Baby's Early Arrival Shifts Couple's Wedding From Africa To Hospital

RESTON, VA— Keiko Aigbaze and Kahil Britt of South Riding had a plan. They wanted to get married in Africa. But, after visiting Africa in March to arrange a destination wedding for November, they learned that they were pregnant.

Deciding that they wanted to have the baby before they got married, the couple pushed the African ceremony back to December and planned a Nov. 17 wedding ceremony at Leesburg Courthouse. They even scheduled a maternity photo shoot for Saturday, followed by a baby shower with their friends and family on Sunday.

However, when Aigbaze and Britt went to their OB appointment the day before the wedding, they learned that Aigbaze needed to go straight to the hospital for a medically induced labor.

Despite Britt wanting to have a wedding ceremony before their son's birth, the couple jettisoned all their plans, even though loved ones were traveling to Loudoun County for the baby shower.

“I trust that everything happens for a reason and God has a plan," Aigbaze said.

When Reston Hospital Center's labor and delivery team learned the couple was going to miss their wedding, they sprang into action. Emily Pacileo and Danielle Viates, Aigbaze's primary nurse and the charge nurse, respectively, coordinated an impromptu ceremony with L&D Manager Katie Beck. Unable to locate an imam to marry the couple, the team enlisted the help of hospital chaplain Bette Gogla, who performed the ceremony.

To make the wedding more festive, the food and nutrition team donated a cake and champagne and the couple's obstetrician, Dr. Namrata Sinha, supplied additional food from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Nurses and hospital staff also documented the event, serving as fill-in videographer and photographers.

On Nov. 17, Aigbaze and Britt were married in an afternoon ceremony at Reston Hospital, with the bride's mother and hospital staff present. Later that evening, the couple welcomed their son, Kwame, into the world.