The Origin of (and great love behind) Oakland Myo
“Ma’am, your daughter’s fine,” every doctor and specialist that I took my baby to said to me. They looked at me in a way that rattled my waning confidence and grip on reality.
How could they NOT see that she wasn’t healthy?? Was I going crazy?
I became THAT mom. I knew that my child needed help, yet every doctor and specialist was telling me otherwise. I was becoming desperate.
“Mother Love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.”
My husband and I have three daughters. We had our first, who progressed and grew without complications. Two years later, we had a surprise set of twins.
The twins’ delivery was challenging. During those first few days of recovery and adjusting to parenting three children, we had to take one of the twins to the doctor. At three days old, she wasn’t eating. My other daughters hadn’t responded to feeding the way she was; I knew something was wrong. Even at three days old, my daughter had created an association with eating and discomfort due to reflux. It was more comfortable not to eat. Thankfully, this was corrected with medication and she quickly moved from the 5th percentile in weight to above average.
As our household adjusted to our new normal of three children under two, we watched as each child’s unique personality emerged. We joked that she was our “grumpy teenager” each time she woke up. She seemed tired all the time. She loved to explore, and led her twin around the house, crawling onto and through furniture. She snacked throughout the day -more than the other girls- but we were told “it’s because she’s active.” I wasn’t so sure. No matter how we fed her, she leaked milk and made clicking noises as she drank. She always had a nursing blister (dried skin) on her upper lip, and we were told “some babies just get that.” She’s in a bib far more than her twin because of her messy eating and drooling. She started sucking her fingers, and wanted to quit, but they would always find their way into her mouth as she slept. She had ear tubes placed at 2 years old, and her tonsils and adenoids removed at 4 years old; both were unpleasant for us all because of her complications.
As her adult teeth started growing in, we noticed an overbite and excessive crowding of her teeth. Her orthodontic treatment started early and was complicated. Her fitful sleep and daytime drowsiness led us to have two sleep studies one, at ages four and ten without conclusive results or viable treatment options. We were told she would need to take ADHD medication for the rest of her life to combat the excessive tiredness. That was not ok with us.
Our frustration grew as we searched for a way to help our daughter thrive. The treatments that were offered were piecemeal at best and didn’t seem to address the root issue. The problem was, we didn’t know what the root issue was.
We had no idea that all of her quirks and symptoms were related and had a simple solution.
Is your child exhibiting these signs and symptoms? If so, they may be a candidate for therapy.
Tongue Restriction Questionnaire - Children
Baby Issues (our daughter had 5 symptoms)
Painful nursing or shallow latch
Difficulty bottle feeding
Slow or poor weight gain
Reflux or spitting up often
Excessive gassiness or fussiness
Prolonged feeding time at the breast or on the bottle
Milk dribbling out of the mouth when eating
Clicking or smacking noise when eating
Child to Adult Issues (our daughter had 14 symptoms)
Frustration with communication
Trouble with speech sounds, hard to understand, mumbling
Speech delay
Slow eater or trouble finishing a meal
Picky eater, especially with textures (e.g. meat, mashed potatoes)
Choking or gagging on liquids or foods
Spitting out food or packing food in cheeks
Crooked, crowded teeth, or highly-arched palate
Thumb or finger sucking or prolonged pacifier use
Restless sleep (kicking or moving while asleep)
Grinds teeth at night
Sleeps with mouth open
Snores (quiet or loud)
Jaw joint (TMJ) issues (popping, clicking, or pain)
Frequent headaches or neck pain
Mouth breathing during the day
Enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids
Recurrent ear infections
Frequent sinus issues/upper respiratory infections
Hyperactivity or inattention
Fast forward fifteen years.
I finally took a myofunctional training course, something my daughter’s godmother, a dentist, had been urging me to do for years. I couldn’t believe it! After years of searching and wondering and my daughter suffering, the answer was before me.
She had a tongue tie!
I felt like Dorothy when she finally made it to the Emerald City to see the Wizard and realized she had the answer all along. I, her mother, a speech therapist, could give her the therapy she needed with my specialized training, and she could receive a tongue tie release.
Oh, the guilt, the peace, and the hope that came with this revelation!
My daughter responded well to the procedure. Her symptoms, as well as issues that we didn’t even realize she had improved immediately! She was not my perfect patient initially, though she has been eager to learn and has become diligent with her treatment program.
What a road for her and the rest of our family! She has led me here, to my clinical purpose and passion. I could not have predicted where we all would be, personally and professionally, when those initial specialists told me that my daughter was fine. She was -she just needed some help to reach her full potential.
Her journey has turned into my life’s work. I am committed to helping patients and their families find a solution quickly and with compassion and understanding.
Mom and daughter attend a tongue tie conference and meet Dr. Soroush Zaghi from The Breathe Institute in February 2023.
Our daughter is an accomplished young adult who is forging her way. I know that the challenges she faced because of her tongue tie informed her strong personality which will serve her well in the future. I am grateful what this experience has taught all of us.
The fire in my belly to help others burns strong.
My love for learning and teaching others is stamped on my soul.
It is who I am. It allowed me to not give up in a search for a solution for my daughter.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
Now I know better, so I can do better for my daughter; it’s helping her get better.
She has made me a much better clinician.
