Decades apart, father and son cared for by same NICU nurse in New Jersey

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. – Lissa McGowan has cared for thousands of babies in her nearly four decades as a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick.

This time was different, though.

Zayne Caldwell was born 10 weeks early on Jan. 30 to David Caldwell and his fiancée, Renata Freydin. The Edison couple, who met in Colonia during their high school days, plan to marry next year.

“He was a little stubborn and ready to meet the world," Caldwell said. "They tried to hold him back as much as possible, but he wasn't having it."

More than three decades earlier, Caldwell was born six weeks early in 1986 at Saint Peter's. His late mother, Ida Bell Caldwell, became attached with a nurse during her son’s time in the NICU – “nurse Lissa."

Caldwell has a photo of himself with nurse Lissa that his mother treasured.

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“My mom prayed and prayed over me and nurse Lissa was there with her, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay and talked to my mom,” Caldwell said. “My mom would say, ‘that woman was so sweet and so nice. She was there and helped me out so much.’”

It was Freydin who noticed a similarity between the nurse holding Caldwell in the photo and her son's nurse, while she and Caldwell were looking though Caldwell’s baby photos a few days after their son was born.

"I knew that lady!” Freydin said.

Freydin assured Caldwell that she recognized the nurse. He didn't believe her – the coincidence would have been too much.

"I swore she was the nurse that had been taking care of our baby boy for the past three days," Freydin said.

They brought the picture to the hospital where three other nurses confirmed it was McGowan.

"Lissa had taken care of him three days in a row and I was there – we would talk and laugh," Caldwell said, "and I didn't know." 

"It's funny,” McGowan said. “We have so many babies who cross our paths, and we have had many who say they had a relative here, but it's never hit so close to home where it is father and son, not for me. It's been a very nice surprise." 

McGowan was at work Friday caring for Zayne, whom Freydin calls her "little nugget."

"We had to recreate the picture," Freydin said. "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."

"It's a godsend. It's all God,” Caldwell said. “For Lissa to be in the field this long and still love what you do, that's the biggest thing."

Zayne is “doing amazing," Freydin said. Born at 3 pounds, 9 ounces, he now weighs 4 pounds, 6 ounces. 

McGowan agreed. In her professional opinion, Zayne is "a very strong little guy."

"The fact that I was the one who crossed paths, it's kind of interesting,” McGowan said. “It really could have been any nurse taking care of his baby and I could have never any contact with him. A lot of people are saying it's a way of his mom saying everything is going to be okay."

"And to know how this lady affected my mom's life and my life when I was a preemie baby – it is just amazing," Caldwell said. 

"Life kind of works in a funny circle," McGowan added.

Follow Cheryl Makin on Twitter: @CherylMakin