At Rabin Medical Center's maternity ward, Ella Haimi gave birth to her fourth son. Tal Haimi, her husband and a member of the alert squad, went to fight terrorists on October 7, was kidnapped to Gaza, and after two months, his family received the news that he had been murdered, with his body held still in the Gaza Strip.
"Tal was sorely missed. During the pregnancy, at birth, and in general, in every aspect of life," Ella recounted with pain.
"I expected Tal to be at the birth; it was clear to me that he would be at the birth, but after two months, I already understood that he wouldn't." Ella says, adding, "Tal was sorely missed, at birth, during pregnancy. He was missing altogether, in everything in life, even in the small things. Not just in big things like childbirth."
Ella recalls that in October, the last time she saw her husband, the pregnancy was still very fresh and early. "It was the first month; we hadn't managed to build up this expectation so much. It was really at the beginning, but he knew I was pregnant," she says.
The couple has three other children, ten-year-old twins and a seven-year-old. "They are very happy. Very excited, a new brother in the family. Especially as children, they see it here and now, and they're happy there's someone. I believe time will bring us more challenges," Ella says.
The family is currently at the maternity center, but their temporary home is at Kibbutz Eilot at the "Yovel Splash" hotel, which hosts them along with other evacuees.
"It's great there; we're expected to be there for the next two months," says Ella, who still doesn't know when she'll return home to Nir Yitzhak. "Because basically, where are we going back to? We left on October 7, but what has changed since then? The question is, can we go back to our home?"
Ella says their home wasn't one of those affected in the kibbutz, but adds: "How do we go home when Tal hasn't returned yet? Tal needs to come back, to be buried in the soil of Nir Yitzhak. He needs to be with us, and he isn't. How do we rebuild our lives when he hasn't returned?"
Throughout the last seven months of pregnancy, which were accompanied by much uncertainty, especially regarding the fate of her husband Tal, Ella recounts: "We had two months of very great hope. We truly believed he was alive. And for me, it was clear he would be with me at the birth. After two months, everything fell apart, and we had to rewrite the story from the beginning, in this impossible reality. I had a few months to prepare for the fact that he wouldn't be with me at the birth. The pregnancy went smoothly, the birth went smoothly. The baby is healthy and whole, that's what matters."
Ella hasn't yet chosen a name for the newborn. "I'm really torn, whether there should be an expression of Tal in this name, or of this situation. To completely disconnect from it? There are a lot of hesitations here."