It's a girl! Duggars welcome 18th child

By Laura on 11:59 PM

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The Duggars celebrating baby #17Thursday, December 18, 2008

The ever-growing Arkansas family has added a holiday bundle-of-joy to their brood.

That's right folks, Michelle Duggar, has given birth to her 18th child.

The Arkansas supermom delivered the baby girl by Caesarean section Thursday at Mercy Medical Center in Rogers. The baby, named Jordyn-Grace Makiya Duggar, weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.

"The ultimate Christmas gift from God," said Jim Bob Duggar, the father of the 18 children. "She's just absolutely beautiful, like her mom and her sisters."

The Duggars now have 10 sons and eight daughters.

Jim Bob Duggar said Michelle started having contractions Wednesday night. She needed the C-section, her third, because the baby was lying sideways. Jim Bob said both baby and mother were doing well Thursday night.

"We both would love to have more," he said. Jim Bob Duggar is 43, a year older than his wife. Their oldest child, Joshua, is 20.

The cable network TLC broadcasts a weekly show about the Duggars, called "Seventeen and Counting." Chris Finnegan of TLC — which handles public relations for the Duggar family — said the show's name would be updated to account for the latest addition to the family. He said TLC also will air a show Monday on the baby's delivery.

"Our whole family is excited about Jordyn's addition to our family," Jim Bob Duggar said. "She's just perfect in every way."

With the latest addition, the Duggars’ 18 natural children range in age from 20 years to one day old. Included in the mix are 10 boys and now eight girls — Joshua, twins Jana and John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy-Anna, twins Jedidiah and Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, and Jordyn-Grace.

With two sets of twins, Michelle, has gone through 15 pregnancies that ended in 13 natural deliveries and two Caesarean sections.

Both Michelle and Jim Bob — a former state legislator who served in the Arkansas House of Representatives — are real estate agents. They claim their family is debt-free, with the entire bunch helping to build their 7,000-square-foot home in Tontitown. And they are enriched by a devout faith in their religion.

The Duggars are followers of the evangelical Christian movement called Quiverful, which teaches that children are God’s blessing and that husbands and wives should happily welcome every child they are given. In fact, the Duggars' website quotes, “Children are a heritage of the Lord” from verse 3 of the 123rd Psalm.

Source: here

Contributor: Laura Eilers, Junkfoodaholic.com

3 comments for this post

"The ultimate Christmas gift from God," said Jim Bob Duggar.

More like the ultimate gift from Jim Bob's johnson...

Posted on December 19, 2008 at 5:17 AM  

It is all we can do to keep up with our one little man! I simply cannot fathom having eighteen children!

Wow.

Posted on December 19, 2008 at 6:12 AM  

18 is just freakin NUTZ!! I'm blown away that people would have this many children, but you know these people do it gracefully!

Posted on December 19, 2008 at 8:20 AM  

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