Abbie Duggar’s Labor Stalled When She First Headed to the Hospital to Give Birth to Her Daughter

Poor girl. Abbie Duggar (née Burnett) had a bit of a rough start to her labor before she gave birth to her daughter, Grace, with husband John David Duggar by her side. Her labor actually stalled when she first headed to the hospital, and the couple had to head home before they could finally welcome their baby girl, according to the duo’s new birth special on TLC’s website.

The webisode showed John, 30, and Abbie, 27, driving off to have her planned hospital birth before a message suddenly appeared onscreen. “Once at the hospital, it’s determined that Abbie’s labor had stalled,” it read. She was sent home to rest in the hopes that it would progress on its own, and she had to go see her doctor the next morning after several hours of contractions. Thankfully, while they were at the doctor’s office, John said they were pretty sure she was going to have the baby that same day.

Abbie had to see her doctor one more time before she could labor at the hospital. She chose to have her baby in a “low intervention” room but ultimately decided to use Pitocin after 30 hours in labor with no end in sight. Abbie also decided to have an epidural, and after those treatments and nearly 36 hours of labor, she and John finally got to meet their baby girl for the first time.

People who follow the Duggars might be aware that Abbie also suffered from intense morning sickness during her pregnancy, so the whole experience has been a little tough on her. She was officially diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum and her husband told Us Weekly in October, “She was hospitalized a couple [of] times. We made multiple visits to the ER for dehydration. … She couldn’t eat, pretty much, or drink or anything. So she was actually on IVs and had IVs at home. So that was a pretty scary time.”

But Abbie admitted that her spouse was a huge help through it all. She talked about how he ran out to the grocery store around midnight once to get her a heat pack and noted, “He said, ‘No, you need this. I want to go get it for you.’ He’s cooked for me. He’s cleaned. He’s just been an angel.”

After all that hard work, the couple now has a beautiful little girl to love, so hopefully, it was all worth it in the end.