Bride carries her premmie bub as flowers, then weds his dad at the hospital
Sniff. This is beautiful.
When she was pregnant, Amanda had planned to wed her fiance in a gorgeous beach wedding.
But life had other ideas, and her waters broke before her big day.
A quickie wedding
After three weeks spent in hospital in pre-labour, little Oliver arrived two months before his due date. He was born at 30 weeks, weighing just 3 pounds, 14.6 ounces (or 1.773 kg).
After seven weeks of watching doctors and nurses attend to their tiny little guy, Amanda and her fiance Edwin felt closer than ever.
So they decided to marry, but just in a low-key courthouse ceremony.
“We’ll be back”
Telling the nurse caring for Oliver that they’d be away from the NICU for a short time, so they could tie the knot, word soon spread.
When news of the upcoming wedding reached the WakeMed hospital Family Navigator, Mallory Magelli McKeown, who just happens to be an ordained minister, she had an idea.
Mallory called Amanda and offered to wed them at the hospital chapel, so that, wipe your eyes, Oliver could be a part of his parents’ special day.
Amanda and Evan were thrilled with this idea and asked Oliver’s doctor if he felt he was stable enough to be unhooked from his monitors.
With his doctor’s blessing, Oliver was able to attend the wedding. He was 37 weeks and three days old.
In a speedy, ‘let’s make this special’ mission, The NICU nurses (who are possibly the best humans on earth) decorated Oliver’s cot, so it could be wheeled down to the third-floor chapel.
They also dressed him up in a little suit!
The most beautiful bouquet
Amanda walked down the aisle, carrying Oliver as her ‘bouquet’.
Mallory married the parents while little Oliver sucked on a dummy, and was held uninhibited by wires, in his mum’s loving arms.
Oliver is now 3.6 kg and will soon be headed home with his newlywed parents.
We only hope that Oliver and his parents go away on a honeymoon soon, because they have all been through a lot.
