Congratulations are in order for Days of Our Lives star Jen Lilley, who portrayed Theresa Donovan in Salem. Today the actress announced she’s growing from a family of four to a family of five.
According to a report from People , Lilley is expecting a baby girl with her husband, Jason Wayne. Baby makes five for this unique family. Lilley also has two sons via foster care. The soap actress, who also stars in several Hallmark channel moves, got her 2-year-old son when he was just four months old, and she and Wayne are in the process of adopting him. The couple also has their older son’s biological brother who is 11 months old.
Lilley said, “I’m so relieved. I absolutely love being a mom of boys, but there’s a couple of reasons we wanted a girl — one [being], we don’t have one. More importantly, the reason we wanted the girl is now my sons won’t have a bio-son to compare themselves to, and I think that’s really, really important.”
The actress is currently 21 weeks pregnant, and her baby is due sometime in August, and they plan to name her Julie Evangeline. Lilley explained that the name “Julie” means “childlike and beautiful like a flower.”
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Last year, the actress and her husband experienced the heartache and pain of losing a pregnancy to miscarriage at 12 weeks along, and she opened up about it in a personal and real post on her Instagram account. Lilley’s post inspired others to share their own heartbreaking experiences after reading about hers, and it helped many realize that they weren’t alone in their heartbreak.
“I always knew I wanted to be pregnant and have a child once because I think it is so amazing what a woman’s body can do. It’s scary and beautiful, and also the most natural thing on Earth,” Lilley said.
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Fan’s of the actress flooded her pregnancy announcement post with good wishes for the remaining 19 or so weeks of her pregnancy. A rainbow baby often brings such joy to families after a previous loss.
Lilley last appeared in Salem as her alter ego Theresa in July 2018 when she and her son Tate left the city in an emotional state after she found out Kimberly’s leukemia returned.
While there’s no word on if or when Lilley plans to return to DAYS , it appears as if she’ll be busy learning to be a mother to three children under the age of three during the next several months. Congratulations to Jen Lilley!