Eric Tai Recalls How Wife Rona Never Gave Up Despite Preemie Son's Weight Loss

Being a parent changes you forever—and this isn't only true for moms. On May 8, celebrity host Eric Tai shared a photo of himself with his son Legend, now 2 months old, that shows how they've transformed—thanks to the perseverance of his wife, body positivity advocate Rona Tai.

"He's almost doubled his weight at birth, [at] seven pounds, and two months later, now sitting on 13 pounds." Eric wrote on Instagram. He admits she and Rona were caught off guard by Legend's growth during his first month.

Due to pregnancy complications, Rona had to deliver prematurely at just 34 weeks into her pregnancy. Still, he was quite a huge baby for a preemie. During his first month, though, "[Legend] couldn't gain weight after two weeks. As a matter of fact, he dropped weight," the new dad shared.

"I'll never forget Rona crying to our doctor," Eric recalled. "The pain and worthlessness she felt, she truly felt like those weeks of breastfeeding and pumping whilst her hypertension condition was at its peak still," he added.

But Rona never gave up and hustled through, "believing in God that Legend will grow stronger and bigger by the day," Eric stressed. Thankfully, their persistence has paid off. Their little one is now steadily gaining weight.

Eric and his brothers also started their own healthy body transformation. The image he posted showed his and Legend's transformation in just four weeks. As Legend packed on the pounds, Eric slimmed down from 245 pounds down to 233 pounds. "I'm, doing this for you, son!" he wrote below their side-by-side photo.

"You cannot duplicate or replace the gratitude of being a parent, mother, and father," he said of his smile on the right-side photo. "We. You. Us are very blessed! Let's get through this together!" he said to Rona, also thanking everyone for their prayers, love, and support.

On Legend's first month, first-time mom Rona shared that her son loves milk. He doesn't even cry for his nappy to be changed — just to ask for milk. In their hospital visits, the nurses used a dropper to feed him donated breast milk until they found a bottle that suited him. Since then, Eric and Rona had been partners through and through.

 

"She latches... She milks... I feed in between," Eric wrote on Instagram with the hashtag #TeamWorkMakeTheDreamWork. It was a photo of Rona handing him her expressed milk. "Our doc at the hospital would always say, 'Every drop counts .' 'Breast milk is 'liquid gold.' I never truly understood it until now.. sheesh!" he added. "Do not underestimate the power of breast milk!"

Early on into being a mom, Rona already shared a message for all the parents-shamers out there. "Eric and I have waited for Legend for seven years, and we're not going to do anything to mess it up," she stressed.

 

"If you guys see me post anything that I do that you guys might find, I don't know, not unacceptable to your standards, hey, our doctors have given us permission," Rona explained. "So, shove it. Seriously, just zip it. I'm going [to] do me," she added.