God, I feel like an ass.
I posted not too long about about the Duggar family having their 19th baby. You can read it here if you truly wish to be treated to my sarcastic and dry sense of humor.
While I want to state for the record that I still think this sort of celebrity multiple-birthing thing is really weird and a little icky, I also would like to ask that everyone send up prayers, thoughts, wishes, or whatever it is that works in your particular corner of the spiritual world on behalf of the Duggar's latest arrival.
Michelle Duggar had an emergency C section, and Josie Brooklyn arrived in this world at 25 weeks gestation, weighing just 1 pound, 6 ounces. Statistically, she has a fair chance of surviving - about 82% according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. For those of you that hadn't followed the news, Michelle was airlifted to a hospital in Little Rock, AR on Monday with contractions that were being caused by a diseased gallbladder. The news channels all report mom and baby are in good shape.
Regardless of what I believe about the Duggars' choices in reproductive frequency, I truly hope little Josie thrives. That's an awfully tiny baby to be out in this big, cold world.
My youngest nephew was born about 4 weeks after my daughter, at 28 weeks gestation. He was, if I remember correctly, about 4.5 lbs. Compared to the 11 pounds my daughter had reached at just four weeks of age, little J felt light as a baby bird when I got to pick him up out of his hospital crib. Like many preemies, he has had some developmental delays, but when I say that this kid is healthy and thriving I am not yanking your chain. My little Amazonian Princess is in about the 97th percentile for her age in height, and J gives her a run for her money. We spent a week visiting with that side of the family in July, and by the size of him, you'd never know what a teensy weensy little guy he was when he first arrived.
I hope the same success for little Miss Josie Brooklyn Duggar. I also wish her parents would stop reproducing, if only for the sake of the 19 children they now have.
