She was born much too soon and much too sick. Would my daughter survive?
Rivka zipped the suitcase shut and looked around the guest room. Bags, check; tallis bag, check; garment bag and sheitel box, check, check. Their trip back to visit family in England had been a dream come true. She and Mendy were still in shanah rishonah, and Succos had been the perfect opportunity for a little vacation — and the perfect opportunity to bond with the siblings-in-law she barely knew and get pampered. It had been hard, starting out their married life in Eretz Yisrael, so far from all she knew and everything familiar — and then came the nausea.
Rivka shuddered, remembering. Those months of sickness had been so hard but baruch Hashem, they were behind her now, and all for good reason. Their siblings had been so excited to learn the news — she was still barely showing, but her brand-new maternity clothing had given it away. Now it was time to go home — but first, one last outing to cap off a picture-perfect vacation. The entire family enjoyed one last big family dinner in a local restaurant, and then it was time for Rivka and Mendy to head back to the airport for the long flight back to Eretz Yisrael.
“It was extremely hot when we arrived in Tel Aviv, and I felt woozy and overheated,” Rivka remembers. “Mendy was convinced I’d gotten dehydrated, and he kept passing me drinks, but my stomach was really hurting me.”
As soon as they got back to their small apartment, Rivka called her uncle, a doctor, and described her symptoms, which he found very worrisome.
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