I was born on Friday, May 14, 2010, at 4:34 in the morning.

I was 7 pounds exactly and 19.75 inches long.

I was born at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, in Rockville, MD.

Rotem is spelled with or without a vav (ו), but I have decided that I like it better with the vav, so the correct spelling of my full name, Rotem Esther Buck, is רותם אסתר באק.

Rotem is pronounced like this: ROE-tem. Esther is pronounced EH-stur (or eh-STARE if you are saying it with a Hebrew accent).

A rotem is a broom (a type of plant) that grows in the deserts of north Africa and the Middle East. It has a white flower, with purple highlights. It blooms in May. The plant is mentioned several times in the bible, and Elijah sat under one while speaking with God. Wikipedia has a nice article here about the plant (you can read the Google Translate version in English here).

Ima and Daddy picked my first name because they really liked it. It's not a very common name in Israel, so that makes me even more unique!

My middle name, Esther, came from Savta's mother (my great-grandmother). I was born on the anniversary of her death, so they thought that it was meaningful to name me after her.