The officiant, Sushma Dwivedi Jindal, had already received her epidural before performing the ceremony.
A New York City woman who wanted to be married before giving birth had her wish granted by another woman in labor, just a few hospital rooms down from where she was admitted.
Brianna Walko, 28, went from "Miss" to "Mrs." at the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center after her water broke, thanks to Sushma Dwivedi Jindal, who was also expecting a baby and happened to be ordained.
"They held off on giving me the epidural and the Pitocin so I could walk to their room," Walko told InsideEdition.com. "We had to go to Sushma’s room because she already had her epidural and couldn’t walk."
Walko explained she and her husband, with whom she has been with for the last 10 years, had originally planned to go to New York City Hall to be married Thursday after receiving their marriage license on Monday.
But, despite being due to give birth in June, Walko’s water broke Tuesday night, and while they hoped it was a false alarm, nurses confirmed her baby was coming and she had to be admitted immediately.
“She just jokingly said, ‘If you still want to get married, we can try to find the chaplain," Walko said. "They found the chaplain [and realized] he couldn’t marry people, so the nurse came in and said, ‘We have another option for you — it’s kind of different — but another patient in labor can marry you."
As Dwivedi Jindal was receiving her epidural, she told InsideEdition.com her anesthesiologist mentioned that a couple down the hall was looking for an officiant.
As fate would have it, Dwivedi Jindal is ordained, and although the epidural had started to set in, “You better believe I was going to help this mom out and show my soon-to-be-born son how easy it is to be kind and compassionate towards others."
Meanwhile, Walko said she still thought it was all an elaborate prank when nurses dashed into her room and got her ready for her wedding — including braiding her hair, making sure she had flowers, and putting lavender stickers on her skin so she would smell good for her groom.
“They just went into 'go mode,'" she recalled. "All of a sudden, nurses came in. They just went into wedding planning mode, like they didn’t have anything better to do […] you can tell these women are first responders.”
Moments later, she and her groom Casey were rushed into Dwivedi Jindal’s room, where nurses in scrubs lined up by her side like bridesmaids. One even had the wedding song playing from her phone, she recalled, and some nurses held up electric tea lights.
“The nurses were crying," she said. "I was emotional. There were a lot of hormones going around the room between me and Sushma."
After a quick ceremony, ending with a bouquet toss, Walko and her husband were ushered back to her room so Dwivedi Jindal could deliver her son, and Walko could be induced.
Hours later, Dwivedi Jindal gave birth to her son, and Walko delivered her baby a short time later.
Although both mothers have been busy tending to their newborns, the pair has been keeping in touch over social media and email.
"She’s been giving me good mom tips since I’m a first-time mom," Walko said.
And, if those two feats weren’t enough, Walko said she also graduated from college two days later.
"I got married, had a baby, got my bachelor’s degree," Walko said. "All in the same week."
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