Hi everyone, and welcome back to Airway First, the podcast from the Children's Airway First
Foundation. I'm your host, Rebecca St. James. My guest today is Molly Peterson, wife, mother of two,
and photographer from Virginia. Molly's joining us on the podcast today to share her story with all
of you in an effort to share knowledge and experience and provide a little bit of support for all of
you out there, no matter where you are in your child's airway journey. So let's jump right into the
special parent-to-parent episode of the Airway First podcast with today's guest, Molly Peterson.
All right, great. Thanks so much for joining us today, Molly. Thank you. It is so good to be here
with you, and I appreciate you taking time out to share your story and your knowledge with our
parent audience. Yeah, thank you for having me. Of course. So before we get started, I guess the
best way to start our conversation is I would ask you just to share a little bit about your
airway journey with your child, you know, how did it start, and where are you on that journey today?
Okay. Well, everything I have learned in the last three years, and even the last six months, because
it seemed to the information seemed to take a long period. I've been getting blips about airway
health for 20 years, even longer, with my dad's apnea, for example. But I was having, you know,
like slow little drop-ins of information, but it never came together the way that it has significantly
in the last three years, two years, last six months. It seems that the information is just like
compacting and coming in at full speed. And then I'm trying to process, and it's fascinating and
really interesting. So my husband comes home, and I'm like, guess what I learned about today. So I
guess I wish I'd known this all, obviously, before our oldest son was born about 70 years ago.
With him, you know, he was bottle fed from the start for a few reasons. And so I had some friends
that kind of, you know, you'd hear about the term tongue tie, right? But I didn't know enough
about it. And I didn't think he, quote unquote, had an issue. And I know it's harder to catch when
you're bottle fed. But he had in hindsight now, he had several, I think I casually mentioned it to a
pediatrician, I was like, oh, no, no, he's fine, right? Okay. Okay, he means my first and you're in
that blur of the first. Sure. Right. But he in hindsight now he had signs. He would have night
terrors. His nervous system was pretty dysregulated early on, like a really happy kiddo, but would
wake up all through the night. I mean, we were going through so many bottles and people say he
doesn't need bottles. He doesn't need that many. You're like, you don't understand. If he doesn't
get this bottle, it's, it's a rage, right? If anyone's ever been through that. And so he also, he
didn't have a very high and narrow palate, but I was starting kind of learning about that. The only
way I would could get him to sleep for an app was I had to take over a car ride. And he would sleep
better when he was with us and not there were just little blips, very full diapers overnight,
very full. And, and I didn't learn that the correlation with that until our second one was
born. And he, how far apart are they? They are three years apart. Okay. All right. So when our
second son was born, again, nursing struggles, this time, the signs were much more obvious, at
least to me, very high and narrow palate. He seemed to have restriction. But again, I went to
a lactation consultant, five different pediatricians, and they were all like, no, no, no, no, no. You
don't know what you're talking about. So very light sleeper, very also night terrors at a very
young age and some that were very intense and would go on for a very long time. I never noticed
with either of them sleep apnea type stopping and breathing. But I still thought there's something
going on here. There's, there's a lot more going on here. And this was the mom instinct, right?
Yeah. And there was, and this was four years ago. So I feel like especially in the last six months
a year, and maybe it's just that I'm way more aware of it now is the information really is now
flooding in, I think, to make those connections between the emotional health and the nervous system
and the airway and the lack of oxygen. And so I thought we stopped trying to nurse. He was supplemented
with a bowel, but we stopped trying to nurse with the second one at three months. I, I tried
everything. And it was becoming, it was stressful for him. It was stressful for me. When he'd stick
out his little tongue, it was almost like a heart because it was so restricted. But yet I didn't,
I was, I didn't know anything, right? And so I kind of gave up at that point. You know,
I was three months old. I've got a toddler. It was the time when the world kind of started to
fall apart. And it socially for a while. And so I was also more isolated than ever before. And
so it was probably, I think when he was almost a year old, and like, okay, we'll just, we'll do the,
we'll do the bottle. But he had this similar thing with the very heavy diapers overnight.
He also, he would go through many, many bottles overnight. And it was that same pattern in my
husband, I was going, what is going on here? What are we doing wrong? You know, they weren't sleeping
well. And we are a family who is really mindful about, you know, the types of food and getting
outside a lot. And I'm, we tried, we thought all the tricks. And we just, this doesn't make sense.
