Jessa Duggar Seewald Welcomes Fifth Child After Devastating Pregnancy Loss

Jessa Duggar Seewald’s YouTube vlog about her son’s birth began with her “in baby countdown mode” as she entered her 39th week of pregnancy. She had a feeling her fifth child was going to be large and she confessed she was hoping he would come before his due date. “Every night when I haven’t gone into labor, I’m a little bit disappointed,” she said. 

Seewald got her wish: On December 18, as she was celebrating sister Jordyn-Grace’s birthday at the famed Duggar “Big House,” she began experiencing strong contractions. By late afternoon, she and husband Ben were checking in at the hospital ahead of what proved to be a long labor process. Seewald enlisted the help of her midwife and her mother, Michelle, to move into positions that might move the baby along. 

Finally, at 2:45 a.m. on the 19th, Seewald’s water broke, and she felt the baby descending rapidly. The nurses assured her the doctor would come in a little while, but she responded, “[W]hen a woman who’s had four kids asks, ‘Where’s the doctor?’ you’d probably better start running for him!” the experienced mom said. Sure enough, the new little Seewald arrived minutes later, to the delight of his parents and “GrandDuggar” Michelle. “There were just so many emotions in that moment,” Seewald reflects in her video. Among the Instagram well-wishers was Seewald’s older sister, Jill Duggar Dillard, herself the mom of three. “So excited for y’all!” she wrote.