![Michelle Duggar says baby Josie "is doing very good."](http://www.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/large_lightbox/hash/9c/21/9c2174bd4541bbfc5cc27b9d388becb3.jpg "Michelle Duggar says baby Josie "is doing very good."")
The Duggars appeared on the Today show Thursday morning to talk about their 19th child, Josie Brooklyn. Today aired an exclusive interview with mom, Michelle Duggar, via satellite from Little Rock, Arkansas, and played portions of TLC's new special featuring Josie.
“Little Josie is 7 weeks old today, and that’s a lot to celebrate,” said Michelle. "She's doing very good.
Michelle and Jim Bob and 16 of their children faced the cameras for the first time since little Josie's birth. The Duggars offered a glimpse of their new daughter, who is still confined to an incubator in the NICU Unit at Arkansas Children's Hospital. Josie, though very tiny, has a full head of hair.
Michelle and Jim Bob talked about the emergency C-section Michelle underwent to deliver Josie.
“I think that day was one of the most scary moments of my life, realizing little Josie was going to be born early,” Michelle told Meredith Vieira. “I was just scared to death thinking, here she’s 15 weeks away from her due date. Will she survive?”
Michelle was hospitalized for six days following a gallstone attack and developed preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition. Doctors told her that to save her and the baby they must perform a Caesarean section within 30 minutes.
“We thought maybe we’d be able to keep the pregnancy going for three and a half months so she could go full-term,” Jim Bob said. “It was so scary when she had to deliver early. When they came in and said we need to deliver within 30 minutes, it was one of the scariest moments of our lives. We really felt that’s what we needed to do.
The Duggars won't be able to bring baby Josie home until at least March 19, her original due date.
“Overall, she’s done very well. She’s gained a pound. Probably within the next month she’ll gain another pound or two," Jim Bob said. "We look forward to the day we can bring her home and join the rest of the bunch.”
Sister Jill Duggar, who is 18, is the one of the few Duggar children allowed to visit Josie since hospital rules require visitors to be over 18.
“She is so very precious,” Jill added. “Just seeing a baby that small is amazing. I just cry every time I see her. She’s just so little. Like her whole hand can barely wrap around my pinky. Just seeing that precious little life, that it can be sustained at that age — it’s beautiful.”
TLC will feature the baby in a special airing Sunday night: 19 Kids and Counting: Special Delivery.
The Duggars have been temporarily living in Little Rock while Josie stays in ICU and have been seen around town with the TLC camera crew. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Wednesday that the Duggars were spotted touring the USS Razorback on the Arkansas River.
View the video below of baby Josie's journey.
Comments
When will we stop glorifying this family, and the many other Quiverfull groups that appear on TLC? Quiverfull is abusive of women, and we need to stop romanticizing it.
I couldnt agree with you more! They just want to keep the women at home bearfoot and pregnant. The girls in that family might as well not even go to school. You dont need to know how to read to make and raise babies your whole life.
It's her choice to have as many kids as she want's. She loves it and is doing a far better job than a lot of moms with one or two kids are. Who are we to judge her and her decision? Shame on you for making her seem to be nothing more than a horse. They do a lot of things other than stay home bare foot. They are an inspiration for those of us who embrace families. Children are a gift and people seem to have forgotten that in a world that pushes abortion and pills. Thank your mothers that they decided to be bare foot and pregnant for YOU. My heart goes out to Michelle and her family in this hard time, and may God bless her and give her peace through this difficult time.
I love the Duggar family and I think their great. They want to have children and as JimBob has said it's her choice of she wants more he will stop when she wants to. So in response to the abusiveness of women it does not apply to her although I'm sure in some cases that may be true.
Jim Bob - What a typical hillbilly name. It's easy for him to support having as many kids as possible since, SURPRISE - he doesn't have to have them! He just gets to sit around while his wife's body and health get destroyed by all these kids.
Michelle - Honestly, you're getting old. This latest pregnancy is proof that you can't expect to keep having children every year. It's unhealthy for the them and certainly bad for you. Women's bodies were not meant to take this much. The only reason the Bible spouts "Be fruitful and multiply" is because life expectancy back then was around, what, 20 years old? You were "old" if you got to 30. The Bible is meant to be symbolic, not taken literally.
Their kids: I feel sorry for them. The girls are being raised to become baby-factories. And how can their parents honestly know them each as individuals? I wonder if they forget the kids' names every now and then.
If this woman gets pregnant again, her other kids should be taken away. Period.
Broad, emotionally based statements only work to show the ignorance of the person making them. I have many friends who have large families and wouldn't have it any other way. While I only have three children, I applaud people who make the decision to have large families in this day and age. By the way, the term is barefoot not "bearfoot" unless you have a bear's feet. Now let's talk about schooling...
To, there's something wrong with this family: You sure don't know your bible. People in the early days of creation live to be many hundreds of years old. I do believe youare jealous.
Honestly, I agree and disagree with a little of each of the comments here. Yes, they are great parents, and I don't know of a mother or father who has not at one time or another called a child by the wrong name even when there has only been 2 or 3 children in the family....so not a big deal. On the other hand she needs to seriously let this be the last baby. I am not judging her at all, I am thinking of the baby, and what the baby has gone through to survive. There has to come a time when enough is enough, and that time is now. I wish them the best.
People chil I love the DUggar Family least there not like most people on wealth fair and being lazy at home doing nothing!
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