A Chicago couple is suing a hospital after being brought the wrong day-old baby for the mother to nurse, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. It was the middle of the night, the baby was bundled beyond easy recognition and so the mother started feeding the child. A nurse walking by realized the error. She took the baby away and brought the couple their son. The worker responsible for the mishap made a tearful apology.

Scott and Jennifer Spiegel were not appeased. They filed a lawsuit this past January, suing for at least $30,000 in damages.

The husband, a personal injury lawyer, is handling the case. He and his wife say the hospital should pay for this painful mistake that took place at 4 AM more than two years ago.

The complaint says the new mom “suffered mental and emotional anguish and pain, and will in the future suffer great pain, discomfort and emotional impairment.”

“It was just an awful, internal feeling,” Mrs. Spiegel, a teacher, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Yes, just awful. I guess.

I can relate to the immediate shock of discovering you’re nursing someone else’s baby. That probably is unsettling, especially so soon after giving birth. But two years on? After months of nursing your own kid, standing in public bathrooms, like I used to do, or in cars or corners of restaurants, at airports, and under the less-than-enamored gaze of your husband?

Would you truly be haunted — losing wages, seeking medical care — by the act of feeding another woman’s newborn for a few minutes? Isn’t it rather your Salma Hayek moment, something your husband teases you about?

But here’s what’s odd about the case. And it’s not that people taking home a healthy baby are behaving badly. That’s not surprising. (Nor is it surprising the husband is a personal injury lawyer). The odd part is that it took two years to file the lawsuit.

Sure it’s possible Mr. Spiegel procrastinated or it took him two years to take his wife’s complaint of “emotional impairment” seriously.

I think it’s more likely that two years on, with bills for baby Spiegel piling up, the couple saw in the incident something they hadn’t seen before and it was truly awful. They saw dollar signs.

Photo by blmurch.