Jessa Duggar recalls giving birth to her third child on the couch before being rushed to the hospital in new video
Guess 'Counting On' star Jessa Duggar's delivery of her third child, Ivy Jane, didn't go as planned.
Duggar and her husband Ben Seewald welcomed Jane on May 26, about 10 days before her due date. "Our birth plan through this whole pregnancy was that we would deliver at a birthing suite at the hospital with a midwife there," Duggar said, in a video released by TLC on Wednesday, June 19. "However, the morning that my water broke was the morning that my midwife had left town for a week."
"I was not expecting to go early," the 26-year old said, adding that if anything, she expected to deliver late. "We thought we had two weeks left."
According to a report by People, the couple’s backup plan was to call a different midwife and deliver little Ivy at home instead — which is exactly what Duggar did, right on the family couch. The midwives placed what looked like a puppy pee pad on the couch to protect it. Before the delivery, however, Duggar in order to get her contractions going downed a castor oil smoothie and walked up and down the stairs. She explained that "moving around" and "being active" helped her with contractions in the past. After Jane's birth, Jessa was rushed to the hospital since she hadn't stopped bleeding.
Women's Health reported that the entire birth was captured on film. Duggar's two midwives coached her through breathing exercises and birth. "Those first few moments right after the baby's born, are the absolute sweetest moments of your life," Duggar said. "Just looking at that sweet baby, I always cry." Ivy Jane weighed seven pounds and 14 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long.
Duggar shared that she loves having another girl in the house, adding, "Bows, pink, ruffles, lace. Those are some of the things that are just really exciting about having a girl."
The couple introduced the baby to their children, Spurgeon and Henry, along with other family members after Duggar's treatment. Talking about the inspiration behind Jane's name, Seewald explained that the baby was named after Lady Jane Grey, who was the Queen of England for a relatively short period during the 1500s. "She was an inspirational character to us," he added.
"Ivy Jane, we just liked those two names. Jessa and I talked about it beforehand this time around and we actually had a name picked out before she was born," he said in another video. "We liked the way those names flowed together."
She and Ben, 24, also share sons three-year-old Spurgeon Elliot and two-year-old Henry Wilberforce.