Weddings and childbirth may be some of the most important days of your life. Typically, you either get married and have kids, or you have kids and then decide to tie the knot. Either way, you probably aren’t going to do both at the same time.
But thanks to a woman named Sushma Dwivedi Jindal, a New York City couple had their cake and ate it too, by having their wedding officiated just hours before giving birth. The only caveat was, Sushma was also pregnant and had just received the epidural for her delivery.
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Sushma Hails From Montreal, But Lives In New York City.
In May of 2018, Sushma was about to deliver her second son at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center when she learned about a couple, also in the hospital’s maternity ward, who were desperate to find someone who could officiate their wedding.
Sushma, Who Received The Qualifications To Officiate Weddings From The Internet, Offered Up Her Services.
She has a side business in which she organizes Indian weddings that are LGBT+ friendly, and was ordained as a part of that.
But Up Until This Point, Sushma Had Never Officiated A Wedding.
“It felt like the right thing to do for my husband and I in terms of like, OK, can we help another family out right before we have a kid?” she said in an interview with the CBC .
Brianna Doyle And Casey Walko Had Planned On Getting Married Before The Birth Of Their Daughter.
The couple had applied for a marriage license and had plans to get married two weeks before their baby’s due date. But Brianna’s water broke early and unexpectedly, sending her into labor.
They Were Married By Sushma From Her Hospital Bed.
Sushma had already received an epidural, which meant that she could not move her lower body. Instead, nurses moved her hospital bed into Brianna’s room.
Which Ended Up Working Out Just Fine.
“It was a little bit of a Jabba the Hutt moment where they took the automatic bed … and sort of propped that up so that I could sit and officiate, and they came to me in my room,” Sushma said.
Hospital Staff Helped Make The Wedding Special.
Nurses and staff members helped with Brianna’s hair, found music, wrote poems, and attended the quick, makeshift wedding.
The Entire Ceremony Was Recorded On A Cellphone.
It lasted about seven minutes, with Sushma saying, “By the power invested in me by the internet, I’m happy to proclaim you husband and wife.”
Not Too Long After, Their Children Were Born.
Sushma’s delivery happened first; she and husband Vivek Jindal welcomed son Nayan just five hours after the ceremony.
Brianna and Casey had their daughter afterwards and named her Riley.
