'19 Kids and Counting' Duggar Family Share Excitement, Thank Jesus for Birth of Baby Israel David (Photos)

Apr 08, 2015 02:39 PM EDT

Israel David
(Photo : Facebook/ Duggar Family Official)

The Duggars of the hit TLC show "19 Kids and Counting" recently took to social media to express their joy over the newest addition to their massive family: baby Israel David Dillard.

Just a few hours after Derick and Jill Dillard publicly announced the birth of their son, Jill's sister, Jessa Seewald, shared a sweet photo of the young couple and their newborn via Instagram.

"Congrats to my sister @jillmdillard, and brother-in-law,@derickdillard, on the birth of their beautiful baby boy, Israel David Dillard!," she captioned the photo. "Born last night at 11:49pm! 9lbs 10oz & 23in. long!"

Jill's older brother, Josh Duggar, who is expecting his fourth child with his wife, Anna, also expressed his excitement on Instagram, sharing a photo of the Dillard family along with the caption, "Baby Dilly is here!"

The Duggar family on Wednesday posted an official birth announcement on their Facebook page and thanked fans for their thoughts and prayers.

"What's as precious as a sweet new baby!? Thank you so much for all of your prayers for Jill and baby Israel and for all the sweet congratulation notes. We love sharing those with Jill and Derick," the family said in a statement.

Israel David
(Photo : Facebook/ Duggar Family Official)
Derick and Jill Dillard welcomed baby Israel David into the world on April 26, 2015

Derick, who often discussed his eagerness for fatherhood prior to his son's birth, on Tuesday shared a close-up photo of baby Israel along with the caption, "It's so surreal to think we have a son! I love him so much!" A short time later, his wife also posted a photo of their son and thanked Jesus for the birth of the "handsome little guy."

Meanwhile, on Tuesday's installment of "19 Kids and Counting," the TLC reality stars discussed their baby's unusual name.

In the episode, titled "Jill's Having A...," the new mom -- who was just 17 weeks pregnant at the time of the episode, was excitedly preparing to learn her baby's gender. Ahead of hosting a gender reveal party for her family, Jill and Derick revealed their baby name picks.

"We do have names picked out for a boy and a girl," Derick revealed."If it's a boy, we're going to name his Israel, which means 'God will prevail.'"

He added, "If it's a girl, we're going to name her Selah, which means 'pause and reflect."

After discovering that Jill was pregnant with a boy, Derick shared his excitement; "It's really exciting to know that we are having a little baby boy," he said. "There is just something about a father-son connection. Being the first-born son myself, and having that connection with my dad, it will be really neat to pass on that legacy to my first-born son."

Jill later addressed her son by his name during a phone conversation with her sister-in-law, Anna. "We're so thrilled," she said. "So, little Israel is his name."

Immediately following the episode's premiere, TLC released a televised statement about Jill and Derick's new arrival. "Congratulations to Jill and Derick on the birth of their son," said the announcement, which included a photo of the couple holding up pairs of pink and blue baby shoes. "Welcome the newest member of the TLC family, baby Israel David Dillard."