Kristin Cavallari is looking back on her first pregnancy — and her doctor’s fears that her child might not make it out alive.
The 38-year-old former star of The Hills shared on her Let’s Be Honest podcast on Tuesday that her provider was ‘on edge’ after she went to the hospital with contractions because hospital staff initially couldn’t find her baby’s heartbeat.
She also shared brutal details from the birth, including that she felt as if she was ‘ripping in half.’
Despite the dramatic situation at the hospital, Kristin eventually gave birth in 2012 to a health baby boy who grew up to be her 13-year-old son Camden, whom she shares with her ex-husband, Jay Cutler, 42.
The two have lately been engaged in a war of words after Kristin claimed she had ‘never gotten a penny’ from her ex.
On her latest podcast episode, Kristin said her labor issues began two days early with false contractions.
Kristin Cavallari is looking back on her first pregnancy — and her doctor’s fears that her child might not make it out alive; pictured in June 2023 in LA
The 38-year-old Hills star shared on her Let’s Be Honest podcast on Tuesday that her provider was ‘on edge’ after she went to the hospital with contractions because hospital staff initially couldn’t find her baby’s heartbeat; pictured with son Camden in 2015 in Chicago
Once the real contractions began, Kristin described them as ‘brutal.’
‘The contractions were really bad, I have to say,’ she added.
She recalled how her then-husband began timing her contractions for her, but instead of taking her mind off of them, he just infuriated her when he told her they were too far apart to justify going to the hospital.
‘I was like, “F*** off,”‘ Kristin chuckled. ‘”Literally f*** off.”‘
She said they called her doctor for another opinion, and once they heard how much distress Kristin was in when she had a contraction during the call, they told her and Jay to head to the hospital.
But Kristin described feeling uneasy because the doctor seemed to be ‘a little on edge’ after they had a chance to meet.
It was only later that her husband explained what had set the doctor on edge. According to the former Chicago Bears quarterback, hospital staff couldn’t detect a heartbeat for Camden when she first arrived.
‘And thank God I didn’t know that because I would have been freaking the f*** out,’ Kristin admitted.
Kristin’s husband Jay Cutler only told her afterward that the hospital staff had trouble finding a heart beat for her son Camden; pictured on Let’s Be Honest
She recalled getting angry with Jay after he said her contractions were too far apart to go to the hospital. She later described that the birth made it feel as if she was ‘ripping in half’; pictured in 2015 in LA
She also delved into the realities of how painful her birth was.
Even though she opted for an epidural — which she also did for her next two pregnancies — the procedure doesn’t complete block pain during labor so that mothers still have enough muscle control to help with the birth.
Kristin admitted that she fantasized about a more ‘natural’ kind of birth, as opposed to going into labor in a hospital with pain medications, but she knew she couldn’t have given up the epidural.
‘I would do things differently I think today, if I were to have a baby today,’ she said, ‘But in the same breath, I remember at the time being like, “I have nothing to prove, I know I’m strong and right now I’m f***ing dying, I want the epidural.”
‘So, while I think in my mind, like in my perfect head, I’m like, “If I had a baby today, it would be a water birth and I would do it all naturally,” but I was dying,’ she continued. ‘I mean, I was dying with Cam, and I think at the end of the day, we should never judge other moms, other women, for their birthing plan and what they end up doing, because pain is different for everybody.
The reality star clarified that the epidural took away the pain from her contractions, ‘but it didn’t take away the feeling of my vagina literally feeling like it was ripping in half.’
‘I was still f***ing suffering,’ she said.
Later, Kristin explained how she tried to get over the pain in the immediate aftermath of the birth.
Even with an epidural, Kristin was still overcome by pain. However, she got epidurals for her next two pregnancies and said it was one thing she wouldn’t change; pictured with her son Camden
In addition to Camden, 13, Kristin shares son Jaxon, 11, and daughter Saylor, nine, with her ex-husband Jay; pictured with baby Camden in April 2013 in LA
‘I lived with those ice packs on the coochie-coo,’ she shared.
Despite the intense pain and her concerns about the doctor’s demeanor, Kristin described a ‘relatively easy’ labor that only took about 20 minutes of active pushing.
‘It feels like you’re pooping out the baby,’ she admitted. ‘That’s just literally what it feels like.’
Kristin describe her next two pregnancies — with her son Jaxon, 11, and daughter Saylor, nine — as being far more relaxed, as she was induced both times.
‘It was a pretty seamless experience,’ she said of her pregnancy with Jaxon. She didn’t recall that intense ‘feeling of my vajayjay ripping in two,’ and even though she worried about traffic getting to the hospital — as she and Jay were living in Chicago at the time — it was ultimately a minor issue.
For her third pregnancy, Kristin chose to be induced to have her baby on the Monday before Thanksgiving, as she was due around the holiday.
‘I’m sorry, but I don’t want to have a baby with my mom. I love my mom, but I don’t want my mom in the delivery room,’ Kristin admitted. ‘There was no one else I wanted to be with other than my husband at the time. And I didn’t want to do it alone … I’m sorry, but I want my husband there.’
Kristin and Jay split in 2020, and their divorce was finalized two years later.
