Duggar Daughters Birth Stories — They Had Some Dangerous Labors

Jinger Duggar gave birth yesterday, and so far it seems that all went well — but over the years, her sisters and fellow Duggar daughters haven't all been so lucky. In fact, most of the Duggar girls have actually had pretty difficult labors. While getting pregnant has been something of a cinch for them, actually giving birth has been no walk in the park. For girls who've been raised all their lives with the goal of having big families of their own in mind, that can't be easy — both physically and emotionally. Especially when you've got a sister-in-law like Anna Duggar who seems to have popped five kids out without any real problems (well, no medical problems at least — she's still stuck with a husband who cheated on her and, you know, had a very public molestation scandal). For a reminder of everything the Duggar daughters have been through when it comes to having sons and daughters of their own, check out the gallery below.

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Jill Duggar had more than her fair share of issues when she gave birth to her first son Israel.

She was the first Duggar daughter to give birth — and she's faced some of the most trying deliveries. The reality star was literally laboring for three days straight, a combined 70 hours. We want to pass out just imaginging that, let alone actually trying to live through it. "I was praying to God to give me strength," the now-mom-of-two told People. "I was really scared and nervous, but I was praying." And at the end of it all, she still didn't get to have the home birth she wanted, but was rushed to the hospital instead.

They captured the whole thing on camera — and it wasn't pretty.

Thanks to her training as a midwife, Jill was able to realize that things weren't exactly going according to plan, and that she needed serious medical help and fast. While Israel wasn't in distress, he was in breech position, meaning his feet were pointing out first instead of his head. Not only did she not get to have the home birth she wanted, she didn't get to have a natural birth, either. Luckily, both mom and baby were fine, but only after Jill's emergency C-section.

Jessa Duggar had a really difficult time with her first baby, too.

When it came time to deliver Spurgeon, her first born, Jessa was also planning on a natural birth at home. Unfortunately, complications threw a wrench in her plans, too. "Everything was different than I expected," Jessa said to People. "It was very intense, very long." In fact, she labored for about 48 hours, aka two full days. It certainly didn't help that she had a nearly 10 lb baby.

After trying for an at home birth, Jessa was also rushed to the hospital.

"I said, ‘That’s it! I’m done! I am going to the hospital and I’m going to get an epidural,’” she said. “They asked me if I really wanted to do that and I said, ‘No, I don’t, but I do.’ I wanted to try natural if at all possible." Unfortunately, she also had issues with bleeding, which was part of the reason that she went to the hospital. It got so bad that she even needed a blood transfusion and had to stay overnight at the hospital. “It was just like a bad dream, like, ‘How could this happen?’” Jessa said on Counting On.

Luckily, things went a little more smoothly with Jessa's second son, Henry Seewald.

Maybe baby number one cleared the way for baby number two? When it was Henry's turn, Jessa actually described the process as "calm and relaxed" — aka the ultimate opposite of her emergency first delivery. This time, she and her birth team were able to get the job done safely (and quickly!) at home.

Jill, however, wasn't so lucky with her second child, Samuel Dillard.

In fact, her second birth was even more complicated than her first. But at least this time she only labored for 40 hours instead of 70 before moving to a hospital for another C-section. Still, a shorter labor didn't necessarily mean a better one, and Jill and Derick's son had complications of his own.

After his birth, Samuel Dillard even had to stay in the NICU for two weeks.

After seeing photos of baby Sam with a tube in his nose, educated fans speculated that he was born with fluid in his lungs. Dad Derick also confirmed that his second son had his fair share of health problems from the get-go when he tweeted that his baby spent two weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit. Thankfully, he seems to be doing okay now.

Joy-Anna Duggar also had a difficult labor with her son Gideon Forsyth.

"I decided to have a home birth, just because I know that it’s more comfortable being at home," Joy-Anna said. "I really wanted to at least try it." But it seems that home births just don't seem to work out for the Duggar daughters, do they? Joy-Anna was in labor for 20 hours at home before, like Jill, she discovered her baby was in breech position and she'd need to have an emergency C-section at the hospital. Also like Jill (and Jessa), Joy's first baby was a big one, weighing in at just over ten pounds.

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