Grandparents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar Share Thoughts on Israel Dillard's Birth

The 19 Kids and Counting stars talk to PEOPLE about their fourth grandchild

Photo: TLC

After a 70-hour delivery and surprise C-section, Jill and Derick Dillard open up about their firstborn’s arrival. Subscribe now for Jill and Derick’s exclusive interview – and to see photos of their son Israel David – only in PEOPLE!

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have gone through more than a dozen births in their family – but that didn’t make this last one any less exciting.

“We are so thrilled for Jill and Derick,” says Michelle, 48. “It is such an exciting time of life.”

The couple’s fourth child, Jill, 23, and husband Derick Dillard, 26, welcomed firstborn Israel David on April 6.

“He’s almost 2 ft. tall already!” Jim Bob, 49, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “He’s really handsome. He looks just like his grandpa.”

Mom Michelle helped Jill through her intense labor, admitting that at times watching her daughter go through the experience was difficult.

“Jill was amazing,” Michelle says. “I don’t normally use the word ‘proud,’ but as a parent watching her, I was proud, and she did an amazing job. She is a trouper, that girl. We are so grateful this little man arrived safe and healthy.”

As a student midwife, Jill’s prep for her baby was extensive.

“She is a planner,” says Michelle. “She had a birth plan the size of a book. She made all kinds of plans, and ultimately God directed the path, and it was the birth it was meant to be. Jill and Derick are so in love you can hardly believe it, the love just oozes out, and they just enjoying being new parents.”

Derick’s mother, Cathy, 54, was also there when Israel was born via cesarean section.

“I wasn’t worried,” Cathy tells PEOPLE. “When your kids hurt – and Jill is really my daughter now – you feel their pain. I felt hers, but it was amazing to watch her and Derick as a team.”

Cathy says she had thought of what she wanted to say to her son the moment his son was born.

“I told him, ‘Now you can begin to know how much I love you,’ ” she says. “It was a moment for me. I don’t know if it was for him, because he was so sleep deprived at the time, but it was for me.”

For Jim Bob and Michelle, stars of 19 Kids and Counting airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m. the number of grandkids the Duggars end up having could be a very large number.

“We have four grandkids now,” Jim Bob says with a laugh. “And counting. Maybe to 200.”

Israel David’s birth will air on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting on May 5 in advance of Mother’s Day.

For more of Jill and Derick’s exclusive interview – and to see photos of their son Israel David – pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now

Want more Duggars? Click here to get weekly updates on the stars of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting in the Duggar Family Newsletter.

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