Setting the record straight. Kailyn Lowry spoke to Us Weekly exclusively about why she wasn’t on the Teen Mom That’s a Wrap 2017 end of the year special.

“While of course I was invited to participate in it — and had planned to film in it — I had to leave to be with my son, Lux, who was only 10 weeks old at the time,” Lowry told Us. “People who were watching the special this week when it aired, though, started tweeting me about it and were filling in their own blanks and coming up with other reasons as to why they thought I was absent.”

“My absence from the special, though, had nothing to do with anything other than my son needing me,” the Delaware-resident continued. “The special was filmed in California — and we live on the East Coast — so the time change coupled with the late filming of the special were just too much for us.”

Lowry — who shares 7-year-old son Issac with ex Jo Rivera, 4-year-old son Lincoln with ex-husband Javi Marroquin and 5-month-old Lux with ex Chris Lopez — has been a part of the Teen Mom 2 franchise since it premiered in 2011. She was originally featured on an episode of 16 and Pregnant in 2010.

The end of the year special, which aired on Monday, December 25, included Lowry’s Teen Mom 2 costars Chelsea Houska, Jenelle Evans, Briana DeJesus and Leah Messer. Teen Mom OG stars Maci Bookout, Catelynn Lowell and Farrah Abraham were also in attendance. Amber Portwood, who is pregnant with her second child, was also noticeably absent from the special, which featured cast members reminiscing on show highlights from 2017.

“My priorities are my kids and I’m happier that I got to have that night with Lux,” Lowry told Us. “Plus, after hearing about the special and how it ended I’m glad I didn’t miss anything fun. To reiterate again, it had nothing to do with anyone else that was going. I just needed to handle my family stuff.”

As previously reported, 26-year-old Evans took to Instagram to speak out about reports of drama at the taping of the Teen Mom 2 reunion and end of the year special in October. Lowry may be referring to reports that Evans’ husband, David Eason, pulled out a knife during the taping. The Read Between the Lines author downplayed the knife clams and explained that after Eason was denied a beer, which angered him, he went outside and popped some balloons as he left.

Despite Lowry’s absence from the look-back special, she has a lot to look forward to in 2018, including her new book deal. Us exclusively broke the news earlier this month that the 25-year-old MTV star is set to write a children’s book and that Issac is going to do the illustrations.

“Our French bulldog is so mischievous that his antics called for his own children’s book,” Lowry told Us on December 19. “In addition to my book deal, I’m excited to announce Isaac is going to be the illustrator of our new children’s book. Isaac loves to be artsy and creative so when I suggested the children’s book idea about our dog he was pumped to do the pictures for it.”