Jessa Duggar Seewald had a frightening 15 minutes on Saturday, July 26, after her water broke prior to the delivery of her sixth child. In a video explaining how her labor and delivery went, Seewald described going to the bathroom after her water broke and seeing a blood clot, after which she was anxious to get to the hospital as soon as possible.
On the way to the hospital, Seewald said she was “having all the emotions, all the feelings. I was telling Ben, ‘I don’t remember when I last felt the baby move.’”
“I was feeling all those fears,” she said, such as, “We should have come into the hospital sooner. I should have noticed that I didn’t feel baby moving for the last 20 minutes, 30 minutes.”
Jessa Duggar Seewald: ‘We’re So Thankful’
Jessa Duggar Seewald is the fifth child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, whose family was featured on the reality show “19 Kids and Counting.” Seewald also appeared in the spinoff “Counting On.”
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Seewald and her husband, Ben, welcomed their sixth child into the world on July 26 after Seewald had a seven-and-a-half hour-long labor. In a video posted Monday, Aug. 4, she explained that prior to the delivery, she had gone to her parents’ house because her parents have plenty of space to walk around in the air conditioning.
Seewald spent a lot of time walking in the hopes of speeding up the birth of her baby. Her due date was July 25, and Seewald did not want to carry the baby much longer after that date. The baby would only get bigger, and she wanted to avoid birthing an 11- or 12-pound baby if possible.
On July 26, Seewald began having “real contractions.” She knew the delivery was imminent, but she wanted to wait to go to the hospital until her contractions lasted longer and came with greater frequency than they were.
Feeling tired from walking around the house, she lay down on the couch at around 6 p.m. A mere 15 minutes later, her water broke. Seewald was FaceTiming her sister Jinger Vuolo when it happened. Seewald’s video showed Seewald and her family laughing, with her father commenting, “I tell you what—these couches have gone through a lot.”
Seewald said that her labor typically progresses quickly once her water breaks, so she wanted to get to the hospital as soon as she could at that point. She stopped in the bathroom prior to leaving the house, which is when she saw a big blood clot. “That really scared me,” she said.
The family debated getting an ambulance but opted to drive to the hospital with the hazard lights on. Seewald was scared, analyzing when she felt the baby move last and wishing she’d gone to hospital sooner. However, after she arrived at the hospital, it did not take long for medical staff to find her baby’s heartbeat.
That time between seeing the blood clot and finding the heartbeat was “the longest 15 minutes of my life,” said Seewald. “I was just so relieved to hear a heartbeat and a strong heartbeat.” The baby was not in distress, even though Seewald was having “an abnormal amount of bleeding at that point.”
Seewald got an epidural, which she said only worked about 70% to 80%. Her video showed footage of when she was delivering her baby, with her mother by her side encouraging her and her husband comforting her. Seewald said her mother was “absolutely wonderful” and “such a treasure.”
