Abbie Duggar (née Burnett) is expecting her and John David Duggar’s first child, but has not had an easy pregnancy so far.
“It hit her hard, and she was down for probably seven weeks with severe morning sickness,” the dad-to-be, 29, tells Us Weekly exclusively in this week’s issue. “She got diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, and she was hospitalized a couple times. We made multiple visits to the ER for dehydration. … She couldn’t eat, pretty much, or drink, or anything. So she was actually on IVs and had IVs at home. So that was a pretty scary time.”
Because of this, the 19 Kids and Counting alum has been extra attentive to his pregnant wife, 27. “I keep her water filled up, and her snacks for her,” he explained. “I keep her eating and just comfortable. Anything I can get for her, I try to. I run to the store, [get] whatever she needs, just keep her as comfortable as possible when she’s feeling bad.”
Abbie praised her husband for once going to the grocery store for a heat pack at 11 or 12 p.m. “He said, ‘No, you need this. I want to go get it for you,’” she recalled. “He’s cooked for me. He’s cleaned. He’s just been an angel.”
The nurse is currently in her second trimester and craving okra. “Our freezer is full of [it],” John David told Us. “She puts it in smoothies. She has it dry. She has it fried.”
Us confirmed in August that the couple, who wed in November 2018, have a little one on the way. “We are on Cloud 9 about welcoming our own little Duggar into the world,” the Counting On stars told Us in a statement. “It really is amazing to think about being parents and having our own child to raise. We are thankful that God has blessed us with this new life and we look forward to taking on this new adventure!”
For more on the pair’s family plans, check out their maternity shoot below and in this week’s issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now!
With reporting by Carly Sloane