19th Duggar Baby “Doing As Well As Can Be Expected”

Josie Brooklyn Duggar, who was born three months premature on December 10 to parents Michelle Duggar and husband Jim Bob, remains hospitalized at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

“Josie is doing as well as can be expected for a baby at her age. We are taking each hour as it comes,” Michelle tells PEOPLE of her daughter who weighed just 1lb, 6oz at birth. “We feed so blessed that God has given us to her and are cherishing every moment with her.”

Michelle, who has been released from hospital, delivered her 19th child via emergency cesarean after being admitted to the hospital with gall bladder issues. She also suffered from preeclampsia - a condition that causes high blood pressure and the reason Josie was born prematurely.

Jim Bob says that his family is “very grateful” for the support of fans from around the country: “God’s will is what we would choose if we knew all the facts. Our children’s spiritual maturity is going to deepen so much through this, in a way that couldn’t happen any other way.”

“This is so difficult,” he adds. “But I know that we are leaving this is God’s hands.”