Andrea Termotto, 35, of Huntington, dies from complications after giving birth

Andrea Termotto, a dietitian at Northport VA Medical Center and a Huntington resident, had much in life to love. Someone for whom “l'chaim” — a Hebrew toast meaning “to life” — was a mantra and a motto.

There was her wife, Jenn Weinstein, a rabbi at a Woodbury synagogue. There was the couple's 3-year-old son, Ellis, and their search for ways to have fun. There was her pursuit of vast and varied passions and interests — whether that meant getting a new tattoo, trying the latest restaurant or meeting people and making friends along the way.

“She loved great food and culture,” said Termotto’s sister-in-law, Sara Arahovitis, of Commack. “She loved playing video games and going to the movie theater. One of her favorite pastimes was collecting tattoos — she would travel to different artists and had tattoos from all over.”

Until last week, Termotto and Weinstein were prepping for two more reasons to love. Termotto was expecting twin girls.

Then complications set in. She and Weinstein sought treatment at North Shore University Hospital's Katz Women's Hospital, in Manhasset. Termotto underwent an emergency Caesarean section last Friday to save the lives of the babies, delivered at 33 weeks, premature but otherwise healthy. The toll of the ordeal proved too much for Termotto, who died early Saturday after the surgery.

“She was doing great, but there were complications,” Arahovitis said of her sister-in-law, “so they decided to do the C-section.”

Termotto, 35, “went into cardiac arrest on the table,” Arahovitis said, before adding: “They thought it was just from a blood clot in her lungs.”

It was actually much worse. Physicians soon discovered Termotto had a rare and often fatal amniotic fluid embolism, in which amniotic fluid enters the bloodstream.

“The doctors fought so, so hard. She fought so, so hard. But ultimately, her body just couldn't fight anymore,” Arahovitis said. 

Termotto was born on July 22, 1988, in Mineola, and raised in Merrick, the only daughter of four children of Susan and Richard Termotto. She graduated from Sanford H. Calhoun High School and in 2010 received a bachelor of science degree in nutrition from C.W. Post, now LIU Post. She completed her dietetic internship through that school the following year.

A clinical dietitian working at the Northport VA Medical Center and often attending to veterans in their homes, she also served as public relations chair for the Long Island Dietetic Association.

“She was all about her son and her wife and her job,” said her longtime friend Debby Rechler, of Old Brookville and New York City.

Termotto and Weinstein, a rabbi at Congregation Simchat HaLev in Woodbury, were “all about inclusion,” Rechler said. Termotto was Jewish but nonreligious and married a rabbi, Rechler noted. 

“Weinstein's father, a rabbi, was the one that married them," she said. "It was really beautiful.”

Along with her wife and children, Termotto is survived by her parents, brothers, Daniel, Harrison and Carson Termotto, all of Merrick, and grandparents, LeeAnne and Jules Levine, of Manhasset.

A funeral was held Wednesday at Gutterman’s Memorial Chapel in Woodbury, followed by burial at Beth Moses Cemetery in West Babylon.

Shiva will continue Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.