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19 Kids and Counting Documents Jill Duggar’s Emergency C-Section and Dramatic Birth of Baby Israel

Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard
Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard welcomed their baby boy during a special episode of 19 Kids and Counting

Jill Duggar gave birth to her son, Israel David Dillard, on a special episode of 19 Kids and Counting, and her delivery didn’t exactly go as planned. The 23-year-old student midwife hoped for a home birth, but ended up having an emergency C-section after more than 70 hours of labor. Get all the details of her dramatic delivery below.

Related: PHOTOS: Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald's Sweetest Instagram Shots

The Never-Ending Labor Story

Jill's water breaks
Jill prepares for labor after her water breaks on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting.

Baby Dillard was late to his own birthday party! This little man came into the world more than a week after Jill’s due date, and his delivery was far from easy. Jill originally planned to give birth in an inflatable pool at home, but after having her water break she took caster oil and began painful contractions. “Contractions kicked in very hard and with not a lot of break in between,” she told cameras.

Related: PHOTOS: Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard's Wedding Album

Jill’s “birth team” (including family matriarch, Michelle Duggar) came to the rescue after two full days of labor, but the expectant mom was ready abandon her home birth plan and head to the hospital. “With my water being broke, you don’t wanna introduce infection,” she said.

Plan B

Duggars in labor for 48 hours
48 hours in and Jill Duggar still hadn’t given birth to Baby Israel Dillard!

Jill made the final decision to nix home birth after realizing that her baby was in distress. “I went to the bathroom and I noticed some meconium staining on my pad, and usually that is a sign of fetal distress in the baby,” she explained. “It was more mild so it was like, ‘okay, he’s not doing too well but it’s not an emergency at this point.'”

Related: PHOTOS: 2015's Babies of the Year

Despite Baby Israel being safe and sound, Jill went to the hospital — and it was the right choice: Doctors discovered that Israel was in breech position (aka feet first), which meant she needed an emergency C-section. “It’s time for us to do what safety calls for and go with plan B,” a doctor told the first-time mom.

Jill’s surgery took place after 70 hours of labor (that’s right, 70 hours), and you better believe Michelle Duggar was decked out in scrubs and supporting her daughter in the OR!

Duggars in labor for 24 hours
Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard labored for over 24 hours before Jill went to the hospital for her emergency c-section.

Meet 19 Kids’ Newest Cast Member

Oh hay, Baby Dillard! The Duggar family’s new addition arrived safe and sound after Jill’s emergency C-section on April 6, and the new parents couldn’t have been more thrilled. “He’s worth every contraction,” Jill said. “Every pain that I had. All this long labor. Just getting to see that little baby and hold him. Everything — just all worth it.”

PHOTOS: Duggar Family Album

Derick Dillard also expressed his love for daddy-hood, saying “I love him. I’ve known him on the inside of my wife for nine months and thought about what it would be like, but nothing could quite come close to describing exactly how I felt.”

Jessa Seewald Has Baby Fever!

Jill’s just-married younger sister, Jessa, had babies on the brain during Jill’s baby shower: “It’s really fun being here at this celebration,” the newlywed 22-year-old said. “It kinda makes me think ahead and what it will be like when it’s our turn.” Jessa and husband Ben Seewald are expecting their first child on November 1, so it looks like she’s following in her big sister’s footsteps.

19 Kids and Counting airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on TLC.

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