Michelle Duggar, Baby Fine Following Hospitalization

Dec. 8, 2009— -- Michelle Duggar, star of the TLC reality show "18 Kids and Counting," who is expecting her 19th child, is resting fine after she was rushed to a hospital over the weekend.

"Over the weekend, Michelle Duggar was admitted to an Arkansas hospital with symptoms unrelated to her pregnancy," a TLC spokeswoman told ABCNews.com. "At this time, Michelle and her unborn baby are both stable and resting. Mrs. Duggar is in good spirits and feeling much better."

People magazine reported Monday that Duggar had been airlifted to a hospital in Little Rock because of gallbladder problems. The pain from a gallstone was causing contractions.

Duggar's baby is not due until spring, and there was concern that she might deliver early and would need to be close to a neonatal intensive care unit, according to People.

Those concerns appear to have eased for now. The physician attending Duggar, Dr. Curtis Lowery of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, told People: "We have every reason at present to expect that mother and baby will proceed with a healthy pregnancy. Mrs. Duggar is in good spirits and feeling much better."

For now, Duggar's husband, Jim Bob, and 18 children will have to get along without her.

"Doctors want to observe Michelle in the hospital for the next couple of days," a rep for TLC told People, "but it would appear that the pain medication they have given her for the gallstone has worked, and there is no need for immediate surgery. The hope is that any necessary surgery can be delayed until after she delivers."

In September, the Duggars announced that they were expecting their 19th child. Though they make raising a large family look like, well, child's play, adults who have grown up in Duggar-size families say it's a mixed blessing. Finding space to be alone is a challenge. Finding someone to play with is not.

There's also an environmental effect -- think carbon dioxide -- as well as health concerns for the mother. Women who've borne more than five children risk hemorrhage and even the loss of their uterus because repeated pregnancies sometimes thin the walls of the uterus, said Dr. Joanna Cain, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Providence, R.I.

Then there's always the possibility of one child getting lost in the passel of children.

Rachel Carroccio, a receptionist and ceramics teacher in Little Rock, Ark., knows that experience firsthand. The fifth-born of 10 children, Carroccio, now 28, recalled one time when her mother was in a hurry to get to the grocery store.

"We all piled into the minivan," she told ABCNews.com. "Mom counted heads to make sure everyone was there. As soon as she pulls forward, she sees my little brother Daniel riding his bike in front of us."

As it turned out, one of the heads was really the neighbor's.

But, for all the fond memories, she says the older girls in the family, including herself, burned out on caring for younger siblings and the house while her mother, often raising them alone, worked outside the home.

"None of us really want many kids," Carroccio said, referring to the girls. "My brothers, on the other hand, all want to have kids. I have one brother about to have his fifth child."

Those are among the sentiments the Carroccios like to share whenever all 10 -- ranging in ages from 11 to 37 -- get together for Thanksgiving and Christmas, their favorite time of the year.

Christmas was also a favorite time for Henriette Peters, the 11th child of 14, growing up in Crystal Lake, Ill., outside Chicago.