It was a labor of love.
A Florida mother put the “contract” in “contractions” after tying the knot while in labor — before giving birth several hours later.
“I never heard of anyone getting married in a hospital before we did,” Brianna Cerezo told Orlando’s Fox 35 of her accelerated shotgun wedding.
The then-expectant bride-to-be, who’d just moved from New York to Orlando with her husband Louis, was due on Feb. 26.
However, she had to report to the AdventHealth Orlando emergency room sooner than anticipated after falling ill with the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) — a common respiratory virus that can wreak havoc on pregnant women and also be passed on to the fetus.
To prevent complications, doctors induced labor, but there was one hitch: she and Louis were slated to get married the following day, and she presumed she wouldn’t be able to do so on account of her pending delivery.
That’s when the nurse devised a way to allow Brianna to have her wedding cake and eat it, too.
“I told her [a] funny story — ‘Actually, we’re supposed to go tomorrow to get married, but I ended up here, and now they’re going to induce me, so we can’t go anymore,’” Brianna recalled telling the nurse, “and she goes, ‘Oh, well, I have a chaplain here that can marry you.’”
The medical staffers delivered the goods, throwing an entire nuptial soirée, all while the bride was undergoing contractions.
The nurses-cum-wedding planners procured flowers from the hospital gift shop, planned music and even crafted a wedding gown out of bedsheets — the latter an ensemble that was tailored to specifications outlined on Brianna’s phone.
“I was sitting on the bed while all this was going on, and all I seen was bedding sheets flying and stitches and within 30 minutes, I had the same dress I picked out originally,” exclaimed Brianna. “Everyone came in together and [were] just moving stuff out; it all happened so fast,”
Thankfully, as the patient had been originally scheduled to get married the next day, she had the couple’s wedding rings and legal paperwork already in her purse, which helped expedite the process.
“Everyone came together and did their part — not just the dress, but the flowers and her hair and rearranging the room, and just a beautiful sight to see everyone so excited,” said AdventHealth nurse Gabriela Pinzon, who helped plan Brianna’s special day.
Several hours after the ceremony, the newlywed gave birth to a baby boy named Landon.
She said she’s “grateful” to the staff for killing two birds with one stone.
“They really made us feel like a part of the family,” said Brianna, who plans to invite the healthcare workers to her official wedding ceremony to thank them for their good deed.
