Getting ready! Joy-Anna Duggar gave fans an update on her pregnancy ahead of baby No. 3’s arrival — and shared the news that everything’s going well.
The 19 Kids and Counting alum, 25, detailed her 33-week checkup in a YouTube video on Friday, April 14. “I’m so excited. I cannot believe we’re two weeks away from knowing the [induction] date,” Duggar explained. “And then from there,*** we’ll only be three weeks away from having the baby. It’s getting real, it’s getting close.”
The former TLC personality added that she hadn’t been nervous about welcoming her new baby boy, but realizing how soon he could arrive has thrown her for a loop.
“I feel like I was really prepared and wasn’t worried at all, but now that it’s getting so close, I’m like, ‘Ahh,’ and my hormones have been insane recently,” the Arkansas native told her followers. “I’ve been super emotional about everything. I’m not really nervous about having another baby, but all of the unknowns — like the ‘what ifs’ and whatever — I think if I think about it too long then it’s like, ‘OK, well, what if this, what if that?’ So, I just have to give it to the Lord and trust that everything’s gonna be OK. I have a great doctor and a great support team. I’m really excited, I cannot wait to meet this little baby boy.”
Duggar shares son Gideon, 5, and daughter Evelyn, 2, with husband Austin Forsyth, whom she wed in 2017. In October 2022, the couple announced that they’re expecting their third child.
“We are ECSTATIC and cannot wait to hold this sweet baby in our arms in May [2023]!” Duggar wrote via YouTube at the time. “We would appreciate your prayers these next 7 and [a] half months for a safe pregnancy and delivery.”
The Counting On alum previously revealed in July 2019 that she suffered a miscarriage the month prior. “Today marks one week since we heard these words,” she wrote via Instagram at the time, sharing a photo of herself and Forsyth, 29, in a hospital bed. “’So this is your baby’s heart (pointing to the ultrasound screen). I don’t hear a heartbeat or see any movement.’ We had gone in for our 20-week ultrasound and gender reveal. It was a baby girl.”
Duggar went on to say that she and her husband had already chosen a name for their little one. “We named her Annabell Elise. Annabell means ‘God has favored me,’ and Elise means ‘God satisfies,'” she wrote. “What a precious thing to know that when our daughter opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the face of Jesus.”
One year later, the reality star commemorated the anniversary of the miscarriage in an emotional Instagram post. “One year without her,” Duggar wrote in June 2020. “It’s been a year since we found out that we lost Annabell. I remember leaving our ultrasound appointment, sobbing and wondering how we were ever going to move forward, and so fearful of having to deliver her.”
The YouTube creator added that she and Forsyth had been trying to find the good in the situation despite the tragedy of the loss. “It hurts to look back at … the pain and heartbreak,” Duggar explained. “When I do look back, I am so thankful for how far we’ve come, how God has given us more joy, peace and healing than I ever thought we would have again. We love you, Annabell Elise!”
