‘Counting On’: Abbie Duggar Was ‘Nervous and Excited’ to Break Her Baby News to Sisters-in-Law

As Counting On fans know, Abbie Duggar, John David Duggar’s wife, is pregnant with the couple’s first child. According to Us Weekly, who published a clip from Counting On‘s Dec. 17 episode, Abbie was “excited” to tell her sisters-in-law about the happy news, but she was also “nervous” to see how they would react.

Abbie didn’t pick any old occasion to tell her family the good news, she told her sisters-in-law, Kendra Duggar, Anna Duggar, Joy-Anna Duggar Forsyth, and Lauren Duggar, who were all pregnant, during a joint maternity photoshoot. (Jessa Duggar Seewald was also a part of the shoot with her newborn Ivy in tow.)

“I was nervous and excited to reveal the news,” she said in a confessional during the episode. “I was really shaky, [thinking], ‘How are they going to react’”

Abbie waited until she was eight weeks along to tell her sisters-in-law. In the clip, the ladies were in the midst of their outdoor maternity shoot when a car pulled up. Some of the Duggars guessed that Jinger Duggar Vuolo was in the backseat of the vehicle, it was actually Abbie who emerged.

“Hey girls, can I join your shoot?” she asked, to everyone’s surprise, and delight.

“Is that why you’re not feeling good?” Joy-Anna asked as everyone went to embrace Abbie.

“I barely made it [here],” Abbie explained. “I couldn’t wait for y’all to know. I was like, ‘I need some advice.’ … I was at urgent care for a UTI [when] they were like, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re pregnant.’ I was like, ‘What?’”

Of course, everyone was so thrilled to hear Abbie’s exciting news, which only made the moment more special for the mom-to-be.

“The reaction from the girls was a lot of fun,” Abbie said in her confessional. “They genuinely were surprised, I think, and very, very excited for [John David Duggar and I].”

Abbie and John David first revealed that they were expecting on Aug. 1. The couple got creative with their announcement, by engaging in an aviation-themed photoshoot.

“We are on Cloud 9 about welcoming our own little Duggar into the world!!!” they wrote on Instagram. “It really is amazing to think about being parents and having our own child to raise. We are thankful that God has blessed us with this new life and we look forward to taking on this new adventure!”

They’re set to welcome their first child, a girl, in January.