The Duggar Family

I happened to be channel surfing last night and came upon an interesting show "14 Children & Pregnant Again". The show was about the Duggar Family. They have 14 children & were expecting their 15th. I'm sure Discovery Health Channel will be repeating this show but check your local listings.

This family only has two sets of twins, so she's had 11 singletons! Her oldest is only 16 years old. Can you believe that she had one c-section when she had her first set of twins (her 2nd pregnancy) and had another c-section with this 15th baby? I'm amazed that she was able to have vaginal births for the rest of them! I believe that she used a mid-wife with this last pregnancy, so maybe she used a mid-wife for her other pregnancies as well -- thus having vaginal birth experiences in such a short time-frame.

I'm amazed by the fact that this family lives in less than 2500 sq ft. In this day and age that is practically unheard of here in the United States. Of course, they did show that they were building a 7000 sq ft home. I didn't say that they were having it built...I said they were building it. Yes! The family was building this 7000 sq ft (one story) home by themselves. Their oldest son keeps on mentioning to his Dad that they should have professionals do certain steps, but his Dad ropes him into the job and it gets done. They put the steel beams up themselves. They put the roof on themselves. Even the girls helped put the flexible piping down on the slab so they could have radiant heat come up through the floor.

What was interesting was watching them shop for food. They just waited patiently as their Mom went through the list. These kids picked up some heavy canned foods and shoved them into the carts by themselves. It wasn't just the boys doing the work either. The girls were hauling the stuff too! Then there was their visit to a local restaurant. How'd they afford it? It was Kids' Night! It was only $0.49 for each child (it included their drink). The gal at the restaurant said that the first time they went into the restaurant, she thought that they had rounded up some kids from the neighborhood. Ha! Now she's prepared when they come in. She says that the Mom always has a list of what everyone wants and they just go down the list.

It really was a different way of life. A different way of defining a family. Much more work than I would be able to handle!

Duggar Family => Here's a link to Discovery Health

Another Perspective => Here's someone else's perspective on the same show