But then we started also noticing some of the behavioral stuff. And I know that I know that
some of this behavior stuff is just simply that age. The brain is developing and the nervousness
is developing, everything's developing. But again, I was feeling those connections of,
I've, there's something deeper here. There's something more here. And, and again, what am I doing wrong?
Right? Well, that's not momgill, right? We all have that. It's our fault, of course.
It's my fault that my kids don't listen. But yet, but yet they were listening and I,
I mean, and I was trying to listen to them. I'm fortunate I've been able to be home with them.
So I kind of joke that I have had this Jane Goodall ask front row seat to them and maybe
hyper observe them more than they all would like. And not in a pushy way, but just like, oh, interesting.
So it was probably around when our youngest was about a year or so old, I found there was an
Instagram page, I think. And it noted that and it taught, it was taught because I was looking down
the tongue tap tongue type path more. But I still I thought it was too late. But something
blipped up across my path that said it's not too late. I mean, there are adults that get these
things revised. And I thought, whoa, wait a minute here. So that reignited that journey that I had
and already sort of been on. And I reached out to a, I'm one of those like, once I, once I feel
that resonance and get excited, oh, like light bulb, I dive full in and I can and it and again,
it's like rapid fire processing. So I reached out to an oral myofunctional therapist. This is
when we lived in a different state. And she had been dental hygentists for, you know, decades.
And decide and was seen enough of this, this pattern with children that that's where she
wanted to support them. So we took a man, he was, I think he was about a year and a half. And she's,
and she said, it's not too late. And he had so many of the signs. It was so
validating to have that. Yes, you know, the recess jaw and the high and narrow palate and his,
his turbinates at that time hadn't swelts swelled up, but they did about six months later.
And so that caused more restriction. And then I was learning about how that, how that tongue to the
roof of the palate, it suddenly, like I said, all started to come flooding in.
We moved shortly after that away from that state. So I wasn't able to continue with her, but I knew,
okay, we're on a path now. And now, now we're going to figure this out. So
in my impatience, it's taken longer than I would like. But again, what I have learned in the last
six months has been, I'm so glad I was able to wait for that information. I read the first book I
read was a breath by James Nestor. And that connected so many more dots. And I needed to understand it
on a deeper level. And then it was not only the first book, but also the first book that I read
understand it on a deeper level. And then it was not only connecting dots for my children
and myself and then my childhood, but then also my husband, there were things we've been together
for 22 years. And there have been things with him, I have just been chasing symptom wise that I
can't get a hold of. And now I was going to ask about that because you often hear it in families,
it was and and he and our youngest son are almost like little carbon copies of these
little ones, a carbon copy of him. And so it was neat to be able to see that correlation say,
oh my goodness, there it is. And so again, my impatience kind of kind of frustrates.
Sure. Like right now, now that I know. So our oldest since he was less severe, you know, and he
had by that time he had started tea grinding tea to okay, well, magnesium helps at night,
which it did, but it didn't fix it, right? Right. So I did. He did have a buckle release and a
tongue tie because he wasn't as severe. At the same time, we did some myofunctional therapy
because I always knew and there was so no information to be found for me at that time.
It was piecing all of these things together and then trying to make the plan and I felt like I
was leading the charge a little too much because with with the proof with like the dentist, for
example, she was very aware of it. But I will do I need a myofunctional therapist? Well, you could.
And I thought, I feel like we should. But then it was finding one and getting on our waitlist and
and financially that all it all cost me insurance hardly covered any of the tongue tie release.
So we did do some of that. But then I thought, okay, and it did it cleared up his it cleared
up his grinding at night and it lessened some of his symptoms. But but still we were having some
other struggles and I can get to that later. But then with the younger one, I thought he's much
more pronounced or severe. And I thought if we just snip that tongue tie, because everyone was
saying just just snip it. He's not going to know how to use that tongue. And I have to create another
problem and I don't want him to you know, if he already is struggling to breathe at night at you
know, at that point, he was kind of sleeping up propped in my arm because if he's down, you know,
he's not going to be able to sleep. And I thought I don't I if we're already not getting very much
sleep, I can't get less sleep because I'm worried that his tongue is going to flop back.
Right. Right. Like I need another stress. So, so what that paused his tongue tie release and I'm
really glad that it did and he has not yet had one that then sent us down a journey of
of working with a holistic dentist and getting he's our youngest has had a CT scan. Yes, his airway
is compromised. He has had a sleep study and they did not find apnea thankfully and you know, I have
a little four year old hooked up for a sleep study. That was an interesting night and he handled it.
