What to Know
When Krystal Nielson joined the cast of Season 22 of The Bachelor, she became the villain of the season. Hey, every installment of the show needs at least one to keep the drama going. Since her time on reality TV ended, though, Krystal has lived a pretty anti-villain lifestyle, complete with marriage and two kids. But it wasn’t necessarily easy for her to get here.
She shared on an episode of the Almost Famous podcast that she experienced a serious health scare during her labor with her second child. Her son, Rowan Bowles, was OK after the birth, but the entire ordeal left lasting repercussions on Krystal physically and emotionally. And it’s a traumatic event that stayed with her.
The Bachelor alum said her uterus “exploded.”
During Krystal’s labor, a nurse inserted a Foley balloon into her uterus to try and help the labor progress. After it got stuck, more issues followed.
“From that point, I just started bleeding a lot,” Krystal said on the podcast. “Things just really started to go downhill, honestly, from that point because it got completely stuck and I was almost screaming in pain. They couldn’t get it out.”
Later, after a doctor checked Krystal to figure out how soon her son might arrive and checked Krystal’s cervix, blood rushed out when she removed her hand. At that point, Krystal had to undergo a C-section. So many of us have had traumatic birth stories, mos tof which seem to fade away after time, because hello, we have these beautiful babies to show for the pain and fear.
For Krystal, that also seems to be the case, but it doesn’t make her experience with her second child any easier. Like, at all. After her son was safely delivered, Krystal had to undergo surgery to see if her uterus could be repaired after it, according to Krystal, “exploded.”
“When I was going under, this whole time, I was just praying,” Krystal shared. “I was like, ‘Please, God, save my uterus. Please, God, save my uterus.’ And my baby, of course. But once he was out, it was just like, ‘Please save this.'”
She was advised against getting pregnant for a third time.
Miraculously, after doctors brought in a specialist, they were able to save Krystal’s uterus. But, she said on the podcast, she was told she should not try to get pregnant again. Complications during one pregnancy does not always mean similar complications will follow in the next pregnancy, but Krystal’s experience was pretty intense.
“That was really hard hearing that we won’t be able to get pregnant again because the plan was to get pregnant within a year of giving birth to Rowan,” Krystal explained on the podcast. “I had recently given away the baby girl clothes I had been holding on for this other little girl I’d been hoping would come into our lives. I just don’t know what God’s plan will be for us, if there will be a third — yes, no, I don’t know.”
