Getty Jenna Johnson
“Dancing With the Stars” professional dancer Jenna Johnson is opening up about her miscarriages and the birth of her rainbow baby, Rome.
In a heartwrenching post on Instagram about her son, Rome, Johnson thanked everyone for their support.
“Our experience trying to conceive was much like a lot of yours.. unexpected, exciting, devastating, and not how we planned,” Johnson wrote alongside photos of herself posing with Rome. “BUT, with as much heartache that followed miscarrying our first pregnancy.. I know without a doubt that it all happened as it should. And although there were many times I questioned WHY and HOW and silently cried when no one knew, I never gave up on my dream of becoming a mother.”
Johnson added that she feels very grateful for her infertility and pregnancy loss journey because she feels that her relationship with her son, Rome, is more meaningful because of it. She also feels that she can appreciate moments that others might not, like the 4 a.m. feedings and “spit up running down” her shirt.
“I want to thank the [trying to conceive] community that got me through some really tough years and made me feel so understood,” Johnson wrote. “I watched your vulnerable videos and would cry at how much I could relate.”
Johnson shared the statistic that one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage and she wanted to let everyone know that they aren’t alone. According to the National Institutes of Health, “up to 26% of pregnancies end in miscarriage.”
Jenna Johnson Opened Up About Having a Miscarriage at a Dance Rehearsal
In a March 2023 interview with “Good Morning America.”
The couple welcomed their son, Rome, in January 2023.
They had a miscarriage in 2021, however, that they kept secret at the time because they’d been keeping their pregnancy secret.
“We were in Dallas for a show, and while we were practicing, we did something, and I just turned to him,” Johnson said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m — I think I’m bleeding. And immediately my heart just dropped. I could see in his face just went, like, white. And I sprinted to our hotel room, and I lost the baby in our hotel room.”
Johnson recalled being, “so, so sad” and added that she “was hurting so much.”
Jenna Johnson Felt Like She Was ‘Failing’ as a Mom
In an Instagram Q&A session on her now-expired Stories, Johnson told her fans that she had a hard time breastfeeding, though it has been important to her.
“I am, and I absolutely LOVE it…” she wrote on her Instagram Stories when asked if she was breastfeeding. “But it has definitely been a stressful journey. I wasn’t/still not producing an abundance of milk regardless of how many lactation supplements & tricks I do. It made me very emotional in the beginning and I felt like I was failing. I have since learned so much and very happy with what we are doing to help our little guy stay healthy and gain weight.”
She added, “I know that this can be a very sensitive and personal experience so my advice… do what works best for your baby!”
Johnson and her husband, Val Chmerkovskiy, welcomed Rome on January 10, 2023.
“Our world is forever changed,” the couple wrote alongside an image of their hands intertwined with their baby’s fingers. “1.10.23.”
“Dancing With the Stars” is set to return in the fall of 2023 on Disney+.