Sure. Oh, good. And that was and that was our holistic dentist with that it's our airway center
dentist had said, let's do all of those things because that will determine do we have other
things going on and it may help insurance cover some of this. They did not find apnea but I said,
well, what about sleep disorder breathing and those doctors have never called me back to talk to
me about that. So I've just figured, well, okay, whatever. It's kind of like they don't need to
tell me I already know we he's clearly struggling to breathe and night and then we have seen two ENTs
and they both noted that he didn't seem to have the swollen adenoids and tonsils. And I wouldn't
have been on a path to just have them removed without further exploration. But they they did say,
well, let's just try flownase and I thought that sure we could. But everything I've read and I
started asking about the tongue and the air, everything that I've learned and neither were
willing to have that conversation with me. They just wanted to try flownase and move along one
actually and I'll say this, he actually went so far as to say, well, if neither of you are sleeping,
I think you should just ferberize him and he'll figure it out and then you'll sleep better.
And you could hear the you could feel the oxygen just suck out of the room at that moment. I thought,
you know, I'm not a combative person. I'm really willing to talk about this. We're done here.
Yeah. Yeah. And then he got a back pale. Oh, I'm not trying to tell you how to pair it. I thought,
are you kidding me? Yeah. So so it's been that part's been frustrating, but almost
validating to like, nope. So I so why haven't you you gone through the with the tongue tie really
shit? He we're on the path with him. So he hasn't had myofunctional therapy in a while. We've been
doing stuff at home. We've been using tools at home. We've tried the munchie. He's got the myospots.
He is breathing more through his nose. We haven't done the tongue tie release it because I just yet
with the holistic dentist, we have talked about upper and lower alf expanders.
Mm hmm. The struggle there is is financially that's more of an investment than I can do.
Yeah. And I don't know if you're aware of how much it is, but it's I was having to say,
okay, well, we're gonna have to pick one of the boys and only he'll get this help and maybe
we'll work on the other one later, but the other one's already losing teeth. And so I know like,
even the jaw growth, you know, it's he's so his is but I was I was choosing the four year old
because he's the one that's not sleeping very well. So or so I've had a lot of these start
stops, start stops, but where we are right now is I have recently found a cranial osteopath
physician and she's been working on she's only worked on them both twice, but they both
love her. The youngest one said just yesterday, when do we get to go back to Dr. Tracy because
she helps me feel better. Oh, wow. So I know with him, it's one of those I think chicken or the egg
and cascade effect scenarios that I'm learning is and this won't be the case for everybody,
but it could be did the nervous system, dysregulate the airway and the airway dysregulate
the nervous system or is it both and there's just so much overlap and that's kind of where I am with
both of them. So I'm working on that with the cranial osteopath to help that autonomic nervous
system and you know, with the with everything in the head that the muscles and the ligaments and the
and the bones and the Vegas Vegas, I was gonna say the Vegas nerve. Yeah, especially so and all of
that. It's so beautiful how it's all connected. So we are going to her and then I did because of the
expense of the expanders, which we may be in that boat someday. But it's not today. I recently signed
up with the tooth pillow, as I was learning about that. And so I thought, okay, well, that's more of
an entry point that we can do. And suddenly we can do it home. And there's a whole virtual
app system. So I can help both boys right now. We're working on the nervous system. And let's see
where we are in six months to, you know, one year to and see if that helps regulate things. And I
for the first time in a long time, I'm finally feeling like we got this. Yeah, we got this.
We have a plan battle if we have a plan. Oh, yeah. But we're finally here. Yeah. And so the younger
one since he's been going to that cranial acupath, the first night he went to her, he came home,
and he slept 11 hours breathing through his nose. Wow. If that child had not gone to that doctor that
day, I probably would have woken him up taking an emergency room. I think it's something was wrong
because we have never had that. And then this after the second appointment, it wasn't the first day,
he was a little grumpy the first day after the appointment. But the next day was,
it was Christmas Eve. And he fell asleep at 530. And this is a kiddo who is involved in everything.
He likes to, he likes to clean, he likes to organize, he likes to play him. And he's only four.
But he fell asleep on Christmas Eve. He missed the dinner he made. He missed the cookies for Santa.
