Jon and Kate Plus 8 official Thread, Part 2!!

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

Anyway, it is very possible for young people to know that they'll have trouble conceiving, way before they even try to start having a family.

I'd been told by various OB/GYNs since I was probably 18 or 19 years old that I would have trouble concieving. When DH and I married, this wasn't much of an issue since we were 20 and 23 at the time. When I was older and decided I DID want kids, I looked at all my options and decided I didn't want to go the fertility drug route. I decided that if I was supposed to have kids, I would despite the fact that I wasn't using drugs to help me get pregnant. If I wasn't going to have kids, I wouldn't. I did get pregnant eventually, but it took close to a year and even then, it was a total surprise. I didn't know I was pregnant until I was almost out of my first trimester.

 

[barkley]

She said on the first special that the only time they left was to go to church. She said nothing about staying home for 2 years. They had to take two cars everywhere is what she said previously.

Also, wasn't the first special aired when the sextuplets were 15 months or so? They went out then right?

she did say on dr. phil that she did'nt leave the house for 2 years which seemed to contradict what i had heard her say/saw in quotes attributed to her in past print interviews.

only reason i'm sure of the dr. phil comment is i happened to tivo the last few days of his show and watched both of the octuplet episodes back to back today (and in the second part they re-capped day one and re-aired the portion where kate clearly said she was'nt able to leave her home for the first 2 years-but then again she said made some kind of comment about never being able to sit down for the first year so she may have been exagerating/generalizing).

btw-i don't know how well thought out it was for dr. phil to have kate of all people on those 2 episodes given the point of view the shows were slanted towards on the octuplet's mom. i would'nt be surprised if his message board lit up quite a bit with negative messages about him making comments and questioning the mental soundness of the octuplet mom having so many kids and (although she's denied it but it's been verified through her publicist) planning on continuing to use public assistance to support them/planning & anticipating the public & private companies would come through with donations, when john and kate have been heavily flamed for the same thing.

i thought it was realy odd that he was going on and on about how he/allot of the public are offended by a person who would undergo these types of treatments knowing the increased odds of having multiples with the mindset that they absolutly would'nt do selective reduction, but knowing their personal financial means could'nt provide- with the expectation that public assistance would help support these kids. yet he has kate on the panel who in essence had the same mindset and brought allot of the same negative comments down on herself/john when her kids were babies with her public statements about society being obligated to support her children/other multiples by virtue of the technology to conceive them being available.

dr. phil made some comments about how so far there has'nt been the public/private company outpouring of donations that have occured with previous large multiple births and he seemed to attribute it to the negative back-lash at the mom and her decisions surrounding having these babies-but i could'nt help but wonder if some of the resistance on the part of the public and companies to donate is'nt based on the whole "jon and kate plus 8" debate over soliciting donations to help support their children but now living in large part due to those donations/endorsements/book deals/interviews/public speaking engagements about those kids what many potential donors see as a much more plush and luxurious lifestyle than the potential donors themselves can afford/hope to provide for their own much smaller families (and allot of the companys that donated to the gosselins and then did tie-ins to their show through product placement get large amounts of negative e-mails about how that choice has outraged consumers such that they won't purchase that company's products-something the octuplet mom's publicist said on the show already kind of touched on this-she said that people outraged that she had volunteered to broker deals for the mom had sent e-mails and called her other big name clients stating they would boycott their products because the saw that company/individual's association with the publicist as an association to the mom and somehow supportive of what they felt were her inappropriate decisions/attempts to financialy benefit from her kids).

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

It's not weird to me that she thought she would have fertility problems. I think that a sometimes a woman just knows that something isn't right. What I find weird is that she was able to get IUI so quickly.

It took us 14 months to get our DD. Kate was 24/25. I was 27 when we started. My OB told me that under 30, they wait 1 year. So we tried to for 1 year. At 1 year, we were offered clomid. We were terrified of getting twins or more, so we decided to wait 6 more months. 2 more months later, we were pregnant. I realize that she had PCOS, but they didn't even try for 6 months. Just weird to me.

