Our whirl wind 24 hours! I GAVE BIRTH THE NIGHT BEFORE MY WEDDING

The bride left hospital for her vows

- AROHA AWARAU

Weddings are a stressful and emotional time for any bride. But for Vaha Kaafi, giving birth to her first child just 16 hours before her nuptials was one of many challenges the Auckland woman had to face before walking down the aisle.

Vaha, 24, delivered her gorgeous baby daughter Ofeina the night before marrying her love Tai Kaafi, also 24. Despite the exhaustion and lack of sleep, the brand-new mum and nervous bride-to-be couldn’t rest. She had to change from a hospital gown into her custom-made wedding dress and tie the knot in front of 350 guests. Furthermore, it was a traditional Tongan wedding, with two full days of celebrations.

“I was tired and exhausted,” recalls Vaha. “But the doctors gave me the all-clear to get married. I knew I was blessed to be marrying the love of my life with our newborn baby with us. It was meant to be.”

The flight attendant shed many tears – of joy and sadness – during the ceremony as Vaha was supposed to be giving birth to triplets but earlier in her pregnancy she lost two of her babies, making tiny Ofeina a true miracle.

“During my first scan at seven weeks, I looked at the screen and saw one heartbeat,” she tells. “Then I was told that there were two more heartbeats. I was going to be a mother of triplets!”

Sadly, by the time Vaha went for her next scan at 16 weeks, she was devastated to discover the twins had died. She eventually suffered a miscarriage and carried only one baby to full-term.