He missed all of that because he slept for 14 hours. Oh, my goodness. And people may say that
that, oh, it might be a coincidence. I don't think at all. He was finally coming down. And we talk so
much about, and I think it's interesting, I'm not talking at them. It's like we're learning together
and I'm sharing what I'm learning. We talk so much about the tongue and the breathing and the
nervous system that like both of them get it. And it's pretty cool. Yeah. So, yeah, we're fine.
We're finally on a path. And it finally feels like things are calming down. And is it is sleeping
consistent now towards more consistent? Yeah, more consistent. They're both more consistent.
They both more so, I think our oldest one usually wakes up once a night. But the youngest one is
waking up less and less and less. And he's so you could tell he's sleeping more soundly when he wakes
up in the morning. But he's one of the happiest four year olds you're ever gonna meet both of them.
But we'll say like he's like buddy the elf. He's just hey, he's here. But when he's not sleeping,
then you've got the Hulk like it is the other and it's it's it's a lot. It's a lot. Well, sure,
because it's very disruptive. It's so disruptive. And so, I mean, all of the
I guess and the articles and the I'm so grateful for all of these Instagram accounts and these
mile functional therapists and that are sharing so much information. And the books I've read,
I mean, I've read the What was it the the tired child that was a favorite. Yeah, that's a great
one. For me. So it's just it's really, really neat to have learned about all of this stuff
and how it's playing out and and even how it not just the emotional but also learning delays and
learning struggles and how that it's amazing how connected it all is so connected. And I think
sometimes when I talked to now when I of course when I talked to friends or whoever about I think
I think sometimes they say like, of course, you're going to think it's connected. I think it is
connected. It is connected. The more we find out the more it is. It's it's wild. It's wild. Well,
first, first, I would commend you because you are absolutely what we call the airway mama bear.
Thank you. That you know, this is we need more of you because this is how we're going to move
this forward and make these changes. Yeah, you know, you've you've done all this hard work and
so I absolutely commend you for that for advocating and just staying with it.
So for people that don't know, I want to go back for just a second. You mentioned the tooth pillow.
Yeah. So for parents that don't know what that is,
sure. Will you explain a little bit about that?
Yeah. So for what I understand, ours is in the mail. I think it's supposed to come here.
It's supposed to arrive tomorrow. So what I've learned through the website, the red site is
really comprehensive. There's a lot of information there and a lot of it will put a link to it.
Yeah. And that's what I also was so impressed because as you probably can gather already,
I like a lot of information and I'll ask a lot of questions and I have to understand it. And
so I really appreciated all the information they put out there. It's a device that they wear. It
looks like an athletic mouth guard. And I think it has like a lip to teach the tongue where to rest.
So it's not just in there, but it also has a place to help with the tongue.
And they'll wear it. They're supposed to wear it for an hour every day and then ideally all night long.
And the before and after is obviously I don't know these people, but the before and after photos
I've seen and there's a parent Facebook group is people are excitedly sharing about, oh my goodness,
look at how fast my child's palate is expanding and the art is. So it's to help the tongue learn to
stay up at the top of the palate. Right, where it's supposed to be.
Yeah. And it's not going to hold it there for them, but it will help them and then that will help
naturally expand that archway instead of having a device in there, you know, like an owl for a
mild breath to push it out for them. And like again, we may we may be that route, but I'm
willing to try this one first. Yeah. So it's we order one for both for both boys and they're
what's neat because we've been having these conversations as they both ask me, when is our
tooth pillow coming? So tomorrow it's coming out. Check the tracking. It's coming tomorrow.
So and I think what's also neat about kids, especially, you know, we since we have so many
conversations is they want to feel better. Sure. They don't like feeling this way and
they don't like the feedback they get. I mean, as a parent, you could only be so patient and
there are some days where it's so intense with my youngest even I say, buddy,
you stop. You got to back off a little bit, you know, and then we're both cut and then we're
both. Yeah, right. Then time out for everyone, right? We're gonna break. And that's so I know
that everyone is just like all of the recipe that we've kind of put together to help our family. Now,
we still it's still really important to me that we limit screen time and that we, you know, if
there if there those myos spots have been really neat, there's a little they just dissolve. You
can get right here. And so if they do have TV time or if I notice that they're kind of tea
kettle talking, I say it like when the it really goes up and they just not breathing. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. You're like, that. Hey, do you need a tongue button? Okay. And then if we put on a show, then
then naturally just digit with it, which helps just take that deep breath. Yeah. And we spend a
lot of time outside and we're, you know, mindful of all sorts of things that all of that still
important. Every kid is a recipe, but I don't know if I answered that question about the two
but it's it's a help. Yeah. Yeah. No, you absolutely did. And then, you know, so
I think you touched on a little bit of it, but what were some of the biggest hurdles
that you've had to overcome along this journey? Well, I think
one of the biggest ones was a mental hurdle of the financial part about so much of it.
