a new theory

Today has been getting better as it goes on. When I arrived this morning he started to get really agitated. I think in conference this morning they talked about what we can do to get Charlie’s bowels working again and Neale (OT) said that if we do more passive movement with him it may help move things along. Neale and I have also come up with a new theory to break him of the posturing/stiffness cycle. Lately when Charlie is awake he postures and moans for a few seconds then relaxes for a few seconds then postures, then relaxes etc. Our thinking so far has been that when he is agitated we leave him alone as to not stimulate him and when he is asleep we hold him. Now we are trying the exact opposite. In order to break this repetitious cycle she suggested that when he postures we hold him in the opposite position (fetal position) to teach his brain that it is OK for his body to be contracted. So, today anytime Charlie was awake I held him in on contracted position or another. He would resist and then relax over and over until he fell asleep. I think it might take a couple days of this to see any results but I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m also wondering if he has reflux even though he is on Prevacid so I mostly held him upright. He had a 2 hour nap after the noon clonadine (which I put him back in his bed in a fetal position) and then was awake again so I did the positioning again until he fell asleep. He has now been asleep for 4 ½ hours is super relaxed sleeping on Grandma Cheryl and Dad. He was so relaxed that he wasn’t able to get his 6:00 clonadine but so far he hasn’t noticed. I’m not sure if this new theory will work or not but at least I feel like I’m trying something. Neale said there are some research articles on this type of therapy but I’m not sure what it is called. His feedings are currently on full speed but half strength (1/2 pedialite and ½ formula) and his residuals have been OK.