After suffering multiple health issues after welcoming her seventh child, Erin Bates gave fans a positive update on her post-birth recovery.
“I don’t even have the words. 🥲 For weeks, my leg has not worked (since my seizure in the hospital). I’ve been carried, wheeled, and held up through tears and prayers… and today — it moved. Today I took steps,” Bates shared in a Thursday, October 2, Instagram post. “They might be a little wobbly, but they are steps I wasn’t sure I’d ever take again.”
Noting that she’s “cried until I laughed, and laughed until I cried,” Bates said her “heart is overflowing with gratitude.” In addition to praising her faith and thanking fans for their support, Bates also thanked the medical professionals “who have poured so much into my recovery.”
She concluded, “Today we are standing (literally!) in awe, giving thanks for every single step forward. 💛🙌.”
Bates’ latest medical update was accompanied by new photos of herself, her husband, Chad Paine, and all seven of their children.
Fans and relatives celebrated Bates’ happy news in the post’s comments. “Best news ever! We have all been praying for you, and we’re absolutely thrilled 🙌🏼 God is good!” wrote Erin’s brother Lawson Bates. Jinger Duggar commented, “Praise God!!! 🙌🏼.”
Courtesy of Erin Bates/Instagram
“God is so good! You can see the joy radiating off each and every one of you.🥰🥹,” one fan posted, while another added, “Wonderful news!🙏 Such a beautiful family!”
One week after welcoming their youngest child, Paine revealed via Instagram that Erin was in the ICU after developing “a severe UTI and kidney infection, which sent her into septic shock.” A few days later, Paine shared in another post that his wife had suffered a “suffered a lengthy and severe seizure.”
“She is in the ICU, and the doctors are running scans and tests to determine the cause. Erin is extremely weak and spent hours only half conscious,” he wrote on September 4. “As her husband, it is one of the hardest things I’ve ever faced — to sit by her side and watch her struggle while being so helpless to ease her suffering. I love her more deeply than words can express, and I can’t even imagine life without my best friend.”
Erin returned home after spending three weeks in the hospital, but found herself unable to use one of her legs. “We don’t have all the answers yet, and I still don’t have function in my right leg, but we are choosing to count every blessing—especially the gift of being together again,” she shared in a September 13 Instagram upload. “Your prayers have carried us through and mean the world to our family.”
In their second-most-recent Instagram update, Erin wrote, “My leg still isn’t functioning, but I am learning how to navigate using a walker and wheelchair much better now. I’ve been doing physical therapy consistently and they are hopeful that time will heal!”
The September 26 post also commemorated one month since Henry’s birth. “One month of loving you and thanking God for His goodness EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. 🤍,” Erin shared. “Also celebrating that I made it out of pajamas… but only for two minutes before the pj life called me back. 🤭 It’s the little things, friends!”