By NICOLE WILLIAMS
BECK Solomon’s “little monkey” gives her every reason to smile but his entry into the world at only 33 weeks also gave her and her husband Rob plenty of reasons to sweat.
James was born on 27 March last year, weighing only 1775 grams and looking like a little monkey, earning him his nickname.
“It was a tough time but good time too,” the Pakenham mum said.
“Now I consider it bonus time. I got seven weeks of cuddles I would have missed out on.”
To celebrate James’s success and help other families with premmie babies, Team Monkey took part in the Walk for Prems at Albert Park on Sunday, raising money and awareness for Life’s Little Treasures Foundation.
James spent four weeks in hospital after his birth, two weeks in the special care nursery at Monash Medical Centre and two weeks at Casey Hospital, before the Solomon’s could finally bring him home.
“The hardest thing was leaving the hospital every night with empty arms – it’s really hard,” Mrs Solomon said.
“It was disempowering and it felt like the baby was not yours.”
Mrs Solomon went through a “rollercoaster” of emotions after James’s premature birth
“There was a lot of denial and shock. Once he was born, I held him thinking ‘how did he get here?’,” she said.
“My way of coping was thinking he was normal. I forgot normal babies were twice the size and would think every baby that came into the nursery was huge.”
These days, no-one would be able to tell James was a premmie baby – although he hit many of his milestones later.
“Premmie babies have different milestones which are all extra exciting,” Mrs Solomon said, as she recalled the first day James was able to wear clothes.
“The day I saw him without his tube (nasogastric tube) for the first time was the day before we went home and it was so exciting to actually get to see his face. For me, that was the moment that I realised he was mine and we got to take him home.”
The 5km walk in Sunday was a way for the Solomon family to give back and raise awareness for the organisation that helped them.
“When had him I was looking for somewhere to look so when I was in hospital I looked on the website and read stories,” she said.
“It helped to know you were not alone and the premmie babies were OK and were now big kids or strong men.”
To donate to Life’s Little Treasures or Team Monkey, visit www.lifeslittletreasures.org.au/walk
