NICU nurse who treated newborn also treated baby’s father decades ago
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - As Renata Freydin was perusing through her David Caldwell’s baby book, she stumbled across a photo of her fiance, then a newborn, being cared for by a smiling nurse. Turns out it was the same nurse that is currently caring for the couple’s newborn son at the NICU.
“I knew that lady!!,” Freydin wrote in a Facebook post that has received over 29,000 reactions. “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.”
Freydin told FOX that she had contractions at 29 weeks and that their son Zayne Alexander Caldwell was born on Jan. 30, just one day shy of 30 weeks. Lissa McGowan has been one of the nurses looking over Zayne during his time in the NICU at Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
“David didn't believe me. We brought the picture to the hospital where 3 other nurses confirmed it was her!” Freydin wrote in her post. “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 couple’s story and the accompanying photos quickly blew up on Facebook, with many social media users sending the couple, their newborn and the nurse messages of love and support.
“I love this story! NICU nurses are the best,” wrote one Facebook user.
“This makes my heart so happy! Cute babies all around!,” commented another.
The mom says that the reaction to the couple’s story and photos has been a weird experience: “I never thought it would blow up so quickly!”
Freydin says that she takes comfort knowing her child is being cared after by the same nurse that treated her fiance.
“The past 2 weeks have been filled with worries and uncertainty,” Freydin wrote. “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.”
This story was reported from Los Angeles.