Andi Dorfman Shares Birth Story, Reveals Scary, Panic-Filled Moment

Former “The Bachelorette” star Andi Dorfman recently welcomed her first child with her husband Blaine Hart. Now, Dorfman has shared details about her labor and delivery, including some moments of panic after the arrival of her daughter Harper Bell Hart.

In an Instagram Story on December 30, Dorfman shared a glimpse of her post detailing her birth story. She wrote, “Harper’s birth story … hopefully she’ll hold off on scaring the crap out of her parents for a good few years now that she got us good on day 1!”

Dorfman noted that for a brief bit of time after Harper’s arrival, she and her husband were “obviously quite panicked.” Luckily, she added, they knew the baby “was in good hands.”

Andi Dorfman’s Baby Didn’t Cry Initially

In her Instagram post, Dorfman included a lengthy caption about her daughter Harper’s birth.

“Just over a week with my girl and we are on the mend,” she began. Dorfman added that her birth story was “quite the dramatic scene” though.

Dorfman explained, “All in all, it took a total of 28 hours … everything was smooth sailing at first.”

Unfortunately, Dorfman wrote, 12 hours after getting her epidural and being fully dialated, her baby girl had still not arrived.

At that point, Dorfman shared, “I pushed for about 90 minutes then some rotational moves for a few hours then back to pushing. Another 2+ hours of pushing (which, even with the NYC and LA marathons under my belt, was BY FAR the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done in my entire life!” Finally around 4:30 am … it was time for one last push!”

That last push brought her baby into the world, but the stressful delivery wasn’t over yet. Dorfman wrote she had expected to hear the baby cry immediately. However, that didn’t happen. “She was silent,” she revealed.

“The doctor cut her umbilical cord and immediately brought her to the infant warmer bed in the corner where an entire team of nurses and doctors rushed into the room to help,” Dorfman shared.

‘The Bachelorette’ Star ‘Just Cries’ Thinking About It

“Turns out she was pretty stressed from the labor and forgot to breathe on her way out,” she explained. Dorfman later learned that baby Harper’s initial Apgar score was a 2 out of 10, and she needed some assistance in breathing.

Harper stayed in the NICU for a brief period of time, but was back with her parents later the same day.

Dorfman wrote, “To say we feel fortunate and grateful is the understatement of the year (currently crying just thinking about it!).” She thanked the medical team who helped the family through it all.

She added, “Harper Bell Hart, we love you! If you could keep the scares to a minimum we’d appreciate it, but thank you for capping off a wonderful 2024 for us.”

Dorfman revealed in an earlier Instagram Story she’d had to return to the hospital after Harper’s birth. As ABC News noted, Dorfman was experiencing a “ton of pain,” and she felt certain something was wrong.

“Turns out I had one large and one small hematoma” that were responsible for her pain. She needed surgery to take care of the issue, but all seems to be well now.