This couple got married in the NICU next to their daughter and the photos are so touching
“We all wanted to make sure that this was the wedding of their dreams"
“We all wanted to make sure that this was the wedding of their dreams"
“We all wanted to make sure that this was the wedding of their dreams"
Rubia Ferreira and her fiancé Tyler Campbell flew home to Alabama from Okinawa, Japan, for a quick visit with family before she was expected to give birth to their first daughter. While they were there in November, Rubia started experiencing abdominal pain, and doctors told her she'd need an emergency C-section. She at just 24 weeks.
They stayed with Kaelin in the NICU for the next five months as she was treated for pulmonary hypertension, a chronic lung disease. The two realized they wanted to get married sooner rather than later. Originally, they planned on having a small beachside ceremony in Okinawa (where Tyler was stationed with the Marines), but they had the idea to have their ceremony in Kaelin's hospital room instead.
“We knew we didn’t want to wait any longer to get married, we wanted to make sure our daughter would be there,” . “We thought about how cool it would be to have our wedding in Kaelin’s room, but never expected that it could actually happen.”
They talked to their nurse liaison, who thought it was a great idea. The team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital helped them pull together a wedding ceremony in just two weeks.
Kaelin's neonatologist walked Rubia down the aisle, while the hospital's pastoral care director performed the wedding ceremony. "Everyone was willing to do whatever it would take to make it a reality,” . “We all wanted to make sure that, although taking place in a hospital, this was the wedding of their dreams. That’s what they deserved.”
The ceremony, which took place on Valentine's Day, included drinks, a cake, decor and a bouquet donated by different departments at UAB. “It meant the world to share this milestone with our new family here,” .
The couple plan to return to Okinawa at the end of the summer when Kaelin is discharged. They hope that when she's older, she'll be able to look back on their wedding pictures and realize how special it was. , “We hope she understands how much we cared for and loved her, and that it meant the world to us to have our wedding take place right there with her."