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Nurse Caring For Newborn Learns She Also Looked After Baby's Father Decades Earlier

Nurse Caring For Newborn Learns She Also Looked After Baby's Father Decades Earlier

Lissa McGowan, 61, started working at St Peter's University Hospital in New Jersey on 10 September 1981

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

When Renata Freydin and David Caldwell's son was born 10 weeks early, he required some extra care from the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.

Taking some time away from the ward, the couple decided to look through 33-year-old David's book of old pictures from when he was a baby. That's when they came across an image of a familiar face - and it wasn't David's.

Renata, 34, noticed that a picture of a nurse holding the newborn David looked awfully similar to the incredible lady that was looking after their son Zayne at the hospital. But with three decades gone since the pic was taken, David didn't believe his fiancée's claim.

The picture of David Caldwell and Lissa McGowan back in 1986.
Facebook/Renata Freydin

Taking to Facebook, Renata wrote: "I came across a picture of him as a baby and a lady holding him. I knew that lady!! I immediately asked him who she was and he confirmed that she was the nurse who took care of him during his stay in the NICU and his mom loved her so much that she needed a photo of the two of them on the day he was discharged!

"Well, the reason I know her is because I swore she was the nurse that had been taking care of our baby boy for the past three days! David didn't believe me.

"We brought the picture to the hospital where 3 other nurses confirmed it was her! Yesterday (Valentine's Day) she was back at work and taking care of our little nugget again so we had to recreate the picture!

"The past 2 weeks have been filled with worries and uncertainty but we can breathe easy knowing my lil nuggets nurse is the same one that helped the man I love when he was in the same situation."

Lissa with Zayne.
Facebook/Renata Freydin

The nurse in question is named Lissa. Now 61, she has been working at St. Peter's University Hospital in New Jersey since 10 September 1981. She has been there continuously, except for a brief time between around 1988 when she stayed at home with her two children. But she couldn't stay away for long.

Now a mum of three, she told LADbible: "I love NICU nursing. It is definitely a passion. I love my babies and the impact we as NICU nurses have on our families, we become their family too.

"It's not unusual to have parents bring their preemies [premature births] back to see us and with social media it's easy to stay in touch to see our little ones grow. But to meet up with a former preemie while caring for his son is unique for me."

She thinks it's fate that she was brought back into David's life, adding: "I think a significant point is that David's mom has passed on and that date truly brought us together - his mom's way of reconnecting I think."

Featured Image Credit: Renata Freydin

Topics: Daily Ladness, Community