Alexa PenaVega

Alexa PenaVega On Stillbirth: 'Indy's Little Life Transformed Us'

Home / Entertainment / Alexa PenaVega On Stillbirth: 'Indy's Little Life Transformed Us'

By Melanie VanDerveer on May 17, 2024 at 5:00 PM EDT

About a month after her daughter's stillbirth, Alexa PenaVega is sharing an update on how her family is doing.

The former child actress took to social media to share a video update explaining how her faith is turning her pain into "purpose."

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Alexa PenaVega Shared An Update A Month After Her Daughter's Stillbirth

Alexa and Carlos PenaVega
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Alexa shared a video on both Instagram and TikTok updating her fans and followers on how she and her family are doing since her daughter Indy's stillbirth in April. She filmed her video while her husband, Carlos PenaVega, a member of Big Time Rush, and their children were outside doing yard work.

"I just want to say, first off, that we're doing well. We're actually doing really well considering everything," she said. "We have been so thankful reading all of your messages of support, all the prayers that you guys have prayed, we have felt them. I don't know how else we would have gone through this season without all of you lifting us up in prayer."

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The "Spy Kids" star explained that "this season is the most traumatic thing that we've ever had to go through as a family" and that she's never experienced anything similar in her life, and hopes to never again.

"We have obviously felt a lot of pain, but also an insane amount of peace," she continued. "Like, God has really met us in this place between pain and peace, and it really doesn't make any sense other than it is his supernatural peace that is just covering us and allowing us to still go through grief and to still walk through this valley, but not alone and not without purpose. This season, I have learned so much about pain with purpose."

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After Losing Indy, Alexa PenaVega's 'Health Declined'

Alexa continued her video by saying after losing her daughter, her "health declined a lot" and no one knew what was wrong.  She credits her faith with helping her get through this rough "season."

"It was a very hard season for all of us to navigate, but I don't think I've ever surrendered in this way to God in my life," she continued through tears.

"Until you get to this point, you don't even realize the type of surrender that you're capable of. I just remember completely surrendering and having the pain in my heart from loss, the pain in my body from figuring out, trying to figure out what's going on with me. I just kept praying, God, give this pain purpose."

Alexa said that "Indy's little life has transformed" her and her family, explaining that her family has "never been stronger."

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"Her life was so purposeful, and just that short little bit that we had with her," she said. "And while she may not have taken a breath here on earth, she did not go without purpose."

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Alexa PenaVega Shared That 'Indy Was Born At Rest' In An Instagram Post

On April 15, Alexa shared the sad news of her daughter's stillbirth with her Instagram followers.

"After a beautiful and peaceful delivery, our daughter 'Indy' was born at rest," she wrote. "It has been a painful journey. But in the pain, we have found purpose."

Her post talked about her faith and how prayers from the community around her and her family have helped.

"This little girl has already changed our lives in so many ways. She was absolutely beautiful. And looked just like daddy. Dark hair and all," her post continued. "Grief has come to us in waves. Moments of feeling absolutely gutted...then moments of feeling blessed by just getting a moment with her."

Thousands of supportive comments quickly poured in. Many shared their condolences, and others shared prayers and love.

Alexa PenaVega Shared A 'Pregnancy Vlog' In March

Alexa and Carlos PenaVega
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In mid-March, Alexa shared a vlog talking about being in the hospital for five days.

"I started bleeding a little bit a week and a half ago. I thought it was kind of weird to be bleeding in my third trimester and obviously you guys know my history with this pregnancy has not been easy so I decided to go get it checked out because I wanted to be on the safe side," she said. "The bleeding ended up stopping and I was released and all was good."

But then a few days later when she woke up to go to the bathroom at 5 a.m., she started bleeding again. She felt like this was "not good."

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"We raced to the hospital, and the one wild thing that was probably the hardest of all of this was little baby is such a mover, loves just jumping around in my tummy, and it was the first time that I couldn't get the baby to move at all," she shared. "I was just praying over my stomach."

She was able to get the baby moving on the drive to the hospital and said it was a scary experience. At the hospital, she had a bunch of tests to rule out all possibilities and found out that the placenta partially separated from her uterus.

Others Shared Their Personal Stories In The Comment Section

After watching Alexa's pregnancy vlog and hearing all that she's going through, many of her Instagram followers dropped into the comment section to share their stories and support.

"For my third pregnancy, I started bleeding so much at like 37 weeks so I went to the hospital, they did ultrasounds and they still didn't know what was going on. I ended up having an emergency C-section. They told me I had placenta previa as well and the baby was getting detached from the placenta so thank God I had a C-section," one follower wrote.

Another said, "Aww honey prayers for you! Stay in the hospital and rest. I had my placenta fully detach and I lost my baby. The doctor never once recommended me to rest while I was bleeding every day. I didn’t work but I also wasn’t resting enough."

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One other mom shared, "I had a placental abruption two weeks before my due date. I won't tell you the amount of blood I lost. I prayed as we raced to the hospital. This was our first baby. My mom lost a baby at 8 months from a placenta previa and I was convinced the same was going to happen."

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