HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — Health experts say around 20 out of 100 pregnancies will end in a miscarriage, and one out of 100 will end in a stillbirth — two experiences that many women will face, yet it's often not talked about.
“It was like I had a flower garden and that something was growing, and somebody clipped those flowers before they were ready," said Newport News woman Julie Johnson.
Johnson told News 3's Ellen Ice she had a miscarriage at 12 weeks. She said she and her husband had been struggling to conceive.
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“I counted the days, and we were at 84 days, something was growing, and now it’s gone,” Johnson said. "It’s not there anymore, like how could that be? I’m still living through these emotions, but like it’s not there anymore. You're supposed to go through life like nothing happened."
Johnson said she is now a statistic that she never wanted to be part of.
“It is so common, and you know that everybody goes through it, yet it is the most isolating event ever in your life,” said Johnson.
But there is light in Johnson's story — she was able to conceive again, often called a rainbow baby. She now has a 1-and-a-half-year-old son named Louis.
“I didn’t think it was going to stick, and I didn’t want to let myself get really excited about it,” Johnson said.
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For Emily McBride of Hampton, her story ended differently.
“It was a perfect textbook pregnancy, low risk, they didn’t have any issues they were concerned about,” said McBride.
McBride said she was 36 weeks pregnant with her son Oliver Flynn when one morning, she stopped feeling movement and couldn't find a heartbeat.
“You know my first thought wasn’t, 'my baby is dead,' that just wasn’t what crossed my mind because that’s just not really a reality that you can imagine,” said McBride. "Even once they told me at the hospital, it just doesn’t feel real."
She came home to a nursery with no baby.
“I gave birth, I went through labor, I delivered him, I had postpartum bleeding like it was a birth, I just didn’t have a baby at home with me,” said McBride.
McBride has been open about her journey, turning Oliver's baby book into a grief journal and taking to social media to share her story.
McBride said, "It really changes you to your core."
To get connected to resources in Virginia for coping with pregnancy and infant loss, click here.
