Naperville native and current Texan Lizzie Reese got a surprise on November 4 when her son Nolan came earlier than expected, 29 weeks into her pregnancy.
“I came up here to visit my sisters. Both of them have little girls who were born in October,” Reese said. “So I came up for my nieces birthdays to celebrate at 26 weeks pregnant, and was pretty surprised when my water broke here.”
NICU Doctor Connection
But another surprise came during Lizzie and Nolan’s stay at Edward Hospital, when she mentioned she had spent eight days in the Edward NICU as a baby herself. Edward Hospital NICU Medical Director and DuPage Neonatology Associates member Dr. Bob Covert, who treated baby Nolan, realized he had also treated Lizzie as a baby, 25 years ago.
“Even for somebody who’s 35 years of practice, that was unique for me, that’s never happened,” Covert said. “So that was a, that’s a pretty special feeling, especially when you factor in that she wasn’t supposed to deliver here.”
Lizzie was born at about 38 weeks but had some lung issues that were similar to a preterm baby, making the short stay at Edward necessary.
Best Care For Newborn Son
Knowing Covert has been treating newborns at Edward for so long really brings some peace of mind to the family.
“It’s great to know that expertise is there, you know, that he’s built up over all these years and is sharing with the younger generation too,” Sherry Meyers, Lizzie’s mother, said.
With that expertise to lean back on, things have looked good for little Nolan.
“Thankfully he was okay the whole time – always had a really strong heartbeat and looked really good, so we weren’t too concerned, even though it was really wild and unexpected for water to break at 26 weeks,” Reese said.
Back Home
Lizzie and Nolan have been transported back to their hometown in Texas to continue care, but their experience at Edward has been one to remember.
“We’ve had some awesome doctors and nurses who I’m crying saying goodbye to as we’re preparing to go back to Texas,” Reese said. “So, we’ve had some pretty sweet, sweet memories here.”
Naperville News 17’s Casey Flanagan reports.
If you have a story idea, we want to hear from you!
