Jessa Duggar Defends Sister Joy-Anna Against Mom-Shamers for Missing Son's Birthday

Jessa (Duggar) Seewald is protecting younger sister Joy-Anna (Duggar) Forsyth from mommy-shamers.

The 21-year-old shared an Instagram photo with husband Austin Forsyth over the weekend commemorating their weekend away together, which happened to fall on the same weekend as their 1-year-old son, Gideon's first birthday.

"Getting to spend the weekend with my favorite person! Just the two of us!! (Austin's parents are watching Gideon for us!)," Joy-Anna captioned a selfie of herself and her husband.

But not everyone was happy for the couple.

"But isn't it Gideon's birthday?" one Instagram user wrote.

"Thought it'd be more important to spend your child's birthday with them rather than a treat away like you wanna deny and forget him," another wrote. "This really ain't it chief."

"While I understand the need for couple time after children, I don't understand how you could not be home for your son's birthday. Every birthday is important. You could have chosen any other weekend for a getaway," someone else wrote.

But Jessa came to her sister's defense, leaving a sassy comment clapping back at the haters.

"All these people acting like you wouldn't remember it's the 1 year anniversary of the most physically exhausting and simultaneously most joyous day of your life. Really????" she wrote. "Girl, I know y'all are heading back to celebrate Gideon's bday, but seriously, even if you did stay away one more day it's not like he'd know you were celebrating late."

Jessa continued, "I've always joked that 1st bday parties are more for the parents than the kid. If we're being real, it's like 'Yay! We've kept a human alive for a year, and we still have our sanity!' Baby won't even remember the party, that's why we document through excessive pics and home videos. Y'all are great parents! Hope you had a relaxing time at your getaway. Wish we would've been able to go too!"

Joy-Anna thanked her sister for her comment. "haha!! Thanks, Jess!!!!" she wrote back, adding several heart emojis.

Sister-in-law Anna Duggar also got in on the commenting action, praising Jessa for her words. "nailed it! @austinandjoyforsyth Hope you guys continue to have a wonderful time! Y'all are such a sweet couple."

Joy-Anna clarified to her followers that she and Austin were able to get the best of both worlds: a few days away as well as celebrating their first child's birthday.

"FYI... we've gotten to spend a couple of days away and will be able to celebrate Gideon's 1st birthday with him when we get home this evening!!" she wrote in the comments.

Later, the proud parents shared a photo alongside the 1-year-old and his birthday cake. "Happy 1st Birthday, Gideon Martyn!! We are so thankful for you and your bright smile that is contagious!!! Mommy and Daddy love you so much!!" she wrote, adding the hashtags #1stbirthday, #smashcake and #somuchlove.

After announcing that they were expecting in August 2017, Joy-Anna and Austin welcomed baby Gideon last February, which was documented for the Duggar family's TLC series Counting On.

Joy-Anna experienced a difficult labor and birth via C-section, with Austin detailing it in his interview. "When the midwife came and told us that the baby was breech and that we had to go to the hospital, I was kind of discouraged because she had labored for so long and we were really hoping that we could just have a home birth," he said. "But at the same time, I was ready to have this baby. Joy was tired and I'm just: 'Let's just do whatever it takes to get the baby here.'"