She was born much too soon and much too sick. Would my daughter survive?

Still in shanah rishonah, struck with a sudden severe infection, Rivka Ritvo was stunned when she learned that she was in labor — and that her baby would be born much too soon and much too sick. The doctors’ prognoses were grim, but baby Ashira defied all expectations

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.

“Straight to the hospital,” he said grimly.

Mendy was taken aback. “I’m just going to daven Shacharis first—”

“No you’re not,” her uncle said. “Go!”

Confused and worried, the young couple rushed to Bikur Cholim hospital.

In the emergency room, a nurse took her vitals — then went into panic mode. “Your fever is sky-high! What’s going on? And you say you’ve been having cramps? Are you sure they’re not contractions?”