kendra clearly love each other, and while they are insanely young, I think they have what it takes to maintain their little family of 3.  Everything was going so well until I heard Mechelle's voice.  Her voice is so grating, I would rather hear grinding flatware in a garbage disposal.  

[EmeraldGirl]

2 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

I still need video proof that Kendra actually got prenatal care.

Well, Kendra did mention that she would go to the doctor the next day to get checked if the labor didn’t progress. It sounded like she had a regular guy to see. And she stayed overnight instead of taking the baby home immediately. Someone has insurance on her. 

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, EmeraldGirl said:

Well, Kendra did mention that she would go to the doctor the next day to get checked if the labor didn’t progress. It sounded like she had a regular guy to see. And she stayed overnight instead of taking the baby home immediately. Someone has insurance on her. 

I was thinking the same. I've never had kids but I can't imagine you can call an OB you've never seen and get in the next day while you're in labor. I'd imagine they'd tell you to just call 911 or go to the hospital.

[becca3891]

10 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

The Caldwell kids seem somewhat spaced out (I think there are some four year gaps in there). Maybe Mrs. Caldwell can pass a few tips along to Kendra, or maybe Mrs. C. just isn't as ultra-fertile as Michelle (which hopefully she also passed on to Kendra...). Not saying they won't have a big family, but there's a big difference between 8-10 and 15+.

 

10 hours ago, Heathen said:

I think the Duggars are outliers even for GotHardites. We've discussed before the difference between "leaving it up to god" and "trying everything to have as many as kids as possible." The Caldwells are the former, the Duggars are the latter. I'm not surprised that the Caldwells seem able to use critical thinking skills as far as childbirth goes, while the Duggars tend to get dumber with each successive birth. 

The Caldwells' belief system is abhorrent, but at least they're not risking the lives of their women and children because they don't want a male doctor seeing their genitalia. 

Michelle did seem to be deliberately trying to get pregnant again as quickly as possible by weaning so early. That said, some women still get pregnant while breast feeding, but it would seem likely that Christina is not one of them. Kendra can hope for the same!

What did I miss, by the way? Has the birth special already aired, or were these just preview clips?

[floridamom]

When I realized that I was beginning labor, my husband called the doctor for me at 1:00 in the morning. He gave us the instructions of what to look out for; then the doc said once that was apparent go to the hospital. The staff checked me out and informed the doc. We walked the hospital hallways for an hour then I was admitted. Why would Kendra be so far in labor and NOT have informed her physician that her labor had started and listened to his/her instructions? These people contact medical personnel waaayyyy too far in to things. Not good calls IMO.

[ginger90]

2 hours ago, becca3891 said:

 

What did I miss, by the way? Has the birth special already aired, or were these just preview clips?

There are 2 videos on TLC’s site. I was surprised by how long they were. For once they didn’t try to pretend we didn’t know the baby was born already. They were nicely done.

Edited July 1, 2018 by ginger90

[lookeyloo]

34 minutes ago, floridamom said:

When I realized that I was beginning labor, my husband called the doctor for me at 1:00 in the morning. He gave us the instructions of what to look out for; then the doc said once that was apparent go to the hospital. The staff checked me out and informed the doc. We walked the hospital hallways for an hour then I was admitted. Why would Kendra be so far in labor and NOT have informed her physician that her labor had started and listened to his/her instructions? These people contact medical personnel waaayyyy too far in to things. Not good calls IMO.

I still think a lot of what we see is “scripted” or producer driven and edited to make a show. We really don’t know what happened - just what they show us. 

[saylubee]

2 hours ago, floridamom said:

When I realized that I was beginning labor, my husband called the doctor for me at 1:00 in the morning. He gave us the instructions of what to look out for; then the doc said once that was apparent go to the hospital. The staff checked me out and informed the doc. We walked the hospital hallways for an hour then I was admitted. Why would Kendra be so far in labor and NOT have informed her physician that her labor had started and listened to his/her instructions? These people contact medical personnel waaayyyy too far in to things. Not good calls IMO.

I didn’t get the impression Kendra was reckless with her care at all.  First video showed the contractions 5-10 minutes apart in the evening after most doctor’s close.  She was also two and a half weeks early so it’s very possible those would have slowed over time.  No hospital would have admitted her during the first video if something else hadn’t happened.  Then the second video was in the early morning (2-4am) and they went to the hospital once the contractions were 2-3 min apart.  Plus her water never broke at home.  Kendra also had a plan to go to the doctor in the morning which sounds like she called and talked to his office at some point.  I thought Kendra had the most sane birth of all the Duggars.

[Heathen]

4 hours ago, floridamom said:

When I realized that I was beginning labor, my husband called the doctor for me at 1:00 in the morning. He gave us the instructions of what to look out for; then the doc said once that was apparent go to the hospital. The staff checked me out and informed the doc. We walked the hospital hallways for an hour then I was admitted. Why would Kendra be so far in labor and NOT have informed her physician that her labor had started and listened to his/her instructions? These people contact medical personnel waaayyyy too far in to things. Not good calls IMO.

