Sharing her story. Kimberly Van Der Beek opened up about her two most recent miscarriages — and revealed the names she and James Van Der Beek picked out for their unborn sons.
Kimberly, 38, experienced two pregnancy losses in November 2019 and June this year, each at 17 weeks. During an Instagram Live Q&A with fans on Tuesday, October 20, the Washington native described how her family has worked through their two tragedies.
“I don’t know if my miscarriages would be classified as stillbirths, they were both [at] 17 weeks,” she said in response to one viewer’s question. “They were so tough. It’s so interesting that I was able to deliver four children at home without a problem but miscarries at 17 weeks hospitalized me. One of them almost killed me.”
The couple, who tied the knot in 2010, share children Olivia, 10, Joshua, 8, Annabel, 6, Emilia, 4, and Gwendolyn, 2. In September, the Dawson’s Creek alum, 43, announced that he and his family were moving to Austin, Texas, after spending years in Los Angeles. As they settle into their new home, Kimberly is eager to find the perfect place for a passionfruit vine that she got from a store by mistake, which her family has dubbed “the mama plant.”
Kimberly felt as though the plant was “destined to come into our house,” and it’s played an important role in her healing process since losing her two pregnancies. Before each of her health scares, Kimberly’s “intuition” let her know that something had taken a turn for the worse.
“I was told I was going to have the miscarriage a few minutes before it happened. I was told I was going to have to go to the hospital a few minutes before they had to make the decision,” she said on Tuesday. “After the fetus came out, I was told exactly where to bury it. … So we have two fetuses in our mama plant. We named them John and Zachariah.”
The former business consultant buried the baby boys under the passionfruit plant and suddenly started to see a change in the vine’s growth. “I had this whole spiritual awakening that happened and the next day, mama plant had her first flower,” she recalled.
Earlier this month, Kimberly admitted that she still wasn’t quite ready to consider welcoming another child with the Varsity Blues actor after her two “very harsh” losses.
“I need to feel really good in my body if I’m going to explore that option,” she explained during an interview on “The Make Down” podcast. “Right now, I’m not there. … I’m in very much a healing mode right now. My body is really needing the nourishment and the care right now, and I’ve actually been more hands-off with parenting than I have in the past.”
As she continues her recovery, Kimberly is planning to honor John and Zachariah on November 17, which has become an important day in her family’s story. In November 2019, she was leaving the hospital after her miscarriage with John, and the next year, Zachariah was due on the same day. This November, she wants to host a blood drive on her Texas property.
“That’s something that came to me very clearly to do,” she concluded on Tuesday. “Because people donating blood saved my life … If I’m feeling strong I will also be giving blood.”
Listen to Us Weekly’s Hot Hollywood as each week the editors of Us break down the hottest entertainment news stories!
