Last month, Joy-Anna Duggar welcomed her first child, a son named Gideon.
Becoming a parent is one of life’s greatest challenges, but fortunately, when it comes to being a mom, Joy has plenty of role models to turn to.
In a new interview with Us magazine, Joy opens up about the ways in which Jill and Jessa Duggar’s parenting skills made her more confident about starting a family of her own.
“I’ve seen their consistency and diligence and I can apply those things to my life and into my parenting,” she tells the mag.
Joy married Austin Forsyth back in May, and she got pregnant almost immediately afterward.
By contrast, her sister Jinger Duggar was married to Jeremy Vuolo for over a year before she announced that she’s expecting.
But despite the very different paths to motherhood they’ve taken, Jinger and Joy both look to their older sisters for encouragement and inspiration.
Jinger Duggar is expecting her first child at the moment, and she also says her older sisters have been instrumental in helping her prepare for first-time motherhood.
Jinger says that while she shares Joy’s respect for her sisters’ work ethic, she feels the most valuable thing she learned from her older siblings is the importance of self-care for new moms:
“If you need to take a nap or lay down in the middle of the day, don’t feel bad,” Jinger tells the tabloid.
Jinger’s exact due date isn’t known, but her pregnancy overlapped with Joy’s and she remembers that time as uniquely special:
“It’s been a really unique experience in that we’re getting to share all of the different changes that our bodies are going through and can talk about them and encourage each other. It’s definitely been nice,” Jinger reveals.
Adding to the excitement is the fact that the girls’ sister-in-law, Kendra Caldwell, is also pregnant.
Kendra married Joseph Duggar back in September of 2017, and like Joy, she commenced the business of starting a family right away.
All three women say the experience of being pregnant together has helped them form a deeper bond.
And we’re sure they’ll remain as tight as Jill and Jessa are as the years go on.
Watch Counting On online to keep up with all the courtships, weddings, and births.
