It's estimated that one in every four diagnosed pregnancies end in miscarriage. The reasons for miscarriage vary wildly, however most miscarriages do not ever have a diagnosed cause. Whatever the cause -- known or unknown -- miscarriages can be devastating. Even worse, miscarriage is a taboo subject, the type of loss that is rarely discussed.

Here is my story.

Shortly after my middle son turned one, I realized I hadn't gotten my period in ... well, I couldn't tell you the last time I'd had it. But I'd recently weaned the kid off breastfeeding, I'd been stressed about the death of a good friend, and, um, there had to be a zillion and a half reasons I couldn't recall the dates of my last period ... right?

It sounds unimaginable at first. After being told in her fifth month of pregnancy that she was at risk of miscarrying her daughter, Donna Kelly of the U.K. was given an unusual prescription. She could try checking into the hospital for the reminder of her pregnancy, which is a difficult enough sentence for anyone, but while there, she would have to lie upside down the entire time.

So she did. For three months, 24 hours a day, she lay upside down to eat, sleep, watch TV, and anything else one could do in that position. The only time she turned upright was to use the restroom.

Yesterday, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar gathered together with friends and family members to pay tribute to their 20th child, Jubilee Shalom, who was stillborn after Michelle suffered a miscarriage in her second trimester of pregnancy. By all accounts, it was a lovely event that helped the family find some peace in their tragedy, but it's some photos from the event that have people talking. 

After the miscarriage, the couple had some creative pictures taken with the baby's body. There are pictures of them holding her tiny hands and feet, which they distributed at the memorial, along with messages such as: "There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world."

When preeclampsia struck in my 26th week of pregnancy, it came at me and my son with such unexpected power, I barely knew what was happening. I'd heard of the disease, but thought it was something that couldn't affect me nor did I have any idea how it would change our lives forever.

Many women are in the same boat. Awareness has improved in the last eight years since I delivered my extremely premature son (1 pound, 15 ounces), but there's much more work that needs to be done. You can help in a very quick and simple way.

By now, the whole word knows that Michelle Duggar -- mama to 19 kids -- has had a miscarriage of what would have been baby 20. And now you have a choice, folks. You can decide whether you're going to join the group of people bashing the Duggar family, or you're going to care about those 19 kids. Because the reactions to this devastating new have certainly shined a light on a rarely talked about victim in pregnancy loss.

Fact is, I don't agree with the Duggar family's quiverfull plans for procreation -- the thing that earned them a show on TLC. I hear 20 kids, and I grab my stomach. But I can't read Michelle Duggar's comments about the night before she realized she'd miscarried -- when she was hanging out with her other children -- or the planned funeral services and not feel bad for those other kiddos in her household.

Or her uterus. Either/or. But some people are saying that this miscarriage is indeed a sign from God that the Duggars should stop having babies. No matter whether you agree or disagree with the way the Duggar family has chosen to live its quiverfull life, we can all agree that suffering a miscarriage is simply horrifying. And when Michelle Duggar lost what would have been her 20th baby this week, most of us feel for this mom of many. Whether it's your first, or 21st, a miscarriage is incredibly painful and not something I would wish on my worst enemy.

At the same time, I couldn't help but wonder what Michelle's physician was telling her at this time. She is 45 years old and has given birth to 19 children, one of whom was born dangerously premature. Is s/he advising Michelle and Jim Bob to put a halt to the Duggar family business? Should s/he be? And more importantly (to the Duggar family, anyway), what does God think about all of this?

Sad news today for the Duggar family: Michelle Duggar has suffered a miscarriage. Already in the second trimester of her pregnancy with the Duggars' 20th child, she was at a prenatal check-up where Michelle and husband Jim Bob were hoping to learn the baby's sex. Instead, the doctor couldn't find a heartbeat.

I can't imagine how heartbroken Michelle and Jim Bob must be, not to mention the many siblings who were looking forward to the new addition.

In fact, just last night the family was discussing possible baby names, 45-year-old Michelle said:

After the appointment, we came back home and told the children. We had just been talking about baby names last night and they were getting excited about naming a boy or a girl. It has been a real sad disappointment.

I was at lunch with a few women that I didn't know that well and we started talking about my twin boys and how lucky I was that they were healthy, full-term babies. Then, I just blurted out, "Well, it took us a long time to get pregnant and I had a painful miscarriage, so maybe this was just the scales tipping back in the other direction." Wait, what did I just say? I had just dropped into casual conversation an experience that had been so difficult and personal to me. A beat later, I got flustered and felt the need to downplay it: "It's not a big deal ... I have my babies now ... it's in the past ... I mean, it was a big deal, but now it's not a big deal."

But, then, the other women revealed that they had also had miscarriages, one had several. And here we were, now all Moms to healthy babies, sharing our stories which, in many ways, were really similar. I thought what a shame it was that I didn't have these women to talk to when I was going through my pregnancy loss.