After James Van Der Beek shared his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, suffered a miscarriage, the 42-year-old actor's leading lady took to Instagram to thank their fans for their support.
"Thank you everyone for all of the love," she said in a video on Tuesday. "I don't even know how I'm going to begin to respond to it all. So, I think I'll just have to do it here."
Kimberly then confirmed "we lost our baby boy" and said, "I almost lost my life." She also said she would share "details of what happened in the emergency room" at another time.
James broke the news on Monday's episode of Dancing With the Stars.
"My wife Kimberly and I went through every expectant parent's worst nightmare. We lost the baby," he said at one point. "The little soul that we had expected to welcome into our family took a shortcut to whatever lies beyond. You never know why these things happen. It's what I've been telling my kids. All you know is that it brings you closer together. It breaks you open. It opens up your heart. It deepens your appreciation. It makes you more human."
While the contestant said he hadn't planned on dancing tonight, he said his wife told him, "'I am not done watching you dance,'" from her hospital bed. He then dedicated his performance to his wife.
Even though this second performance was met with high praise, his first routine did not receive the same feedback from the judges. James and his dance partner Emma Slater landed at the bottom of the leader board and ended up in the bottom two with Ally Brooke and her partner Sasha Farber. The judges then decided to save Ally and Sasha from elimination and send James home.
Kimberly said she was "pretty shocked" by the elimination. However, she said Ally, who offered to give her place in the finals to James but was denied the opportunity, is a "beautiful dancer" and someone they "love like family."
"But yeah, I'm not really ready to talk further about everything yet," she continued, "but at some point I will."
The heartbreaking news came one month after James and Kimberly announced the pregnancy on the ABC show. They had planned on welcoming the child in April.
On Monday, James wrote they were "wrecked," "devastated" and "in shock."
"We've been through this before, but never this late in the pregnancy, and never accompanied by such a scary, horrific threat to @vanderkimberly and her well-being," he continued. "Grateful that she's now recovering, but we've only just begun unpacking the layers of this one. Thank you to all of our friends and co-workers (and dance partners) who have shown up for us so beautifully during this time. As many of you have said, 'There are no words...' and it's true. Which is why in a time like this it's enough to know that you're there. Grieving AND counting our blessings today."