It’s a Boy! Former ‘Counting On’ Stars Jill & Derick Dillard Welcome Third Son

How many blessings do you have now, guys?

It’s (another) boy for Jill Duggar Dillard and her husband Derick Dillard.

The former Counting On stars announced on Monday that their third son has arrived. Jill and Derick named the baby boy— who was born on July 7– Frederick Michael Dillard.

Jill and Derick are already parents to seven-year-old Israel and Samuel, who turned five the day after Frederick was born. (Last fall, Jill suffered a miscarriage with a child who Jill and Derick named River Bliss.) 

A blog posted to the Dillard Family website explained that Jill was due to give birth to Frederick (aka “Freddy”) in late July via a planned C-section; however, the baby decided to come early so the C-section was bumped up. Baby Freddy weighed in at 7lbs. 6oz. and measured 20 inches long. (That’s small compared to Jill’s first two sons’ birth weights; both Israel and Samuel weighed 9 lbs. 10 oz. at birth.)

It’s no surprise that Jill decided to have a C-section for this birth. She ended up having complications with labor and delivery with both Israel and Samuel and ended up having emergency C-sections for both births. She attempted a home birth  during her pregnancy with Israel and ended up in labor for a whopping 70 hours before she was finally taken to the hospital for a C-section!

(That labor and delivery was later shown on an episode of 19 Kids & Counting.) 

“NOPE. Not doing THAT again! Having a camera aimed at my hoo-ha for 70 hours of labor is something I only need to do once, thanks!”

Samuel’s birth was also problematic. It took over 40 hours of labor and an emergency C-section to bring him into the world. Samuel ended up being in the NICU for a period of time. The Dillards never disclosed details about what caused Samuel to be in the hospital for so long after his birth. 

It appears that Frederick’s birth was a better experience for Jill, due to having a planned C-section. (In the photo of the baby posted to the blog and Derick’s Twitter feed, though, it appears that Frederick has both a feeding tube and an oxygen cannula.)

“Both Jill and Frederick are healthy and are enjoying bonding while we look forward to bringing him home from the hospital soon!” Derick wrote in a blog posted to their family website.

In the blog, the couple explained the significance of Frederick’s name.

“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,'” they wrote. “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.  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.”

“I think ‘Fre-Bob has a nicer ring to it, but whatever…”

Jill and Derick have been anxiously awaiting the baby’s birth. As The Ashley previously reported, Jill’s cousin Amy Duggar helped to throw a baby shower for Jill a few weeks ago. The shower caused a bit of controversy when it was revealed that Jill’s sister, Jessa Seewald, was the only one of Jill’s many sisters (and sisters-in-law) who attended the shower. (Jill’s mother, Michelle Duggar, was also a no-show.)

Jessa later defended the non-attending Duggars, stating that it wasn’t Jill and Derick’s feud with Jim Bob Duggar that kept everyone from attending the shower. She claimed that everyone else was just “busy.” 

Baby Frederick is Jim Bob and Michelle’s 24th grandchild. Their 25th— a baby boy who will be born to their son John-David and his wife Abbieis due to arrive later this summer.

Unlike Jill’s parents and most of Jill’s siblings and their spouses, Derick and Jill are no longer proclaiming that they plan to have “as many children as God will give them.” The couple has stated that they use birth control to plan their family size. 

“Growing up, it was ingrained in me that if you don’t have as many kids as you’re able to, that there’s something wrong with that,” Jill told People magazine in 2020. “But there was a shift in me where I felt like it wasn’t wrong if you decide as a couple that it’s best for you to wait.

“Children are a blessing, but that doesn’t mean that at all costs you should have as many kids as possible,” she added.

“Jim Bob, catch me! I think I’m going to faint! Imagine, having a working uterus and not using it to pump out more than a dozen kids!” 

RELATED STORY: Jessa Seewald Defends Her Mother Michelle Duggar & Siblings Who Didn’t Attend Jill Duggar Dillard’s Baby Shower; Insists They Love Jill “Dearly” Despite Family Feud

(Photos: TLC; Twitter; YouTube, Instagram)

3 Responses


  1. The birth control definitely has her parents fainting, lol. (He might even be their last kid, who knows) Welcome to the world Frederick, you will grow up better than your cousins so you can call yourself blessed to have such parents who will put you in actual school and not make you experience life with being replaced by another sibling soon. Congratulations to the happy couple!

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