The Duggars are never shy about pregnancies and births — but they don’t usually televise prolonged, painful deliveries.
That changed on this week’s episode of Counting On.
Back in May, Jessa Duggar gave birth to her third child , a girl named Ivy.
Jessa’s comments have vaguely indicated that the delivery was her most difficult yet — and now that fact has been confirmed in, um … very memorable fashion.
In other words, if you’re the squeamish type, you may want to steer clear of this week’s Counting On recap .
For the rest of you, keep scrolling … but don’t say we didn’t warn you:
Mother of Three (TLC) Back in May, Jessa Duggar welcomed her third child and her first girl. And while we’re sure she and husband Ben Seewald love daughter Ivy immensely, they sure didn’t love the process of bringing her into the world.
Working the Steps At the start of this week’s episode of Counting On, Jessa is seen pacing up and down the stairs at her parents’ house. She explains that this process helped induce labor when she was pregnant with son Spurgeon.
Hope She Stocked Up on Paper Towels Jessa’s water breaks, but rather than heading from to the hospital like a normal person, she heads home to prepare for Ivy’s arrival.
Trigger Warning Folks, this delivery was a painful one. And Counting On producers made the divisive decision to feature a LOT of it on camera.
Going It (Almost) Alone Making matters worse is the fact that most of the family was out of town for a wedding, which places the birthing burden squarely on Jill’s shoulders.
Scab Labor This, of course, put Counting On producers in an awkward position, as Jill quit the show after her husband, Derick Dillard, got fired back in 2017.
Strange Bedfellows But if the crew wanted to get Jessa’s delivery on camera, they had no choice but to feature Jill. And she seemed to enjoy her return immensely.
What the Future Holds (Getty) Jill’s comeback has prompted questions about the possibility of Derick returning to the show, as well. But that’s a conversation for another time …
Missing Michelle It’s clear that Michelle Duggar was upset about the prospect of missing her daughter’s delivery, but when you have 19 kids and approximately 4,000 grandkids, you’re probably gonna miss a birth or two.
Problems of Her Own (Getty) Besides, it seems Michelle is experiencing issues of her own. She apparently got so sick flying home from the wedding that she caused an emergency landing.
Bummer “I’m wondering if flying commercial would have been a better idea,” Jana said, coming to terms with the fact that she too will miss the delivery.
Welcome, Ivy Fortunately, after several hours of screaming in her living room (the Duggars hate hospitals almost as much as they hate flying commercial) Jessa finally welcomed little Ivy into the world.
One Last Scene In an emotional scene, Ivy meets the entire Duggar clan, including grandmother Mary Duggar, who passed away just weeks later.
Meet the Fam! We imagine the whole thing was a little overwhelming for Ivy. But for Counting On producers, it was just one more birth, and the show quickly moved on to other matters.
A Family Tradition We check in on John David and wife Abbie, who — you’ll never believe this — is also pregnant! Jana’s not even trying to hide the fact that she’s sick of being squeezed by expectant moms.
Playing Catch-Up (TLC) John David and Abbie got married in their late twenties — a late start, by Duggar standards. But it seems they’re eager to make up for lost time.
Hair Affair From there, we check in with Jinger, who’s taking a break from making babies in order to focus on something that actually matters — her hair.
Perm(anent) Traums A flashback reminds us that Jinger wasn’t always the stylish LA woman she is now. And we thought nothing could traumatize us like Jessa’s delivery.
Blonde Ambition Jinger’s segment ends with her revealing her bold new look, which probably pissed Michelle off even more than missing the delivery.
So. Many. Babies. Fittingly, the episode ends with a gender reveal party, as Joe and Kendra learn that they’re having a girl.
Girl Power (TLC) Jessa declares that this is the “season of girls” for the Duggar family, as several babies of the female persuasion entered the world in 2019.
The Procreation Continues (Getty) We’re sure Jim Bob is a little disappointed, but at the end of the day, his offspring is producing offspring, which is pretty much all he cares about.