Upside Down

It wasn't until his developmental pediatrician asked, "Does he always do this?" that I realized that Tigger's way of being upside down was out-of-the-ordinary. I looked at my son resting upside down on her couch - heading dangling off the seat, feet resting at the top of the chairback. Then I realized all the ways this child had been upside down...

First off, he was born upside down. My labor was wrought with back pain -my husband lifting me off the ground to apply counterpressure. And when he was birthed, we finally understood why my back pain was so severe. During labor Tigger had been facing the wrong direction (facing my belly button instead of my back) and arching his back to present his wide forehead instead of his crown. His head pressing against my spine as he descended.

That position was how he self-soothed as a newborn and remained a way for him to play and even to cope with stress as he grew.

In fact, when we held him as a newborn he would arch his body until his head was upside down....

He enjoyed playing upside down with us...

...and on his own.

He places himself upside down to deal with stress... (The picture below was taken when he was prepping for a new unknown experience.)

His therapist/yoga instructor always make time for him to practice different ways of being upside down...

So being upside down (literally) was one of many first signs that Tigger was different. As new parents with next-to-no experience with young children, we had no reason to believe it was markedly different from how other young humans were. Now we know better...and we also know that we should be able to support his need to be upside down every day.