If you have PCOS, you pretty much don't ovulate. What would be the point in for six months (or a year) if there isn't any ovulation?

she did say on dr. phil that she did'nt leave the house for 2 years which seemed to contradict what i had heard her say/saw in quotes attributed to her in past print interviews.

only reason i'm sure of the dr. phil comment is i happened to tivo the last few days of his show and watched both of the octuplet episodes back to back today (and in the second part they re-capped day one and re-aired the portion where kate clearly said she was'nt able to leave her home for the first 2 years-but then again she said made some kind of comment about never being able to sit down for the first year so she may have been exagerating/generalizing).

btw-i don't know how well thought out it was for dr. phil to have kate of all people on those 2 episodes given the point of view the shows were slanted towards on the octuplet's mom. i would'nt be surprised if his message board lit up quite a bit with negative messages about him making comments and questioning the mental soundness of the octuplet mom having so many kids and (although she's denied it but it's been verified through her publicist) planning on continuing to use public assistance to support them/planning & anticipating the public & private companies would come through with donations, when john and kate have been heavily flamed for the same thing.

i thought it was realy odd that he was going on and on about how he/allot of the public are offended by a person who would undergo these types of treatments knowing the increased odds of having multiples with the mindset that they absolutly would'nt do selective reduction, but knowing their personal financial means could'nt provide- with the expectation that public assistance would help support these kids. yet he has kate on the panel who in essence had the same mindset and brought allot of the same negative comments down on herself/john when her kids were babies with her public statements about society being obligated to support her children/other multiples by virtue of the technology to conceive them being available.

dr. phil made some comments about how so far there has'nt been the public/private company outpouring of donations that have occured with previous large multiple births and he seemed to attribute it to the negative back-lash at the mom and her decisions surrounding having these babies-but i could'nt help but wonder if some of the resistance on the part of the public and companies to donate is'nt based on the whole "jon and kate plus 8" debate over soliciting donations to help support their children but now living in large part due to those donations/endorsements/book deals/interviews/public speaking engagements about those kids what many potential donors see as a much more plush and luxurious lifestyle than the potential donors themselves can afford/hope to provide for their own much smaller families (and allot of the companys that donated to the gosselins and then did tie-ins to their show through product placement get large amounts of negative e-mails about how that choice has outraged consumers such that they won't purchase that company's products-something the octuplet mom's publicist said on the show already kind of touched on this-she said that people outraged that she had volunteered to broker deals for the mom had sent e-mails and called her other big name clients stating they would boycott their products because the saw that company/individual's association with the publicist as an association to the mom and somehow supportive of what they felt were her inappropriate decisions/attempts to financialy benefit from her kids).

Perhaps those with a narrow mindset will not see a difference between Octomom and JK, but it has been pointed out, at least on our happy little thread here, the immense differences in the two families. Even focusing on the method alone points out a huge difference in expectation of babies.

I'd also be interested in reading about the backlash toward JK8-sponsoring companies. Any links/articles for us? You know how much we love links!


************************

I just finished Multiple Blessings (thanks, Fergie!!) during the ride home from Dallas for a Valentine shopping spree (saw a Banana Republic Factory Store and laughed to myself). Quick, engaging read. I definitely have some quotes that address some questions here that I'll have to post soon.

I did want to say that the book states she was hospitalized for overstimulation after she found out she was pregnant with a home test. I couldn't quite decipher if she had the "official" blood test done yet. I'll have to look over that part again.

 

[DVCisME]

It's not weird to me that she thought she would have fertility problems. I think that a sometimes a woman just knows that something isn't right. What I find weird is that she was able to get IUI so quickly.

It took us 14 months to get our DD. Kate was 24/25. I was 27 when we started. My OB told me that under 30, they wait 1 year. So we tried to for 1 year. At 1 year, we were offered clomid. We were terrified of getting twins or more, so we decided to wait 6 more months. 2 more months later, we were pregnant. I realize that she had PCOS, but they didn't even try for 6 months. Just weird to me.

Maybe they did try before they were married. How would we know?

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

OK, so I was watching JK8 (I know, wild Vday for me )...

-Looks like she flinched because the stick was close to her face. Flinched again when Jon broke it. Seemed ridiculously not suspicious.

-Didn't think Jon was overly mean to the kids. Definitely said some things I wouldn't say to mine, though. I did think it was funny when he told Aaden to "walk like a man" because I started singing that song in my head.

-Kate did look bored. Or tired. Or both.

-I'm pretty sure the high chairs don't have the front bar. They're just elevated chairs (as opposed to having regular dining chairs and attaching booster seats). DS has one. We used to have the plastic booster that strapped to the chair. We got a new dining set, though, and didn't want scratches on the new chairs so we got the high aka elevated chair.

