'He or She, What will the Baby Be?' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "He or She, What will the Baby Be?"

• “We’re trying to have the right spirit and the right attitude about the good things and the bad things and realizing God’s working them all for something good, even if we can’t see it,” says Gil
• Since Erin, Whitney, and Carlin started the Bates Sisters Boutique one year ago, the business has grown. They need more space and are considering opening a storefront.
• Several of the Bates contracted COVID-19, but Erin has struggled the most with it. Her recovery has been long, and she is dealing with frequent headache, fatigue, nausea, and sore throat. Tammy Paine, Chad’s mom, is visiting for a few weeks to help out. “With Erin being down, I feel like half of me is gone to some extent,” says Chad. “It blows me away how strong she is through it…”
• At this point, they aren’t sure if Erin is dealing with complications from COVID, or possibly Lyme Disease.
• Josie and Kelton are finishing up the final touches on their home renovations. After trying for a few months to get pregnant, Josie suffered a miscarriage. “Our world turned completely upside down,” says Josie. “I just remember feeling so many emotions.” Josie says the doctor doesn’t think that her miscarriage was caused by the same condition that some of her sisters have, but she is going to do blood work to investigate.
• Josie’s business, Effortless Beauty, is more than one year old. She and her business partner, Grace Rochat, do hair and makeup for weddings and events, and now Katie is joining the team. Josie and Katie are taking an advanced makeup course online.
• Katie says it hasn’t yet been determined if she will move to New Jersey when she and Travis get married.  “If it was up to me, I’d be getting engaged tomorrow, but we’re taking our time, and it’s going to happen when it needs to,” she says. “I mean, our timeline isn’t too far out.” She tells Josie and Grace that she can work in the business for at least a year.
• Zach has been working with the sheriff’s department for 10 years and is logging 50-60 hours a week. He is planning to leave law enforcement and return to Bates Tree Service. Years ago, Gil made a similar decision when he left his position as an employee at a sales company and started the tree business.
• In Florida, Alyssa tells John that she is pregnant with their fourth child. Later, they do a live-stream gender reveal. Some friends help the Websters pull it off. One of the friends calls Gil right before to tell him what the gender is so he can shoot off a powder cannon in Tennessee when the gender is announced in Florida. “He’s loving rubbing this in!” says Kelly.
• Kelly goes on a walk with Michael to catch up on life. Michael is waiting to take her nursing state boards. Kelly also talks about the medical issues she is dealing with. She has GERD, which has turned into Barrett’s Esophagus. Kelly was terrified when she was told that she has pre-cancerous cells. Her medicine is not working, and she is going to have surgery.
• Lawson is at Los Angeles International Airport picking up Esther Faith, a little girl from the Philippines who needs a life-saving heart surgery that is not available to her in her country. “This really took so much effort to pull this off,” says Nathan. “It took at least 10 doctors working constantly, nurses traveling back and forth to the Philippines to care for Esther. So many political individuals making phone calls to the embassy, providing recommendations.”
• Lawson and Nathan accompany Esther to Orlando, where she has the surgery. It goes very well. This will be the only surgery that Esther will need. She will soon return to the Philippines, where she will be able to live a normal life without restrictions.