Jill Duggar and Husband Derrick Welcome New Baby Frederick Michael Dillard: He Came 'Early'
Jinger Duggar/Instagram Jill and Derick Dillard
The newest Duggar baby is here: Jill Duggar Dillard and husband Derrick Dillard welcomed their third son, "Freddy" Frederick Michael Dillard!
The Counting On alum announced the happy news on Monday in a family blog post titled "The Newest Member Of Our Family Has Just Arrived!" In it, Duggar, 31, revealed that baby Freddy's birthday is July 7, and he was born weighing 7 lbs., 6oz.
The choice of name Frederick comes from roots in both Duggar's spiritual beliefs and Dillard's own name and family history.
"Frederick means 'Peaceful Ruler' and Michael means 'Gift from God,'" Duggar wrote.
"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,'" she continued. "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."
She added, "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."
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Freddy was originally due "later in July," Duggar revealed. "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," Duggar said. Both mom and baby are healthy, the post confirmed.
The couple first announced their third pregnancy in February on their family blog. Freddy's conception followed a miscarriage, which made him the family's "rainbow baby."
"Ever since we were devastated last fall by the miscarriage of our sweet baby, River Bliss, we have prayed that, if it was God's will, he would bless us with another baby," they wrote.
"We are excited to announce that God has answered our prayers and we are expecting our rainbow baby due July 2022!"Duggar and Dillard share two additional children, Israel David, 7, and Samuel Scott, 5.
