Jill Duggar Dillard Marks A Heartbreaking Anniversary

As a star of the TLC reality series "Counting On," Jill Duggar Dillard gamely perpetuated the narrative that life as a Duggar daughter was all sunshine and family togetherness. Now she is free to tell her own story without camera crews and editors, and her fans are just fine with that. In fact, she has positioned herself as a woman able to speak her truth after years of living in a restrictive household. Still, that doesn't mean her life is perfect, and a recent social media post has poignantly brought home that fact.

Jill's latest Instagram Story reel as of publication reveals news both joyful and heartbreaking. The joy is that her husband, Derick Dillard, was officially sworn in and licensed as an attorney in the state of Oklahoma, where he currently works (per the Dillard Family website). He also holds a law license in Arkansas, making him a defender of the law in two states. Jill and their three sons — Israel, Samuel, and Frederick — were all there for the swearing-in ceremony. 

The heartbreaking part of Jill's post is her remembrance of a painful anniversary. A year ago, she suffered a miscarriage of what would have been their third child at the time (via People). The Dillards had only recently learned of the pregnancy, and had shared the news with Israel and Samuel.

To mark the sad anniversary of her miscarriage on October 3, 2021, Jill Duggar Dillard posted a reel to her Instagram Stories showing the positive pregnancy tests that revealed she had been expecting her third child. "Today marks [one] year without you, my baby River Bliss!" she wrote. "We miss you! The boys talk about you all the time! #miscarriage." As she and husband Derick explained in their blog, they lost their baby too early in the pregnancy to learn its gender, but they chose the name River Bliss to represent their God's ever-present nature and the glorious afterlife they believe their child is now enjoying.

The "19 Kids & Counting" star also posted a photo of herself feeding Frederick, the miraculous rainbow baby Jill welcomed after suffering her tragic loss. "As I sit here this morning nursing our little Freddy, covered in spit up and a little sleep deprived, I feel conflicted with feelings of loss and joy," she wrote. "I miss the moments we never had with River, yet I feel so so thankful for where we are this year holding our sweet little newborn & I do not take for granted what a blessing this journey of motherhood is." 

The poignant post has earned nearly 45,000 likes as of this writing, plus expressions of sympathy from family and friends. One fan wrote, "The biggest thing I've learned since losing my son is that it is OK to simultaneously grieve AND feel joy."