Aminadav and Naava

Aminadav and Naava were born on March 7 at 10:30 pm. They were perfect and beautiful in every way but born too soon and too small to survive. Aminadav's water broke on the morning of March 4, believed to be the result of the partial abruption of his placenta, which occurred three weeks earlier. Both of my sweet babies were alive until the end, even my poor Aminadav who was lying across the top of my cervix unable to move with no amniotic fluid at all. Aminadav came out blue - clearly he was suffering those last few days - but my beautiful Naava was healthy and pink.

There is a Midrash in the rabbinic retelling of the Exodus from Egypt where Nachson ben Aminadav jumps into the water of the Red Sea first before the instruction is given, showing his courage and bravery and prompting G-d to split the Red Sea so the rest of the Jews could pass safely across the water to freedom from slavery. Naava means beautiful. Aminadav and Naava - our son and daughter. I wish we got to spend the rest of our lives getting to know our first- and second-born and letting them know how much we love them.