Jill Duggar is literally counting down the days until the birth of her first child, a son, with husband Derek Dillard.
The reality TV star, 23 years old, reached the third and final trimester of her pregnancy , and the family celebrated by posting a photo on their Facebook page of Jill and her baby bump, holding a sign that read “28 weeks 4 days”. The post seemed to allude to the fact that the baby could come sooner than planned.
“Sweet picture of our Jill and her little one! At this point in gestation, there is now a 90% chance that he could survive outside the womb. Life is beautiful. We can’t wait to meet this boy!”
While Jill is not the oldest Duggar daughter, she is the first to be married and pregnant. The Duggars, a traditional “quiverfull” family, do not believe in traditional United States dating customs. Jill comes from the family of nineteen children that would welcome more, and she was a virgin at the time of her marriage, having never even kissed her fiance’ prior to the wedding. She was pregnant within two months after marriage .
The traditional Christian family has had its fair share of pregnancy difficulties. Jill’s parents, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, have suffered miscarriage, premature birth of children, and cesarean section births. Jill’s pregnancy has thus far progressed smoothly with no known difficulties and it is assumed that she will have a natural delivery if possible.
Babies generally do best if they are gestated to 39 weeks or more, and first time mothers tend to carry babies a bit longer. There are circumstances that may make earlier delivery a better option, but none of these seem to apply to Jill Duggar. The caption is likely celebrating the fact that due to modern medicine, if by some chance her son would need to be born now, at 28 weeks he would have an excellent chance of survival and risk of problems associated with premature birth would be lower than in previous weeks.
Rumors of jealousy between sisters Jill and Jessa seem to have been put to rest, with no evidence that there was ever any friction. In fact, photos on Instagram have showed the two sisters together and seeming to share a close and supportive relationship.
While the world is excited to meet Baby Boy Dillard, it’s best if he remain in the womb for another eleven weeks or so. Jill’s frugal and healthy lifestyle would give every indication that he will be able to do just that.
[photo credit to Duggar Facebook]
