Yahoo Finance James Van Der Beek Reflects on Experiencing 2 Pregnancy Losses: 'Healing Comes at Its Own Pace'
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James Van Der Beek is reflecting on how his family healed after he and his wife Kimberly endured two pregnancy losses.
On Friday, the Dawson's Creek alum, 45, posted family photos from two separate road trips to the same place. The first photo was taken shortly after his wife Kimberly's first miscarriage, which occurred in November 2019, and the second was snapped earlier this month.
"Pic #1 we had just lost a baby 18 weeks into pregnancy and almost lost @vanderkimberly in the process," the actor wrote. "I had a collaboration going south, rapidly. And I'd just been booted off a reality dancing competition I'd been favored to win. (I feel like three out of those four are fairly relatable 😂)."
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At the time, he said their family decided to take a road trip.
"So, last minute, we rented an #RV, and headed north," Van Der Beek said, noting that they had no "real plan, just day-to-day."
The father of six added that the first snap was taken near a river by an RV park they booked on their journey.
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"And thus began the process - not necessarily of healing - but of being present. Present to the pain. Present to the beauty around us. And present to the acceptance of being in a process I did not understand," he wrote.
Van Der Beek and Kimberly, who suffered their second pregnancy loss in June 2020 at 17½ weeks, later welcomed their sixth child together, son Jeremiah, last October. The couple also share Olivia, 11, Joshua, 10, Annabel, 8, Emilia, 6, and Gwendolyn, 4.
The family recently returned to the same river with baby Jeremiah, Van Der Beek said.
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"2 ½ years later, after another late-term pregnancy loss, after that project blew up completely, after we moved to a new state and got our own RV… we came back to that same spot. With a brand new baby boy 🌈🌈," the star wrote, referencing sweet snaps in his post of Kimberly holding Jeremiah.
As he thought about their first time at the river, Van Der Beek said he was "astounded by how much I didn't know about the path to where I am now… and by how much peace I was able to feel in the midst of that darkness."
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He continued with an encouraging note for his followers, writing, "Whatever you're going through… if you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, or even know where to look for it… I invite you to not underestimate the power of a little change of environment… and of taking the time to sit exactly where you're at."
Van Der Beek concluded: "Healing comes at its own pace. Presence might just be a pre-requisite."