We only see what TLC wants us to see, and anyway, every doctor is different. It's entirely possible that Kendra was following her obstetrician's guidelines, if reality is what TLC showed. 

Also, practice guidelines change over time. I don't know when you had your kids, but here's an example: when my grandmother had her first, in 1947, she had to stay in the hospital for TEN DAYS. 

[louannems]

How old was baby Garrett on Josiah's wedding day?  Any sign that the new family attended the wedding?

[GeeGolly]

18 minutes ago, louannems said:

How old was baby Garrett on Josiah's wedding day?  Any sign that the new family attended the wedding?

9 or 10 days old maybe. I bet they went, if quiverfull folk stayed home every time they had a newborn they'd practically miss every event happening.

[graefin]

54 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

9 or 10 days old maybe. I bet they went, if quiverfull folk stayed home every time they had a newborn they'd practically miss every event happening.

He was born June 8, so he'd be three weeks one day, since they got married yesterday. 

[Lady Edith]

That’s plenty old enough to start the search for a wife. ?

[Sew Sumi]

7 hours ago, ginger90 said:

There are 2 videos on TLC’s site. I was surprised by how long they were. For once they didn’t try to pretend we didn’t know the baby was born already. They were nicely done.

TLC did the same thing with Joy's birth video. It turned into her birth VSE that aired. TLC didn't add or subtract anything from what they posted online. I suspect they'll air Baby Garrett's VSE the same way.

[The Ascension]

Oh man. That was hard to watch and yet beautiful. I felt guilty watching her writhing around in so much pain, haha, like I was the one doing it to her! Haha. Christina, Lauren and Joe made an excellent support team. I can't imagine how hard it must be for a mom to watch her daughter go through that. You know exactly what she's going through and that at some point it's over but it's still got to be so hard.

Also I've seen countless births on TV and I still don't understand pushing. Ten seconds is a long freaking time to hold your breath and push when you're in that much pain! Also labor just looks like the woman is trapped in her body and there's no way out (well, there is. have the baby). Women are badasses. 

Edited July 1, 2018 by The Ascension
because there IS a way out of labor. push baby out. i'm dramatic.

[graefin]

13 minutes ago, The Ascension said:

I can't imagine how hard it must be for a mom to watch her daughter go through that. You know exactly what she's going through and that at some point it's over but it's still got to be so hard.

Unless you're Michelle Duggar, in which case you can pretend that it's hard to watch for the cameras.

[Absolom]

The thing about pushing that was I taught by two childbirth instructors and held true for me through all my deliveries is that if you are lined up right and pushing properly it doesn't hurt.  Also they told me to only push hard enough to push away the pain.  So it doesn't have to be the full on push as hard as you can thing and quite a bit of the noise is not from pain but women trying to push as hard as they can.  Maybe that helps.

[Heathen]

1 hour ago, The Ascension said:

Oh man. That was hard to watch and yet beautiful. I felt guilty watching her writhing around in so much pain, haha, like I was the one doing it to her! Haha. Christina, Lauren and Joe made an excellent support team. I can't imagine how hard it must be for a mom to watch her daughter go through that. You know exactly what she's going through and that at some point it's over but it's still got to be so hard.

Also I've seen countless births on TV and I still don't understand pushing. Ten seconds is a long freaking time to hold your breath and push when you're in that much pain! Also labor just looks like the woman is trapped in her body and there's no way out (well, there is. have the baby). Women are badasses. 

 

1 hour ago, graefin said:

Unless you're Michelle Duggar, in which case you can pretend that it's hard to watch for the cameras.

And if it's Ofsmuggar laboring, Mullet barely contains her glare and smirk. 

[ginger90]

Joe and Kendra now have a site of their own. joeandkendra.com

[Future Cat Lady]

8 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Joe and Kendra now have a site of their own. joeandkendra.com

Why do these people have this need to create a couple/family website. Yes I know, it's their ministry. But, I just find it annoying. They sure are not modest about how wonderful their lives are. Even if it's a big lie.  

[Sew Sumi]

I was poking through the blog the other day. Joe credits ALERT for his salvation. Doesn't he realize he was broken down to the point where you don't have any choice but to comply?

Edited July 1, 2018 by Sew Sumi

[doodlebug]

12 hours ago, ginger90 said:

There are 2 videos on TLC’s site. I was surprised by how long they were. For once they didn’t try to pretend we didn’t know the baby was born already. They were nicely done.

The videos were well done, and kudos and gold stars to both Joe and Kendra's mom for providing real, tangible assistance to Kendra in labor.  As a 'pro' in this field, it was very lovely to watch a couple, and her mom, bring a baby into the world via unmedicated childbirth with loving, supportive atmosphere.  Made me wish I still did deliveries-almost.

[PradaKitty]

I was thinking... Maybe Jana, who appears to be somewhat  shy and not all that fond of cameras, doesn’t’ want  to get married because Jim Bob will insist on a big wedding in a big “ theater” ( I don’t really consider a giant auditorium a church) with all of the family in the wedding party and every fundy family In America invited  to the extravaganza . I don’t think she wants to be center stage at the Duggar follies.