Celebrity

Bringing Up Bates Stars Zach & Whitney Bates Welcome Baby #4

“There’s no way to describe the feelings and emotions we felt when we first held him in our arms.”

by Casey Suglia

The Bringing Up Bates brood has officially grown by one more! Zach and Whitney Bates welcomed their fourth child earlier this week and they could not be happier.

The couple’s son, Jadon Carl Bates, was born on Monday, June 7. Zach, who is the oldest Bates son and his wife, Whitney, are already the parents to three children: 6-year-old son, Bradley, 4-year-old daughter, Kaci, and 1-year-old daughter, Khloé.

“After months of waiting on our special boy, finally meeting Jadon face to face was all we dreamed of and more,” the couple wrote in the caption of a post announcing Jadon’s birth on their joint Instagram account. “There’s no way to describe the feelings and emotions we felt when we first held him in our arms.”

After Jadon was born, the couple revealed, his oxygen levels dropped and he was transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Eastern Tennessee Children’s Hospital. “As of right now, he is stable and responding to the treatment,” they wrote. “They will continue treatment, running tests, and monitoring until he is strong enough to come home.”

“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,” they added.

They also have the support from Zach’s many siblings (there are 18 of them). His younger sister, Carlin Bates, posted videos on her Instagram Story of her cheering on the couple with mom, Kelly Bates, from the car in the hospital’s parking deck. Carlin and Kelly were able to wave at Zach and Whitney, who were in their room, from their car and even brought flowers and balloons to show their support. “We’re the celebration crew,” Kelly said. And the proud grandma, who has a total of 16 grandchildren, is so excited to hold her newest one.

“He’s an absolutely beautiful baby, as you can tell from the pics, and this granny is dying to hold him and meet him in person!,” Kelly wrote in the caption of her Instagram post announcing Jadon’s birth. “I know Zach and Whitney are anxious for him to get to go home, but until then, we are just so grateful for the NICU hospital staff and for the prayers of friends and family!”

It’s only a matter of time before the Bates grandkids outnumber the amount of Bates kids.