Jessica Capshaw felt "deep sadness" after suffering a miscarriage.
Jessica Capshaw suffered a miscarriage
The 'Grey's Anatomy' actress - who has Luke, 16, Eve, 13, Poppy, 12, and eight-year-old Josephine with husband Christopher Gavigan - had always felt "very lucky and very grateful" to have not had any issues getting pregnant so she was stunned when she attended a routine scan and was told her unborn baby had no heartbeat.
Discussing the "horrible" situation on her and Camilla Luddington's iHeartRadio podcast 'Call It What It Is', she said: “I got pregnant and I was so excited and I had never had any issues before getting pregnant. I was very lucky and I'm very grateful.
"And then all of a sudden, at my 10-week appointment, [I] went in for the ultrasound, was by myself, totally unsuspecting, and there was no heartbeat."
The 47-year-old star experienced a "deep sadness" and wasn't sure if she should call her husband on the phone or break the news in person.
She added: "It was the most shocking and deeply, deeply sad thing.”
Jessica felt "very, very fortunate" to be under the care of such a "compassionate" doctor and a supportive partner throughout the "pain and disappointment".
She added: “And then you know, life carried on, and I had a chance to take care of myself and my body and my relationship and my other children, and it was really incredible."
Earlier on the show, Jessica and Camilla - who has Hayden, seven, and Lucas, three, with husband Matthew Alan - had taken a call from a woman with two young boys who wanted advice on whether or not to have a third child.
While Camilla, 40, said she "easily" knew it was right to stop at two because her "anxiety" couldn't have coped with three, she noted to her friend: “You have four, though, so this is a different answer for you."
The 'Practice' star explained having a large family felt "very natural" to her.
She said: “For me, I came from a big family, so I think that it was very natural and I didn't feel overwhelmed.
“And Luke is three years older than Eve, and then Poppy is only 20 months younger than Eve. So we went like boom boom. It was Luke, and a break then Eve, and then I got pregnant when Eve was 10 months old."
But she stressed it "sets you up for success" by having frank conversations with a partner on the subject first.
She said: "“I think that the answer is that it's a very personal answer. [It helps to be] really really in touch and really really honest with yourself and with your partner.”