Same nurse cares for father and son born premature three decades apart

The first few days of a premature baby’s life can be especially hellish for a new mum.

But Renata Freydin is resting easier knowing one nurse at a neonatal intensive care unit is there to watch over her new son, Zayne Caldwell, who was born 10 weeks early in January.

That’s because the nurse, Lissa McGowan, has a connection to the family. She was there at the Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, 33 years ago when Zayne’s father and Freydin’s fiance, David Caldwell, was born – early just like his son, the Courier News first reported.

“The past two weeks have been filled with worries and uncertainty but we can breathe easy knowing my lil nugget’s nurse is the same one that helped the man I love when he was in the same situation,” Freydin posted on Facebook.

Three decades ago, Caldwell’s late mother, Ida Bell, who called McGowan “nurse Lissa,” became so attached to her son’s caretaker that she included a picture of the smiling nurse and bundled baby in a photo album, Freydin told The Washington Post.

Three decades later, the parents spotted the snapshot.

Caldwell pulled his old photo album out of storage after his son was born to see whether they looked similar. But it was Freydin who spotted the other likeness, the nurse.

“I saw a picture of her and instantly knew it was her, but he didn’t believe me,” she said.

To erase Caldwell’s doubts, the couple brought the picture to the hospital, where three other nurses confirmed it was McGowan.

Read the full article found in NZHerald here