Whitney & Zach Bates Welcome Baby #4

The “Bringing Up Bates” brood just expanded!

Whitney, 27, and Zach Bates, 32, welcomed their fourth child, a baby boy named Jadon Carl Bates. Us Weekly reports the little guy was born June 7 at 5:15 p.m. and weighed 7 lbs., 6 oz.

The couple told the magazine, “After months of waiting on this special day to arrive, we are rejoicing to finally meet our sweet Jadon face to face. There’s no way to describe the feeling and emotions we felt when we first held him in our arms. He is perfect in every way.”

They also shared that Jadon had to spend some time in the NICU. “Shortly after [Jadon’s birth], his O2 levels dropped and he was transferred to NICU at East TN Children’s Hospital. As of right now, he is stable and responding well to treatment. They will continue treatment and monitoring until he is strong enough to come home,” the couple said. “We are so grateful to God for taking care of our little boy and thankful for the doctors and nurses working hard to get baby J healthy and ready to meet his big brother and sisters. Life doesn’t always go as planned, but we’re thankful we can trust in the Lord with confidence that His plan is always perfect.”

Whitney announced her pregnancy in November, writing on Instagram, “We are SOO excited to share the news that we are expecting our sweet baby in June 2021! There’s no way to describe the joy in our hearts right now. It feels like all of our free time is spent talking about and planning for this new little blessing that will soon fill our home with smiles and giggles.”

She announced his gender in January, telling her followers, “IT’S A BOY! Jadon Carl] is on his way, and we’re all counting the days to hold and cuddle the newest baby Bates. … We all couldn’t be more thankful for this newest blessing!! We are extremely excited and June just can’t get here soon enough!”

Whitney and Zach are already parents to Bradley, 6, Kaci, 4, and Khloé, 19 months, and they are already thinking about expanding their family.

In February, Whitney told Us Weekly that having 19 kids like Zach’s family (he’s the eldest) was a “little high,” however, she did say, “I’m sure we’ll have a few more but probably not 19. Two [more] will be great.”