When David Caldwell pulled his own baby book out from storage, a week after his son Zayne was born, he never expected to see a familiar face in the old photo: his sons NICU nurse. Lissa McGowan, a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Saint Peters University Hospital in New Brunswick, had helped take care of Caldwell when he was born in November of 1986, six weeks early.
Decades later, she also helped take care of Caldwells son, who was born in the same hospital and was also born prematurely10 weeks early. The coincidencedeemed fate by Renata Freydin, Caldwells fiancée and Zaynes momwas noticed by Freydin, after Caldwell unearthed his baby book to compare what he looked like to the couples child.
I was looking through the photos and noticed right away, a picture of him and Lissa, Freydin said. I started freaking out. Caldwell says he was in denial," saying it wasnt the same person, and he didnt recognize McGowan at all. Im still in shock that its her, he told NJ Advance Media.