“Rachel said that first night they were on the phone for hours,” Sherry said. “Pretty soon, they were texting each other constantly.” Rachel agreed to go to the prom with Hayden. “We clicked off the bat and got to know each other while FaceTiming,” she said.
After the prom, even when we both went away to college, we kept our relationship strong. We always knew that we wanted to be with each other, no matter how long it took.”
“Our relationship always felt natural — nothing ever felt forced,” Hayden said. “We were just planning to hang out and go to the prom, but it honestly felt like something special from the start.” And man, was their beginning something to talk about. Hayden, born July 9, 1996, was three months early and only weighing 1 1/2 pounds. Babies born prior to 28 weeks are considered micro-preemies by doctors.
“They didn’t really know why — I was told it might have been a placenta problem,” Audra said. “He was my first baby, and I couldn’t hold him for 10 days because he was so tiny. It was a really hard time, and we wondered if he was going to make it.”
Rachel and Hayden Sackey celebrate their recent wedding. Their mothers became friends in the NICU where Rachel and Hayden each spent three months. Photo courtesy of the Sackey family
Ten days later, Audra met Sherry. Rachel was born 10 days after Hayden, at 31 weeks. “It’s scary in there, and I knew the ropes at that point,” Audra said. “So I befriended her right away. We had a lot of time to talk and get to know each other while we were there with our babies.”
Sherry had suffered from pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy complication that affects blood pressure. Rachel was born with hydrocephalus, which meant there was fluid on her brain. She weighed 2 pounds, 7 ounces.
We supported each other through all of the highs and lows,” Sherry said.
It was those memories, as well as the kindness of the hospital staff, that had the couple wanting to visit and say thank you. One of their nurses, Valerie Halt-Williams, still worked in the NICU. “We were so excited and happy for them, and to see them today as happy and healthy newlyweds, it’s just that much more heartwarming,” she said.
Rachel said her experiences inspired her to go into nursing. She works as an RN, while Hayden is a manager at a golf course. They have now settled in Michigan, only about 30 minutes from where they were born. “We feel really thankful — we wouldn’t be where we are today without the nurses and doctors who cared for us, and our moms who kept in touch,” she said.
Sources: Washington Post | Detroit News
