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McGowan was part of the team that admitted Zayne to the NICU right after his birth and then spent the next three days as his nurse. She said she remembers speaking with Caldwell and helping to \"calm his nerves\" when Zayne was admitted, but never put together that she was speaking with a former patient.

Making the connection even more remarkable is the fact that Saint Peter’s University Hospital has an award-winning and very large NICU. The department cares for about 1,500 babies per year, has 56 beds and employs 120 staff members, meaning there was a good chance McGowan could have been working but not assigned to Zayne.

\"At any given day there are 20 nurses working in the unit,\" McGowan said. \"Just to be in the area that he was admitted to and being on that side of the room, everything kind of lined up to put us together.\"

Caldwell, the youngest of seven siblings, said he sees having McGowan care for his son as a sign that his mom, who passed away in 2004, is looking out for his family.

\"PHOTO:
Courtesy David Caldwell
PHOTO: David Caldwell poses with his son Zayne and Lissa McGowan, the NICU nurse who cared for them both.
>

He remembers asking his mom as a kid about the woman holding him in the photograph in his baby book.

\"She was like, 'Oh this woman was so nice. She was so great. She just reassured me every day that you would be fine,'\" said Caldwell. \"This happening is like a way of telling me that my mom is looking over me and my baby.\"

\"I know my mom is watching down on me and her grandson and making sure that we’re in good hands and God is watching over us,\" he said. \"It’s just a really emotional thing.\"

Under the care of McGowan and her fellow NICU nurses, Zayne is gaining weight, eating well and showing all the developments of a full-term baby, according to Caldwell.

\"He's a fighter,\" he said of his son.

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