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Congratulations are in order! Joy-Anna Duggar and her husband Austin Forsyth have welcomed a new baby. The Counting On couple’s daughter was born August 21.

“To say my heart is full is an understatement,” Joy-Anna wrote on Instagram. “We have been dreaming of this day and are so happy to announce that our baby girl arrived August 21st at 2:12 p.m. weighing 8 lbs., 5 oz. and is 19.5 inches long! She has the best personality, is easy going and loves to be held! She has her nights and days mixed up, but honestly, I love it!”

“Getting to spend that quiet, quality time with her through the night has been SO special!” the proud mom added. 

Joy-Anna Duggar planned to give birth in a hospital 

Joy-Anna and Austin haven’t yet revealed their new daughter’s name or any other details about her birth. But from a photo Joy-Anna shared to Instagram, it looks like she gave birth in a hospital. That was her plan all along, she explained in a YouTube video she shared in July.

In the 12-minute video, Joy-Anna showed herself packing her hospital bag, which was a new experience for her. Though her first child, Gideon, was born in a hospital, she originally planned to give birth at home, so she hadn’t bothered to pack a hospital bag. 

“I don’t really know what to pack. I’ve never packed a hospital bag before. With Gideon I was doing a home birth, so I didn’t have to pack anything.” she said. She used a list she found on Pinterest to pull together all the things she might need. Among the items she stashed in her bag was a colorful floral wrap for her new baby, which her daughter can be seen wearing in one of the hospital photos. 

Her family wasn’t going to be present for the baby’s birth

In the video, Joy-Anna also shared how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was going to affect her birth experience. Because of the pandemic, neither her mom Michelle and nor her sisters would be present. 

“It’s just going to be Austin and I,” she said. She added that she was hoping to get a hospital room with a window so her family could see the baby soon after she was born.  

Given the coronavirus restrictions, it also sounds like the TLC camera crew might not have present at the birth. Typically, the cameras are right there documenting the Duggar women’s labor, but that might not have been the case with Joy-Anna. 

Joy-Anna had a difficult labor with her first pregnancy

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Joy-Anna’s decision to give birth in a hospital was likely a no-brainer, given her experience with her first child. When she gave birth to Gideon in 2018, she labored for nearly 20 hours before finally heading to the hospital, where she had an emergency C-section.

“After about 19 hours of labor, the midwife realized that the baby was breech,” Joy-Anna shared in an episode of Counting On from 2018. 

“Before I went into labor, having a C-section was my greatest fear. That was one of the things that I was scared of. I didn’t want to have to have a C-section,” she added. But after hours of labor, her attitude changed. “But, by that point, I was really just like, ‘Whatever it takes I’m ready.’ I was exhausted,” she said. “I was just ready to get the baby here in any way possible.”

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