-Bibs don't bother me. DS doesn't use one but is a fairly neat eater, and if he does spill, I only have one shirt to treat. If I had six of him, they might still be in bibs. Who knows? We give out awards on Thanksgiving (silly thing my generation started when we were around ten or so), and my mom's 60-something year old aunt always gets the prettiest bib award. If the kids are willing to wear them, why not? Definitely keeps the clothes nicer longer.

 

[bjgrazi]

OK, so I was watching JK8 (I know, wild Vday for me )...


-I'm pretty sure the high chairs don't have the front bar. They're just elevated chairs (as opposed to having regular dining chairs and attaching booster seats). DS has one. We used to have the plastic booster that strapped to the chair. We got a new dining set, though, and didn't want scratches on the new chairs so we got the high aka elevated chair.

I had said awhile back that the front bar is removed we've done the same thing, we didn't want a booster scratching our chairs. I don't know why it bothers so many people.

 

[madge]

I had said awhile back that the front bar is removed we've done the same thing, we didn't want a booster scratching our chairs. I don't know why it bothers so many people.

in the episode where Mady & Cara were playing mommy, the bars were still on. it hasn't been that long ago.

the high chairs bug me less than the bibs, but they still bug me. these kids will be 5 years old, soon. old enough for big people chairs and no bibs (messy meals like spaghetti, excluded. LOL).

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

in the episode where Mady & Cara were playing mommy, the bars were still on. it hasn't been that long ago.

the high chairs bug me less than the bibs, but they still bug me. these kids will be 5 years old, soon. old enough for big people chairs and no bibs (messy meals like spaghetti, excluded. LOL).

They were off in the Valentine's Day episode (so they were three, I think). I never saw the front of them in the new episode.

Keep in mind they're preemies, so they're probably not as big as the average five year old. My full-term niece, at five, was still a little short at restaurants. DS needs a booster, too, but he prefers to sit on his knees at restaurants. Somehow he always ends up sliding out of a booster seat. Weird shaped bum, I guess.

Just for kicks...if they decided to get them regular dining chairs with boosters, don't you think they'd get flack for buying those when they had perfectly good chairs to begin with?

 

[madge]

Just for kicks...if they decided to get them regular dining chairs with boosters, don't you think they'd get flack for buying those when they had perfectly good chairs to begin with?

I'd give them flack because I don't see the need for boosters at this point. LOL.

 

[madge]

They were off in the Valentine's Day episode (so they were three, I think). I never saw the front of them in the new episode.

in the Mady/Cara mommy episode, at least one of the kids needed help getting out of the chair. one of the boys.

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

in the Mady/Cara mommy episode, at least one of the kids needed help getting out of the chair. one of the boys.

I didn't see that one.

OK, so say they were sitting in regular chairs but were too short for the dining table. Their new one was up to Jon's mid-torso, I think. Would they get called out because their kids weren't at an adequate eating height? I know sounds ridiculous, but I can totally imagine someone over on GWoP saying it.



I was also thinking about GWoP and similar sites/posters. The sole purpose of it is to dress down Kate (and sometimes Jon). Honestly, I think it's kind of sad. Really, what else does it do? Some people claim they're trying to protect the kids. Again, if someone feels the kids really are in danger, they need to contact the proper authorities. Slamming their parents on the internet does no good for them. What a sad existence if the main purpose of your Monday nights is to find ways to make fun of and insult people you don't know.

OK, off the soapbox now...just wanted to get that out of my head.

 

[madge]

I didn't see that one.

OK, so say they were sitting in regular chairs but were too short for the dining table. Their new one was up to Jon's mid-torso, I think. Would they get called out because their kids weren't at an adequate eating height? I know sounds ridiculous, but I can totally imagine someone over on GWoP saying it.

oh, I can see that, too.

I've never been a fan of the booster seat... has nothing to do with the Gosselins. They've never seemed terribly practical to me. The ones we've tried (which were few, and several years ago) never fit in the chair correctly, scratched the seat, looked terrible, etc. I guess they're a good idea, in theory .. but just never worked for us.

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

oh, I can see that, too.

I've never been a fan of the booster seat... has nothing to do with the Gosselins. They've never seemed terribly practical to me. The ones we've tried (which were few, and several years ago) never fit in the chair correctly, scratched the seat, looked terrible, etc. I guess they're a good idea, in theory .. but just never worked for us.

