It's Jill (Duggar) Dillard's Due Date! 'I Am Planning On the Baby Coming Late,' She Says

"The baby will come when the baby comes," Jill, a student midwife, tells PEOPLE

Published on March 24, 2015 09:15 AM

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Jill Dillard‘s first child with husband Derick is due any minute now, but she’s not too worried about their son arriving late.

A student midwife, Jill, 23, is “feeling great,” she tells PEOPLE, though she admits to experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions, which are a natural occurrence in the later stages of pregnancy.

Because she’s a first-time mom, Jill has two due dates set for herself – March 24 and April 5. “I have told myself, ‘First-time moms often go a week and a half over, so don’t get discouraged,’ ” she says, adding that she has told herself that from the beginning. “When everyone else is asking you, ‘When are you going to have that baby?’ The baby will come when the baby comes.”

She adds that she was “planning on the baby coming late, no big deal – if you have it in your head that way, you won’t get discouraged.”

While she has helped to deliver around 30 babies already, the 19 Kids and Counting star has been studying to become a full-fledged midwife in her own right; her exam is later this year. “It is really exciting to be studying this when pregnant,” she tells PEOPLE. “It takes on a whole different light when you are studying about what you are going through.”

As for Derick? Well, the 26-year-old is in the running for husband of the year. “He is so sweet,” says Jill. “He is doing amazing. He gave me a foot massage and painted my nails last night.

“He asked me what color I wanted, and we decided on pink nails. He picked out a bright pink and he said, ‘Here we go – this will be your labor color.’ ”

19 Kids and Counting airs Tuesdays (9 p.m. ET) on TLC.

• Reporting by ALICIA C. DENNIS

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