Baby Jayla has been a fighter since the day she was born at just 25 weeks old.
“We went to the ultrasound, and the doctor came in and she was like, ‘Well, you’re gonna have this baby today,’” said Jayla’s mom, Timeshay Brown.
Brown works as a nurse at Inova Fairfax Hospital, the hospital where Jayla was born. She and Jayla’s dad, Jarvis Parrish, had been planning their dream wedding for October.
But when Jayla was born so early, all of that had to wait, as caring for their little girl took top priority.
“She definitely puts things in perspective,” Parrish said. “I get to watch her grow.”
“Her being safe, her getting here the right way, was always the main objective,” he said.
Amid Brown and Parrish’s long nights in the NICU, they knew they still wanted to be husband and wife.
That’s when Brown had an idea.
“And I was like, hmm, we could just get married here,” Brown said. “And my inside thought became an outside thought, and the nurses took it and ran with it.”
It didn’t take long for the team at Fairfax Inova to whip up a wedding.
Many of the nurses had cared for Baby Jayla and wanted to make sure she didn’t miss her mom and dad’s big day.
On Wednesday, Brown and Parrish exchanged vows in front of their daughter — and the doctors and nurses who saved her life.
“Because of you, our daughter will never have to wonder what real love looks like,” Brown told Parrish. “She’ll see it in the way you love me, and the way you protect her.”
Parrish, in return, promised Brown he’s committed to “always being a place of comfort and safety that you can rest your heart in completely.”
Their story is proof that life — and love — will always find a way.
“I’m happy,” Parrish said. “I hit the lottery.”
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