We had one for about six months but got rid of it when I got a new dining set for those reasons. Like I said, DS doesn't even like boosters in a restaurant. He prefers to sit on his knees. Of course, sometimes, during rowdy dinners especially, I miss being able to strap the kid in and enjoy a meal

He does pretty well in his elevated (not high! ) chair. He's able to be on our level, but he's not slippin' around in a booster.

 

[madge]

I was also thinking about GWoP and similar sites/posters. The sole purpose of it is to dress down Kate (and sometimes Jon). Honestly, I think it's kind of sad. Really, what else does it do? Some people claim they're trying to protect the kids. Again, if someone feels the kids really are in danger, they need to contact the proper authorities. Slamming their parents on the internet does no good for them. What a sad existence if the main purpose of your Monday nights is to find ways to make fun of and insult people you don't know.

OK, off the soapbox now...just wanted to get that out of my head.

agreed. I read GWOP quite a bit last summer, and while it's always been nasty, it didn't start out quite as venomous as it is now. I check over there from time to time, and am amazed at the amount of time people devote to that blog. It's amazing.

that's why I like this thread, it's a reasonable conversation without insults or petty comments. I don't feel like I make those kinds of comments, and I think if I did, someone would call me out on it. I think I'm fairly respectful in my dislike of things

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

agreed. I read GWOP quite a bit last summer, and while it's always been nasty, it didn't start out quite as venomous as it is now. I check over there from time to time, and am amazed at the amount of time people devote to that blog. It's amazing.

that's why I like this thread, it's a reasonable conversation without insults or petty comments. I don't feel like I make those kinds of comments, and I think if I did, someone would call me out on it. I think I'm fairly respectful in my dislike of things

What do you mean, Madge? No one would ever call you out!!

Yeah, I think this thread does a pretty good job at showing both sides of the fence without being ridiculous, carnival snackers aside. All that sugar just rots the brain, as well as the teeth.

 

[newtodis]

Hey y'all. I just managed to get caught up (got busy with writing my TR from Dec and working on our plans for next week's trip).

For the survey, I've got two boys and have years of early childhood education/day care/nanny experience. I don't have much knowledge regarding the whole infertility thing. DH and I were not trying (or married) when I got pregnant with DS4 - I didn't know until I was almost three months prego and when I called DH to tell him, the first word he said was the "f" word...not what you want to hear when you tell someone that! He was a bit happier the second time around - we'd been trying and had an unsuccessful time through several months. I finally decided if it was meant to be, it'd happen. It sure did! We have friends who she just turned 40 and they're adopting a baby from a friend next week (or as soon as she has the baby!). I can't say anything about the age someone chooses to become a parent. Personally, I love that I'm young enough to still run around with them (YES you can do that at 40 - I know!!) and granchildren when it comes time for that.

Thanks for the details while catching up - I appreciate it! I have a couple of episodes dvr'd along with the Dr Phil show. Maybe tomorrow I'll have some time to pop over to his message boards and see what happened after Kate was on. Something about this family really has me intrigued.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!!

 

[newtodis]

Here's the link regarding Dr Phil's show: http://drphil.com/shows/show/1220/

Here's the link to the message boards: http://community.drphil.com/boards/?EntryID=4133

 

[brockash]

I had said awhile back that the front bar is removed we've done the same thing, we didn't want a booster scratching our chairs. I don't know why it bothers so many people.

I know the front bars have been off since before they moved, because I remember seeing one of the kids pushed back further and just slid off the chair themselves once. I agree, I don't get why it bothers ppl., but I remember having a raised chair for a long time when I was a child. Honestly, I think my mom still has 2 in her house for the grandkids.

 

[MichelleVW]

What do you mean, Madge? No one would ever call you out!!

Yeah, I think this thread does a pretty good job at showing both sides of the fence without being ridiculous, carnival snackers aside. All that sugar just rots the brain, as well as the teeth.

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

I loved when Kate got paint on the trim. Hilarious!!

I also like that the kids don't say "painting," they say "paintin'." I love their "-ing" words! Cute!

So, the fridge is new. Interesting. I am so jealous of the washer/dryer. Laundry would be a joy for me, too, if I had those beauties.

Good episode, but I've become domestic in my "old age" and find this kind of stuff interesting. Yes, I'm the girl who texted people when she got her Dyson.