Jill and Derick Dillard of the hit TLC show "19 Kids and Counting" have welcomed their firstborn into the world, Israel David Dillard.
Weighing in at 9 lbs., 10 oz., Jill and Derick's first child arrived 11:49 p.m. Monday, April 6. According to People Magazine, who first broke the news, both mother and son are doing well.
Although baby Israel was born past his March 24 due date, Jill said she was prepared for her son's late arrival. "It's no big deal," the new mother explained a day before his arrival, "I have told myself, 'First-time moms often go a week and a half over, so don't get discouraged.. The baby will come when the baby comes."
Jill and Derick began dating back in November 2013, became engaged in April, and tied the knot last June. Just a few weeks after getting married, the couple was overjoyed to discover they were expecting.
"When we found out we were pregnant, we were actually at Jill's family's house," Derick said at the time. "She took one of her mom's pregnancy tests and we waited until the next day to tell everyone."
Over the past nine months, the couple has publicly documented Jill's pregnancy, sharing sweet photos of her growing baby bump at each stage. As recently as April 4, Derick shared a photo of his wife's baby bump at 41 weeks and 4 days along with the caption, "Maybe we'll have an Easter baby!"
On Thursday, he took to the Duggar family blog to express his excitement about welcoming his baby son into the world.
"I can't even describe right now the anticipation I am feeling, as I am about to get to meet my firstborn son for the first time face to face," Dillard wrote in the pre-Easter blog post.. "So many people have already testified that nothing can quite describe that moment and that I'll just have to experience it for myself."
"Now that I'm about to be a dad, I find it quite interesting that Jesus related the end of the world to the event of birth," Dillard added. "And it's easy to relate to because as much as Jill and I want to know when this birth will happen, the day and the hour of baby dilly's birth is definitely unknown."
The arrival of Israel will air on TLC on May 5 in honor of Mother's Day, the Duggar family's official Facebook page has revealed.
