The actress has announced she is expecting her first child with her husband, Winston Beigel, in an emotional essay for Glamour magazine.
Despite being “extremely overjoyed” to fall pregnant, the 37-year-old explained that she was reluctant to share the news with fans after previously suffering a miscarriage.
“When I thought about having to share the news about expecting this baby, all I could think about was another woman mourning over her loss as I did,” she wrote.
“It felt a bit disingenuous to not also share the struggle it took for me to get here.”
She went on to confess that losing her first baby was “one of the most profound sorrows I have ever felt in my life.”
“It kick-started a primal depression that lingered in me,” she said.
“The image of our baby on the ultrasound monitor – without movement, without a heartbeat – after we had seen that same little heart healthy and flickering just two weeks prior completely blindsided us and haunts me to this day.”
The star – who is best known for her role as Bernadette in the long-running CBS series – said she hopes that sharing her experience will give others the strength to know they are not alone in their grief.
“To all the women out there who are dealing with fertility issues, have gone through a miscarriage or are going through the pain of it currently, allow me to leave you with this message: You are not alone. And it is perfectly OK not to be OK right now,” she added.
The couple are expected to welcome their new addition at the end of the year.
This article originally appeared on New Idea.