Counting On stars Josiah and Lauren Duggar are keeping their first child that they lost to a miscarriage close to their hearts as they prepare for the arrival of their baby on the way.
The couple, who announced on Monday, May 20, that they are pregnant with their second child, took to Instagram just hours later to open up about their rainbow baby, also revealing that they would have named their first child Asa.
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“We are so excited to announce that baby #2 is on the way!!!! It’s hard to fully express just how grateful we are for God blessing us again with another precious gift,” the couple wrote in their pregnancy announcement. “So, as we rejoice of the life of our second sweet baby, we also remember (balloon as symbolism) our other sweet baby, Asa, in heaven. God is so incredibly good!”
In the Bible, Asa was a descendant of David, the third king of the southern kingdom of Judah, and the fifth king of the House of David.
Baby name site BabyNames.com states that Asa is of Hebrew origin and means “physician” or “healer.”
In February, the TLC reality TV couple had revealed that in October of 2018, they had suffered a miscarriage just weeks after discovering that Lauren was expecting.
“Lauren and I were actually preparing for a trip to go to a friend’s wedding,” Josiah said during an episode of Counting On. “She started feeling really sick and started noticing some different things. Mrs. Swanson was there, so she was able to help her out. I didn’t know exactly what was going on.”
“I wasn’t feeling well — I was cramping really, really bad, which was quite strange because I normally don’t. I was thinking I had something with gluten in it,” Lauren recalled the heartbreaking experience. “It was late at night and I went to the restroom, and right there was the baby. Gone. I couldn’t believe it, and I was hoping it wasn’t true.”
Seven months later, they revealed that their family of two would be growing with the addition of their rainbow baby.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above and we are looking forward to this new season of parenting together,” they said in a statement to PEOPLE. “God’s faithfulness to us in our most difficult moments has sustained us and brought us such love and comfort. We cannot begin to tell you how much we are looking forward to holding this baby in our arms this fall.”
The next season of Counting On will air in the fall on TLC.