Because it, you know, I absolutely agree that a myofunctional therapist is worth what they're
charging. Yeah. I mean, I can afford it once a week for each for two kids. Right. That's not
always covered. And the holistic hero. Again, insurance not in the frustration is in his
insurance has hardly covered anything for what we've actually what has actually been helpful.
And so that's always a frustration because you think, oh, there's so many kids who could get help
if only, right. And so that's a big thing. And then
because I'm home, I work for myself. So because I'm home, I've been able to invest all of this time
and energy into the education so I can, you know, understand what we're doing and where we're going.
And then also the time to get them to any of these appointments. And I think that was another thing
that I appreciated about the whole tooth pillow process because I'm not going into the dentist
once a month for adjustments. I'm not going making the myofunctional therapist appointments once a
week. Right. And then because it's all right there on the app. And that that's huge right now. And I
understand there are families that are way busier than I am. And I just it's, I know some people
will say, well, if you need it, it comes down to priorities and sure, that's true. But there are
only so many hours in the day. Exactly. And we just get and then the capacity and then you
talk about nervous system dysregulation, then you're more stressed about. Right. Right. You know,
and in this tooth pillow thing, it's, it's not an exact apples to apples comparison. Yeah. But
there used to be a time for mental health. The only way you could get help was to go into somebody.
Right. Well, now we've realized not everybody can get in there. So now we have that online. We have,
you know, telemedicine because if your kid just has sniffles or I don't know, something's, you
know, small and you know, or maybe you're a single parent, you can't get them in whatever it is. Now
we have telemedicine. So to me, that's just another example of how we're adapting medicine
to treat people where they're at. You know, how can we help people? Yeah, definitely. And it's,
and it's so, there are so, there are just so many kids. Yeah. So many kids. And I, you know, I,
I, and I've known for a long time, you know, I mentioned my dad had the apnea or has it. And,
and so I see down the road where that goes health wise. And, and then
even I now I, you know, on hindsight, I think back, I had a lot of cavities as a kid. And I
grew up being like, Oh, it's just, you didn't brush it off or you didn't, whatever. Well, now what
I'm learning is, is most of it's probably most often not the diet in the sense that yes, brushing
teeth is important. Yes, nutrient dense foods are important. But it's also like the microbiome and,
and the air and the pH, the airway and the pH and the mouth breathing. And that's, that was another
thing I didn't mention with our kids. They were getting early cavities. And I thought, well, hold
on a minute. Like where my husband's an organic farmer. Like, how are we getting cavities here?
Right, right. Like, we're doing all, you know, for the most part, there's no perfect system. But
that, that was another big aha moment for me is, why are they getting these cavities? This doesn't
make sense to me. And well, because it's breathing through their mouths and, and I'm almost positive
that plays a majority role in the cavities that they have. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I could see that. Right.
Because we know, we know that length is there. Yeah, it's absolutely there.
You're listening to airway first with today's guest, Molly Peterson. You can find out more about
the Children's Airway First Foundation and our mission to fix before six on our website at
Children's Airway First.org. The CAF website offers tons of great resources for both parents and
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Parents are also encouraged to join the Airway Huddle, our Facebook support group, which was
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As a reminder, this podcast and the opinions expressed here are not a medical diagnosis.
If you suspect your child might have an airway issue, please contact your pediatric airway
dentist or pediatrician. And now let's jump back into our very special parent to parent edition
of the Airway First podcast with today's guest, Molly Peterson.
So, and then I think it's another interesting kind of frustration along this way. And I imagine
it's pretty common is the pushback that I've gotten or the dismissal, perhaps, from whether it's
medical professionals or those that I know kind of like, well, what do you know that kind of a
where you have to stand up and say like, okay, well, you have not spent hundreds of hours on this.
I never thought I would, but here I am. And it kind of chose deep. And here we are. Right. Right.
