Katherine Heigl opens up about difficult birth of son
Hollywood actress Katherine Heigl welcomed her son Joshua on December 20, 2016.
And on Wednesday, the Grey's Anatomy star took to Instagram to wish him a happy first birthday and shared several never-seen-before photos during her pregnancy and birth, as well as an adorable new image of her son today.
Sharing a nude pregnancy photo, the actress wrote: “At 9am one year ago today I had @joshbkelley take this photo of me so I could remember how incredibly pregnant I was right before we left for the hospital and my 12pm scheduled cesarean.”
Heigl also opened up about how she didn’t have the easiest birth as her son wasn’t breathing when he was delivered by C-section. Other images show son in hospital with tubes but the last image is a little Joshua, healthy and smiling in his mother’s arms.
She wrote: “Joshua Jr had been in the breech position for over a month and had still not moved an inch a week before his due date so I made the decision to have a cesarean and was incredibly nervous and a little scared this time last year.'
“I had never been hospitalized or had ever had any kind of surgery and had no idea what to expect. The second photo is right before I went in for surgery. Trying to look cool, calm and collected! They numbed me up, gave me some morphine and opened me up.
“My doctor struggled to get him out because he was really wedged in there and not quite ready to leave the womb.
“When she finally pulled him out at exactly 12:33pm he didn’t start breathing and they worked quickly to get oxygen in him and start his tiny lungs. @joshbkelley was standing with them when he finally took his first breath. That day, as I slowly came out of the morphine haze and clutched my tiny man to me.
“I thanked the heavens for his breath, his life and for making me a mother three times over. As evening settled in Josh and I got cozy in my hospital room, found one of my all time favorites #SweetHomeAlabama on the tv and just relished in our perfect newborn son.
“He was so tiny and new, so fragile and tender. As I lay him down to sleep that first night in his very appropriate “welcome to the world” sleep sack I thought the moment would last forever.
“Yet here we are, a whole year later and it’s only the photos that remind me my brute of a boy was ever so new and small! Now he’s 26 ponds of rolling, tumbling, grasping, giggling, shouting, curious, jolly energy!
“He is everything and more than I could have hoped for and he has brought our family even more joy, love, laughter, abundance, bliss and yes, exhaustion and exasperation too! It’s been a hell of a year and I could not be more grateful for it or him! Happy Birthday to my little man! Maybe I can make this next year go a little slower!”
Heigl also has two adopted daughters Naleigh, aged eight, and Adalaide, aged four, with husband Josh Kelley, a singer.