Kate Mara reveals miscarriage that 'dragged out forever' before daughter was born
Before Kate Mara and Jamie Bell celebrated the birth of their daughter, they mourned the loss of a pregnancy.
The actress revealed the miscarriage on the June 13 episode of Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy Podcast. She said she took a pregnancy test after dreaming she was expecting, and showed Bell – whom she met on the set of 2015's "Fantastic Four" and married two years later – the result when they were stopped at a red light.
"I turned to him and I was like, 'Is now a bad time to show you this?' " she said. "I showed him the stick. He was, like, at a stop light, and he just burst out laughing and was like, 'Oh, my God. How is that possible?' "
Parents couldn't revel in joy for long
But the expectant parents didn't get to revel in their joy for long because Mara, now 36, shared that during her first ultrasound appointment the sonographer couldn't see the embryo.
"But she could see the pregnancy sac," she recalled of her eight-week appointment. "My doctor at the time said, 'Maybe you are off with your timing.' I was like, 'I am so good with timing.' "
Mara said she held on to a sliver of hope as she awaited blood tests.
"I knew that there was no way that was possible, but you’ve got that tiny hint of hope," she said.
The "House of Cards" alum said she returned to the doctor's office a few days later and any hope disappeared. She learned she had a blighted ovum, which is when a fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall but the embryo doesn't grow.
"I didn’t know what that was at the time. I’ve learned what that is. So she said, 'Basically, you’ve miscarried, but it just hasn’t left your body yet.' "
Mara said it took three months for her body to fully miscarry. She said on the podcast she chose medication to assist with the process, but it didn't work.
"Everything just took so much time, by the time it was all over," she said. "It just dragged out forever."
Expecting again, but 'nervous'
Mara said when she and Bell learned they were expecting again, their joy was tempered.
"We were both so nervous," she said. "I was nervous that it was going to happen again, you know? So it just ruins the excitement. I shouldn't be too excited."
Two days before her period was due, she "had a weird dream again," so she took a pregnancy test at 6 a.m.
She showed Bell, 33, when he woke and the two shared guarded excitement, she said.
An ultrasound showed a healthy baby and in January, the couple announced they were expecting.
They shared the birth of their daughter in May with a cute Instagram photo of her toes.
"We had a baby a couple weeks ago … Here are her feet," wrote Mara with two heart emojis.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kate Mara reveals miscarriage that 'dragged out forever' before daughter was born