Right. And, you know, I can tell you first hand, just with my journey as well as, you know, with
our founder, Andy, once you start down this rabbit hole of reading, and it's so funny too,
because you mentioned James Nestor's book, which I will put a link for, but he is on our advisory
board. Okay. I swear that is the gateway book. That is what has started this journey for so many
people. I believe it. You start with that. And then you end up with, you know, gasp and brave
parent and the tired child. And it just, it starts building. And yeah, you start seeing more and more
research and you hear it from different providers. And once you see it and you understand it,
you can't go back. You can't. There's no way I can go back. No, I have, I say to my husband,
well, everybody, I think anyone close to me knows Molly has a giant whiteboard in her head
with lines and connections. And I often send this little, what was it, what they call it,
Jeff, to of this Charlie Day character. I don't even know what movie it's from. I can
tell you so you know what I'm talking about. But he's like, you know, when you're solving a case
and they've got the board up with all of the lines and he's like, yeah. And I said, this is how I
feel. I'm this guy. Because it is, you can't unsee it. And it's, and I've often said it's this
beautifully, sometimes tragic web of connection of all of it. Yeah. That's a really great explanation.
Yeah, it is. It really, it's so, it's so wild to me. And, and I've had some such amazing conversations
with other moms, especially most recently. Some have sort of been in this, this realm already.
And we're just now connecting or some are close friends that have gone. Tell me more about what
you were saying the other day. And that's been really neat. And it's just, again, once you see
it, you can't unsee it. Yeah, especially when you start uncovering things like depression,
how it's connected to depression. And, you know, that was the Surgeon General's number one
task. You know, he, what was it? Two years ago, he put up this huge mandate on it. And
the way depression has permeated the lives of this youngest generation coming through to me. I mean,
hey, that's kind of an eye opener. Let's all take a step back and try to figure out
what's going on. What's going on? I'm not saying it's always the case, but it's so interesting
when you read all this research and you start to see, you know, it manifests and impacts ADHD
and you'll see depression and they can't sleep. And it just, oh, it's, it's wild. Yeah, it's wild.
It is wild. Well, and I also led me through this path when I was doing the nervous system stuff and
then the delays like and with labels, I'm always I'm hesitant on labels because I think that sometimes
people over identify, but I said to my husband, well, we seem to have symptoms of this type of
label over here. So let's kind of move forward as if we do, but I'm going to keep digging. I'm
going to keep digging and see. And because that can give us some more clues too. But I,
I was able to, with our oldest was having some learning delays in, in kind of the, the left
side hemisphere brain work creative, like right side all fired up, ready to go. But the delay is
in the left side. And so it's been interesting having these conversations too, with his support
team at school to say, Hey, you know what? I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna put them in a box.
Not yet. We're not going there. Yeah, I do think and I, but I that, you know, I think we've got
this airway stuff and this nervous system dysregulation and I think they're tied in and
maybe some primitive reflexes. I've learned about those. Those are. Yeah. Oh, I'll put a link to
that podcast too for people that haven't heard that. That's, that's insane. Yeah. It's so awesome.
And so like, I think this is what we've got going on. And I think you're going to see some big jumps
from him soon. And they are now seeing jumps. But what was neat is they were receptive to that. I
don't know if at least they were in my presence, right? I don't, they might think like, Oh man,
here's this mom, but, and I could be that mom. That's like, Yeah, but once they see it.
But to be able to write again, and they have access to way more kids than I do to support.
And that's why I shared it because I thought if, if what I believe, if I believe so strongly that
this is helping my children, then surely it could help others. It's gonna help others.
It's gonna help others. And so when I was learning about the, and the primitive reflex that all
dropped in in the last, you know, handful of months too. A couple months. Yeah. I don't know if you
know about Dr. Josh Madsen. He's in Iowa. He's doing some really cool work, functional neurology.
And then Dr. Tony Ebel with PX stocks. He's had some really awesome connections with him. He's a
neurologically focused chiropractor, but he has a network across the country. And then like I
mentioned, our cranial osteopath. So I think they're all doing really similar work that are helping
these children unlock this stuff. And they're starting to find that it's helping to unlock those,
those labels that have been given those delays that they were, that they were told they're not
doing fast enough. And various other struggles. And, and I think I know that they all blur and blend.
And well, and it's that cross functional thing, right? If you can get, and I can say this, you
know, not as a medical professional, but we have an advisory board full of some of just these amazing
individuals. And I'll sit in a meeting and listen to them. When you get these cross functional
groups together in these conversations, and they start piecing things, it's mind blowing. And
then that's one of the things we advocate for is putting together these teams to work with
these children. You know, because it's a whole job instead of these siloed approaches.
