Stacey Skrysak feared having another baby after she lost two of her triplets, who had been born more than 17 weeks early. Then, a few months ago, Stacey Skrysak was shocked to discover she was pregnant once again. “I’m scared to have another baby,” she told PEOPLE. “I’m freaked out. This next chapter is so scary, but also beautiful.”

In 2013, Skrysak, 38, lost two of her three triplets at a little over 22 weeks. At the time, the television news anchor shared her heartbreaking story in the hopes of helping others faced with a similar tragedy. The surviving triplet, Peyton, who is now 5 ½, is doing incredibly well, therefore, Stacey and her husband, Ryan, were content to not have any more children.

The couple had used IVF to conceive the triplets after having trouble getting pregnant. Six months ago, they donated the remaining frozen embryos. Skrysak never though she would be able to handle another pregnancy emotionally, mentally or physically. After giving birth six years ago, Skrysak and her husband were devastated when their first child passed away a few hours after birth. Then, a few weeks later, they were informed their second child had brain damage. Soon after, the newborn passed as well.

Yet in December, the Illinois native saw two pink lines on a pregnancy test. The couple were shocked that they had gotten pregnant naturally. Skrysak, who is currently in her second trimester at 15 ½ weeks, is due in August. She says that she “can find joy and excitement mixed in with the bittersweet feeling many pregnant women feel after loss.”

Skrysak announced her pregnancy last week during a broadcast. She also shared the unexpected news with thousands of fans on Facebook. “It’s such a bittersweet time,” she says. “My husband and I having always been optimistic people but losing a child changes that. This pregnancy, I don’t think either of us will be fully optimistic until we have a healthy baby in our arms.”

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Skrysak, who just turned 39, has found that being pregnant later in life is much more tiring than when she was in her early thirties. In January, after having an ultrasound at six weeks, the technician wrote “baby,” which caused the anchor to break down crying. She remembered her last pregnancy, when she was told that there were three babies. “The emotions and memories are overwhelming. There is that fear of keeping this baby safe when my body felt as if it failed me last time,” she said.

As her pregnancy advances, Skrysak is being monitored by the same doctors who saved her life after the birth of the triplets, and who helped Peyton become the youngest newborn in their area to survive. “The baby looks great and that gives me my peace of mind. We’re excited,” she says.