For First Time in 150 Years, the Second Lady Gives Birth

The vice president's household just got bigger. JD Vance announced Sunday that his wife, second lady Usha Vance, has given birth to the couple's fourth child, a son named Alec Neel Vance, NBC News reports. "Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother," Vance said in a statement. Their other three children are 4, 6, and 9.

Usha Vance, 40, is the first woman since the 1870s to give birth while married to the vice president. The couple revealed the pregnancy in January, with a due date in late July; JD Vance has previously indicated he doesn't plan to take parental leave. He has joked that his wife once told him he could "become vice president or … have a fourth baby," adding, "I am persuasive, because I got both." The VP has often spoken of his belief that Americans should have more kids, the AP reports. The birth comes as the couple weighs leasing a separate home in Middleburg, Virginia, in addition to the official vice president's residence, with the Secret Service preparing to secure the property. Sources tell CNN the sprawling home is meant to provide Usha Vance and the children more of a sense of normalcy.