Newlyweds return to place their love story began

Rachel and Hayden have literally known each other their entire lives. Their moms met in the neonatal intensive care unit at Corewell Health Children’s in Dearborn where they were both born prematurely back in 1996.

Their moms, Audra and Sherry, remained close friends and Hayden and Rachel shared playdates and attended each other’s birthday parties, along with Halloween reunion parties at the Dearborn NICU.

Fast forward to 2014: Rachel, then 17, was unexpectedly admitted to the Corewell Health Dearborn Hospital for a minor health condition and Hayden, who she hadn’t seen since her 10th birthday party, dropped everything to be with her.

“My family and I had been living in Indiana for seven years by then,” Rachel said. “But Hayden and I had started talking and were planning to go to prom together. I was actually in town with my sister to see him again for the first time as a surprise. When he dropped everything to come to the hospital to be with me that day, I thought: ‘This might be more than just a prom date’.”

The pair tied the knot Sept. 7. and returned to the place where it all started Oct. 29 for a special Halloween celebration reminiscent of the annual reunions they participated in as kids, and where their moms spent so much time together, forming what has since become a forever friendship. Current Corewell Health Children’s NICU patients, along with Hayden and Rachel, were also “dressed” for the season.

CH Dearborn clinical nurse manager Valerie Williams-Halt, RN, doesn’t know of any other couple who met in quite this same way. But she’s not surprised their families stayed connected.

“Having a baby in the NICU is stressful, it’s not what new parents want or dream,” said Williams-Halt, who cared for Rachel and Hayden back in 1996 and is still caring for Corewell Health patients, families and staff today. “Parents going through it together are often very supportive of each other – but Audra and Sherry were in particular.”

While the CH Dearborn NICU has grown from a 20-bed unit to a 36-bed unit, including six critical care beds, some things don’t change. Along with Williams-Halt, four other members of the staff who cared for Rachel, Hayden, Audra and Sherry during those first difficult days are still caring for NICU babies/families today, including Dr. Derek Bair, CH Dearborn director of neonatology.