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He’s finally here! Counting On star Jill Duggar welcomed her third child, a baby boy named Frederick, after surviving a miscarriage she called “devastating.” The duo joyously announced their pregnancy back in February in a blog post to the family website, sharing that since losing a child they, “have prayed that, if it was God’s will, he would bless us with another baby.” Clearly, the blessings have come through in spades!
Jill and Derick announced they’d welcomed their newest addition via their family blog on July 11. “‘Freddy’ Frederick Michael Dillard is here!” the couple wrote alongside an adorable snapshot of their little one. “Frederick was set to arrive later in July, but he decided he wanted to come a little early (the day before big brother Samuel’s birthday!), so we had our planned C-section a bit before originally planned.”
They also gave insight into the meaning of their newborn’s moniker. “The name Frederick also holds special meaning for us since it’s Derick’s name with ‘Fre’ added to the front, to make ‘Fre-derick.’ Similarly, Derick’s name is a variation of his late dad’s name, Rick, that his parents created by adding ‘de’ to the front of Rick to spell, ‘de’-‘rick,’ literally meaning son ‘of’ (de) Rick,” they explained. “We were excited to settle on the name Frederick and incorporate both Derick’s and his dad’s name, by just adding ‘Fre’ to the beginning of Derick’s name.”
The proud parents revealed the gender of their little one back in March, and posed with a set of adorable blue balloons reading “baby” to further share in the excitement for their son. Jill and Derick already share two kids, Samuel Scott Dillard and Israel David Dillard.
Being as open as they can with their fan base comes naturally to Jill and Derick, who also opened up about their experience with miscarriage in the same post where they announced they were expecting again. Revealing the heartbreak that they shared upon learning Jill was miscarrying, Jill described the pain in remembering the “excitement” on her two son’s faces when learning the initial pregnancy news. In the post, Jill and Derick shared, “Even though it was too early to tell the baby’s gender, we picked a name that we feel encompasses our baby’s significance and the life we will always remember: River Bliss Dillard.”
Throughout her pregnancy, Jill was also upfront about the exciting new things motherhood brought her, especially after her time on 21 Kids & Counting. After years of wearing only skirts and dresses due to her family’s beliefs, Jill enjoyed rocking maternity jeans in a fun mirror selfie, also reassuring followers she and her family had remained safe during a tornado that hit their area.