Baby J's Therapy Session #1

Today our case manager and the OT (occupational therapist) came today for the first time. We have done some paper work with another lady, but today was the 'real' deal.
I will first confess that I was hoping they would say "he's fine" and "we don't really need to work with you guys". In fact I think I had my heart set on that.

They two women who came out (from 4 Oaks for those of you who live around here) were very nice and easy to talk to. They watched Baby J take a bottle, and then spit up 1/4c. of it (we have this problem quite a bit). They gave me some suggestions to help with that problem too, although not really their 'area' of expertise. *for the record he spit up maybe a tablespoon twice a week before he started PediaSure

After his food had had a chance to settle, they did some activities with him that mostly he thought, and looked like play. They made lots of notes, and they also asked tons of questions.

Baby J has almost no upper body strength or diaphragm muscles needed to crawl, and is significantly behind in his speech area (speech therapist and physical therapist will come next week). The OT is here to work on his fine motor skills (holding a bottle, reaching for a toy, etc.) but also works with large motor skills (sitting up, being able to lay on your belly and push up) that help with the finer skills. He is at least at the 4-6 month area in all motor areas, but they are not sure about speech, the therapist will give us a better idea about that next week.

Here's our homework:

1. No standing. Baby J loves to be held on his legs and 'stand' with us holding him. This is developing some muscles, but not the ones he needs. Right now he is going in the direction of walking/standing before crawling. Babies NEED to crawl to help with reading skills, tracking skills, and overall muscle development.
-this also includes exersaucers...if he is in one he has to have pillows under him to make him "sit" instead of stand. When we hold him he needs at least one of his legs at a 90deg angle at all times.

2. Exercising his arm/upperbody/shoulder muscles. We have a few positions to put him in, and he will need this exercise for 81 (not sure the significance of 81) minutes a day...not consecutively, but all together.

3. Getting him to hold his own bottle without help...this will happen gradually. He already grasps it, but without support of the bottle itself or his arms, he can't lift it. It is too heavy for him.

They saw good things too like smiling at himself in a mirror and reaching/looking for a dropped object. He got pretty cranky towards the end of the session, but hey, he was working hard!

The bad news for me was that he does indeed need services. The GREAT news for me is that in this case I can actually DO something to help him!

*If you didn't get to read my last post of congratulations to my dad, scroll down :o)