Jill Duggar Dillard has attended quite a few births in her life but nothing could have prepared Jill for the dramatic labor and delivery she endured to give birth to her first son, Israel David on April 6. Although Jill and her husband, Derick Dillard, had planned for Jill to have a natural delivery at home, she ended up giving birth in a hospital.
In a new interview with People, Jill and Derick have finally opened up about what happened during Israel’s birth.
According to the couple, Jill’s water did eventually break (despite that she was nearly two weeks overdue), but she was soon put on an IV to get antibiotics pumping into her because she tested positive for Strep B, a bacteria that can be harmful to a baby. Jill endured 20 hours of labor (with contractions one minute apart– Good Lord!) but was not progressing. When they saw signs that the baby was in distress, they gave up on the home birth and headed to a hospital.
While she gave up on the idea of having a home birth, Jill was still determined to have a natural birth with no drugs, so she declined the Pitocin, which is used to speed up labor. As a result, she spent 70 hours in labor before finally agreeing to have a C-section.
In a video posted to the People magazine website, Jill talks about how she’s recovering after the delivery.
“I’m feeling great,” Jill said. “I’m recovering well.”
Jill has a lot of experience taking care of babies, as she helped raise many of her 19 siblings. However, raising a baby of your own is not the same, she said.
“It’s definitely different, [raising]] your own versus your siblings or being around kids,” she said.
While Derick said Israel’s birth “definitely bonded” him and Jill as a couple, don’t expect Jill to get pregnant just yet. It’s likely that Jill and Derick prescribe to the same after-baby sex rules that her parents do, which means that they will not have sex again for at least 40 days after Israel’s birth. (When her parents had a baby girl, they said that they abstain from sex for 80 days.) This is likely due to them following Leviticus 12 of the Old Testament, which talks about purification after childbirth.
Like her parents, Jill has said that she and Derick will have as many children as “God will bless” them with. However, after that extra-long pregnancy and horrific delivery, she may be rethinking her plan of shooting out 18 more kids!
15 Responses
At 19, I had my first son after being induced with Pitocin and no epidural. Then, 16 years later, my 2nd son was born 5 minutes after my water broke! Lol…he said I’m not waiting for the hospital and was almost delivered by me in my driveway!! Luckily, the paramedics arrived in the nick of time because the cord was around his neck and he was 2.5 weeks early so I hadn’t known about the cord. It was a shocking delivery to say the least!! 1 year later tho, we’re both happy and healthy!!
If they are following Leviticus does that mean they will be sacrificing lambs and doves as well? I wonder if it will be included on the show?
This is terrifying. I really don’t understand the decisions that she made considering she is a student midwife. I don’t think I would ever trust her to deliver my child. Oh well, I’m just glad to hear that she and her baby survived labor.
After your water breaks, you need to deliver with 24 hours to avoid infection hence Strep B. I’m not an a M.D. so I can’t confirm that, but it’s seems as though that’s why. It didn’t seem like she had her son’s best interest in mind. It seemed like she had to be stubborn and do anything to have a home birth.
This is NOT true. As long as you’re closely monitored and are not sticking anything up there to introduce bacteria, you don’t need to have a baby within 24 hours. You just need to abide by the rules. My water was broken for 3 days with my first before I delivered her. You don’t run out of water, it constantly replentishes. When women’s water breaks and they have premies, sometimes their water sacs heal, or they can go WEEKS before delivering and just being monitored.
It really doesn’t matter if they are sticking up there or not, there is tons of bacteria in a vagina that are ok for a vagina but not a babies lungs. And they are sticking things up there often when they check her cervix. Which is why at many institutions their standard protocol is deliver within 24 hrs, though the patient does have the right to refuse AMA.
Hopefully she follows doctors orders and abstains for longer than 40 days. After a csection, you are not supposed to have sex until 8 weeks afterwards, because you can get a uterine infection, or rupture your fragile scar tissue. Hope she recovers easily and enjoys her time with her baby before attempting more blessings.
This drives me totally nuts. If she had just allowed herself to be induced in the first place, she could have had the baby normally and without an epidural if that’s what she really wanted. Its so irresponsible to refuse induction, then Pitocin, and I’m sure the baby was totally freaked out before she finally decided to do the C-section.
I agree with your points, definitely. It is hard to have a unmedicated birth after getting Pitocin though it makes the contractions so much stronger. I haven’t know anyone personally who has gotten Pitocin but not an epidural. I personally would have taken the Pitocin and then an epidural if I was her. Supposedly she saw meconium in the amniotic fluid too, I read somewhere else. Getting an epidural can’t be worse for a baby than sitting in meconium filled fluid for an extra day
I did for my second child.
It was hard, but I did it.
I really hope she gives her body plenty of time to heal after this baby, especially since it was a c-section.
Yeah right…She’ll be pregnant next week! 😉 lol
Ahem, Tori Spelling…She got pregnant with her last kid, within a month of having her third child.
Very doubtful. If her husband wants to hump he gets to hump her. That’s their policy.