A couple who planned to get married before their baby was born, fast-tracked their wedding when their son came early.
“Our baby had other plans,” Jordana Turkel, 36, a dietician in New York City, tells TODAY.com.
Turkel was 25 weeks and six days pregnant when her water broke during a holiday party at her mother’s home. “I actually thought I was peeing myself,” she says.
The expecting mom and her husband Yigal Samocha rushed to Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital on Dec. 30, where they had arranged to give birth, mentally pausing plans for a small civil ceremony in late January.
“We were told, ‘You’re going to be here until you deliver, however long that will be,’” Samocha tells TODAY.com, adding that Turkel was put on modified bed rest so doctors could monitor her and the baby for infection.
Turkel says her husband ran out to bring her a new pillow and a set of sheets, a coffee machine and a bath mat, along with a calendar to cross off the coming days spent in the hospital.
One night, while speaking to a hospital staff member, Samocha mentioned that labor had diverted their wedding plans.
“She said, ‘Maybe we’ll end up doing something here in the hospital,’” recalled Samocha.
The couple started the application process for their marriage license and obtained an officiant and two witnesses. The hospital staff, he added, helpfully “took over.”
“It was really unbelievable,” says Turkel.
The hospital wedding was tentatively set for January 8, as no one knew when the baby was coming.
While the couple presumed the wedding would be small, their guest list grew to include parents, siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces and friends, not to mention medical staff. Dozens of people also RSVP’d to watch the nuptials over Zoom.
The wedding theme: “Make plans and God laughs.”
Samocha called in a hair stylist and staff printed out photos of the couple to hang on the wall. Samocha’s sister oversaw the cake and other relatives brought Samocha a boutonniere and Turkel a bouquet, which was fastened with the wedding ring of her late father.
The bride wore a pair of white, satin pajamas purchased off Amazon and $9 slippers; the groom wore a tux with black slippers.
Turkel entered the hospital ceremony in a pink wheelchair furnished with flowers (“a chariot,” she says), to the tune of “She’s Always a Woman” by Billy Joel. The music honored the couple’s engagement, for which Samocha proposed during a Joel concert.
On January 20, 2025, Miles Isaac was born at 29 weeks, weighing two pounds, five ounces. Miles is in the ICU, where Samocha says he will stay as close to his April due date as possible.