Right. Right. Because it's not exactly. And that's, I think that's, because humans were so good at
saying, well, this is this and this is this. And no, there's no connection. You know, well,
right. Well, that's not true. Come on. Right. Right. It's all connected.
Well, and what's interesting, I think, you know, I mentioned, I've been having blitz of this my
whole life with my dad, but also I have a dear friend who, gosh, 20 some years ago, I met her
through the horse world. And we were doing chiropractic on the horses. And I, when I was 17,
I got certified to do horse massage. I don't do it at all. But even back then, you know, how much
more that we, we've done for our pets than our own children ourselves and ourselves. Because I think
and people have heard me say this a lot. I think we humans are so cute that we forget that we are
nature, right? We are mammals too. So things that we would do for our pets or our livestock or
whatever, it's we're, we're delayed to do for ourselves sometimes. Right. Right. Agreed.
Catching up. Yeah. So what advice would you give parents, especially those that are just
starting this journey? Maybe, you know, that's why we do these podcasts, right? Yeah. We were
trying to reach parents that have an inkling that something's wrong with or not sure what. And,
you know, we're not saying this is exactly what's wrong with your child. So please don't take that
as gospel and run with it. But what kind of advice do you give parents that are just starting this
journey? I think, you know, whether it's someone with an invent, it's their first time invent,
which I know that time when you're tired and you're probably pretty depleted and your minerals
are depleted. So try to boost up your own minerals. That'll help your hormones out of whack.
And oh, yeah. Like, I know it's hard. Try to get some good nutrient dense food in you. Find a doula
who can even postpartum who can help support you there and find a good team. I think a lot of people
spend time on like, oh, what, what crib should we buy or what, you know, all of the toys, right?
Alice should be is like a postpartum doula and make sure you have a good team who will
bring you good nourishing food. So that that would be my first, like if you're
just having an infant, like boost yourself up because you're already stressed and depleted. And I like,
I've been there and it's hard to work through that when you're stressed and depleted. Oh, yeah. It is.
It feels impossible. And for some it is. And so, but I think if you feel that there is something deeper,
don't give up. It may be really easy to give up. I mean, there are times where I paused and, you know,
a question like, well, am I am I crazy here? But you know your child better than anybody. Trust your instincts.
Trust your instincts. And there are so many. And I know some people even have to
struggle with even their own partner believing them. And that's right. That's that's not easy.
So I think now more than ever, there are so many resources that were not available when even my
four year old was an infant. And if there was, I wouldn't have known where to find it. I mean,
I said, I even went to a lactation consultant that I thought would be able to help us. I thought,
well, surely she's going to tell me we have a tongue tie. That's right. She didn't. And that
that was a lot of money spent to still come out disappointed. So I yeah, trust your instincts.
And there are resources out there. I mean, you all are one of them. And are there any others that
that come to mind that would be a great place in your opinion for someone to start besides the
calf website? Sure. I mean, I think what I've figured out with the body work, because sometimes,
you know, with the tethered tissue, that's that's the fascia system. So sometimes it may not be as
severe as needing a tie clipped. Maybe it's you just need to loosen things up. You know, think
about even coming out the birth canal or if it's this C section, my youngest was a C section,
there's a lot of movement on those soft tissues. When that baby was just like curled up like this
for a little while, and suddenly we're like pulling on him. Yeah. It's it's not a gentle process
for most kids. And so I think early body work, whether it's a, like a Gillespie cranial facial
cranial fascial therapist, Gillespie method, or the PX docs, then, you know, the nervous system
based chiropractic. And it's not just PXX, there are other nervous system based chiropractors.
And it's not, I think some people go, Oh, a chiro, you know, I've been there, and they really crank
on your neck or, or it's different for babies, they're not gonna get it. So different. It's
so different. And it's just soft, gentle release. And I, our doctor, our cranial osteopath, she had
said, and I loved when she said it, she said, I wish, I wish every labor and delivery room had a
cranial osteopath in that, in that room, raise the baby came out so we can same girl, hold them,
release that. And that would set off so many on a good path. And so,
and they can get up in there with their thumb and just, and that palette. Yeah, just kind of loosen
things up. Yeah, it's yeah. So there, there are a lot of body workers out there who understand the
body as a whole. And I, our pediatrician is fairly holistically minded. We've had a lot of great
conversations. But again, it's in order to work with him, it's out of pocket, because he doesn't
take insurance, because he'll give you an hour, an hour per kid. And that means a lot to me. It
means we don't see him very often. And he's available. And not because I mean, my kids are pretty
healthy thing, thankfully. And I, we rarely need him. But it's, it's being okay with being outside
of that system, the main system, and taking that deep breath and knowing what you know. And sometimes
you have to be a little brave and say, well, that doesn't make sense to me. Or, you know, I'm going to
read more, but I know it can be hard to stand up to all of that. Yeah. Speaking of brave, you know,
I'll put that link to Brave Parent in here too, because that's one of the things that Dr. Maples
is talking about, because it is hard. It's hard to be a brave parent right now. It is. There are,
there are so many different categories of things that we've got to be brave about,
and navigate. And my, you know, my kiddos, I, obviously, I love to talk. But we've been having,
even when they're little, like we'd have, we've had some big conversations about stuff. And they,
because I think sometimes we don't give kids enough credit for what they can understand.
