James and Kimberly Van Der Beek chose names for both of their sons whom they lost during pregnancy.
James and Kimberly Van Der Beek
The ‘Dawson’s Creek’ alum’s wife Kimberly suffered two pregnancy losses in November 2019 and in June this year, both at 17 weeks, and Kimberly has now revealed she and James picked out monikers for their two sons after experiencing each tragedy.
She said: “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. After the foetus came out, I was told exactly where to bury it. … So we have two foetuses in our mama plant. We named them John and Zachariah.”
Kimberly - who has children Olivia, 10, Joshua, eight, Annabel, six, Emilia, four, and Gwendolyn, two, with James - buried the foetuses under a passionfruit vine in her home that she’s dubbed “the mama plant”, and believes her late sons have helped the plant grow.
She added: “I had this whole spiritual awakening that happened and the next day, mama plant had her first flower.”
The 38-year-old star also opened up on the tragedies themselves, explaining they were “so tough” to deal with both mentally and physically.
She explained: “I don’t know if my miscarriages would be classified as stillbirths, they were both [at] 17 weeks. 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 hospitalised me. One of them almost killed me.”
And as Kimberly continues to recover, she and James are planning to honour John and Zachariah on November 17 with a blood drive hosted at her Texas property, because it was thanks to people giving blood that she was able to make it through her miscarriage.
Speaking during an Instagram Live Q&A, she said: “That’s something that came to me very clearly to do. Because people donating blood saved my life … If I’m feeling strong I will also be giving blood.”
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