The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise alum Krystal Nielson has revealed the traumatic and shocking birth story of her second child, Rowan Vincent Bowles. and why she can no longer have kids.
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On Wednesday, Krystal took to Instagram with photos of her delivery experience and a lengthy post about what she went through in order to become a mom of two.
"First, thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for every prayer, text, and ounce of love you've sent our family, Rowan's birth was the most traumatic experience we've ever endured, and we weren't ready to share the details then," Krystal began.
"We had so many unanswered questions ourselves. But after a week of healing at home and follow-up discussions with doctors, I finally feel ready to share the full story of what happened."
Krystal shared that on Friday, November 14, she and her husband Miles Bowles "went in for a scheduled induction due to an umbilical vein varix -- the same condition that prompted us to induce early with our daughter Andara."
Krystal said Andara's birth had "felt like a gift" since her labor consisted of 21 "calm hours," no tearing and "just 75 minutes of pushing."
Krystal apparently thought her delivery of Baby No. 2 would be faster and gentler.
"By Sunday morning [November 16], 33 hours into the induction, I had only progressed from 1cm to 3cm despite the Foley balloon and four rounds of Cytotec. I was utterly exhausted and sleep deprived, and finally agreed to an epidural so they could break my water and (hopefully) speed things along," Krystal recalled."
Krystal explained how she was reluctant to have an epidural because she wanted to feel the contractions this time.
"And I did," she clarified. "Because the first epidural didn't take at first. Within 2.5 hours, I was 'complete' and ready to push."
Krystal said once her medical team gathered in her room, she saw a double rainbow in the sky outside of her window, which made her feel safe and optimistic.
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After pushing "strong" for an hour, Krystal said something "felt off" and Rowan had stopped descending.
After nearly 3.5 hours of pushing -- 37 hours total into the induction -- Krystal said she "desperately looked" at her midwife and said, "He isn't coming."
The OB therefore came to check on The Bachelor alum, who said moments later, bright red blood appeared.
"It felt like everything unraveled in seconds. Rowan was stuck low under my pelvic bone, wedged in a way that made vaginal delivery impossible," Krystal recalled.
"When the doctor tried to rotate him, she discovered that my uterus had ruptured. Within seconds, a full code team burst in and rushed me to the OR for an emergency C-section -- awake. Rowan swallowed a large amount of blood during the rupture and was rushed to the NICU before I ever saw his face."
Krystal said Rowan had an initial Apgar score of 2 and high acidosis levels.
"They didn't know if he'd been without oxygen long enough to cause brain damage," Krystal wrote.
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According to Krystal, Rowan's shoulder had protruded through "a severe tear" in the right side of her uterus, making it "extremely difficult" to remove him.
"I will never forget the gurgled sounds I made, the panic in the doctor's voices, or the excruciating minute waiting to hear my baby's first cry," Krystal recalled.
"The doctors later told us that if we hadn't already been in the hospital and gotten to surgery that fast, one or both of us would have not made it."
Once Rowan was "out," as Krystal put it, doctors put her under general anesthesia to repair her uterus, which was "in pieces -- shredded, falling apart, and refusing stitches."
Krystal said the hospital's top uterine oncologist, who was only 10 minutes away, then arrived and got to work, along with the attending OB and her assistant.
"These amazing doctors performed an absolute miracle and were able to save my uterus. However, due to the massive vertical tear running top to bottom, we've been strongly advised not to have more children, as it puts me at a very high risk for another rupture," Krystal explained.
"Since we've been planning on a 3rd child, this news was devastating to hear."
After Rowan got an MRI and spent 72 hours in therapeutic hypothermia -- because his body had cooled to protect his brain -- Krystal got to meet her son for the first time when he was two days old.
"[I] finally held him on day four, once he was rewarmed and cleared of seizures or brain damage. Thanks to everyone's prayers and by the grace of God -- every test came back normal," Krystal gushed.
"On day 6, we walked out of NICU together -- mama, daddy, and our miracle baby -- alive, healthy, perfect, and headed home to big sister Andara."
Krystal said Thanksgiving carried "a weight" her family "never could have imagined."
She continued, "We stared death in the face and were handed life -- a raw, trembling, breathtaking life. A double rainbow in the chaos. A world-class surgeon ten minutes away. Modern medicine that refused to quit. Thousands of your prayers."
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Krystal mentioned how this was a miracle upon miracle from her perspective.
"My daily mantra is, 'I'm at peace with the past and moving forward with immense gratitude.' And I really am," the Bachelor in Paradise alum wrote.
Krystal went on to reveal how the experience has inspired a new family tradition.
"Every year on Rowan's birthday, we will lower ourselves into ice-cold water together... We will shiver, we will cry, we will laugh, and we will rise -- because that is the story of how our son came to us," Krystal wrote.
"We will never, ever forget the cold that forged his unbreakable heart."
The couple's new addition joins their daughter, Andara Rose, born in 2021.
The couple has been open about their fertility journey, with Krystal previously sharing that she was diagnosed with perimenopause while trying to conceive their second child.
The pregnancy announcement came in May 2025, when Krystal and Miles revealed they were expecting their second child with a beach-themed announcement featuring their daughter Andara Rose and sonogram pictures.
The couple captioned the post "Bowles family of 4 coming November 2025," confirming the due date and their growing family.
Krystal and Miles got married during an intimate wedding ceremony in front of their closest family and friends in La Jolla, CA, in August 2023.
The Bachelor alum had begun dating Miles in May 2020, and she accepted his marriage proposal in October 2022.
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Krystal was previously married to Chris Randone, whom she met on Bachelor in Paradise's fifth season and got engaged during the 2018 finale. They got married in June 2019 and documented the event for Bachelor in Paradise's sixth season.
The pair announced their decision to separate in February 2020, just eight months after saying "I do."
Krystal then confirmed in August 2020 that she and Chris were following through with a divorce. (Chris told Us Weekly at the time he was hoping to reconcile with Krystal but learned she had moved on).
Krystal was dubbed "the villain" of Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s season of The Bachelor, which aired in 2018, and so her stint on Paradise was essentially an opportunity to rehab her image and have a redemption story.
Once Krystal and Chris, a villain from Becca Kufrin's season of The Bachelorette, got together, they became a fan-favorite power couple.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