Yes. And they can take accountability for it with on their own bodies. And when they, you know,
just like with me, once I understand something, okay, like I'm good to go. And I think that's
similar with them is giving them more credit, maybe bringing them in on a little bit more.
Sure. Hold space for them. They may not know the words, but if you hold space for them and just
kind of let them express themselves, then again, to your point, you know, your children better
than anyone. So you'll get to know what they're saying. You'll, you'll start to watch their
mannerisms and see the changes and yeah. Totally. Yeah. I think that's some of it, you know,
so often moms get, it's mostly moms that get to like, oh, you know, you're just going to worry
about that. Oh, you're going to worry about that. And it's, and that, that's, that's been a story
for a long time. And I think it's your, we're, we're so in tune to them. And when their little
bodies and their nervous systems, this I've described it about my kiddos, when they're both in a
spin, one's going this way and one's going this way. And it's, it's like chaotic incoherence of
energy. And then I'm trying, I'm in the middle and you try to be the eye of the storm. You try to
be the calm spot, but we also feel all of that. And I think that that's what then disregulates
us. And it's almost like we need to get with, with help coming up above that as best we can,
so we can think clearly to help them. And I know so deeply when one's going one way and one's going
the other way, how hard it is to still stay on track and to be the brave parent and say, no,
this isn't just, oh, because they're four and they're seven. This isn't just because
there's something deeper going on here. And I, for the first time, in a, in a long time, I feel like
we're finally, like I said, we're finally, there is more coherence and they're able to even articulate
that more. I mean, a four year old saying, can I go back to that, that one doctor mom, she helps
you. Like that's, that's huge. We haven't been, I haven't been about a month since we've been. So
right. And just because it's common doesn't mean it's normal. Yes. We need to stop normalizing
some of these things. Yes, that's a huge thing too. I, some of the entry conversation I've had
with people are about like, okay, well, your husband snores or your dad snores and they're in
jokes like, haha, it's not funny. It's not funny. Yeah. Yeah, that's a myth we need to break. It is
not funny. It's not funny. So I share a lot of, I share a lot of these, these myofumptial
therapists and their identity is on my, on my personal social media. And I feel like something
like, oh man, I share, I'm sharing something all the time, but I'm hoping that somebody catches it
and goes, huh, yeah, hey, we have that. Oh, is that what that's connected to? Because even that
simple, like, you know, because the baby's, baby's mouth and, you know, the song, the tongue section
that I didn't know our tongue's supposed to be section of the top of our mouth. I had no idea.
I didn't know that. And I've said this before, you know, I, I have a science background.
And, you know, my, my grandfather even was a professor or dean at the UT medical school
or for dental school. I'm around these people, right? I should know these things.
I didn't know that until, you know, I first started working here and I have an airway
disorder and at no point in the 20 years almost of having this, I didn't even point that out to me.
Yeah. Why are we talking about it? Yeah. Right. And then I started talking to all these different
doctors and they're turning around saying, well, yeah, we went to med school and no one told us.
I'm going, wait, what? So, you know, so I was already kind of shocked thinking, how did I not
know that? And, you know, here are these professionals. It's just mind blowing to me.
It really is. Absolutely mind blowing. So for parents, again, don't feel guilty because
so many people didn't know. But yeah, I think most people, yeah, I would say, I would say most
people don't know. Most people don't know. I mean, I mentioned my dad's apnea. I don't know when he
was officially diagnosed. I was he had a heart attack very, very early. He was only 38. So I don't
know how old that makes me. I was little. I was in middle school, I think. I don't think he was
diagnosed with apnea. I don't think it was right after that. I think it still took several years.
And he got the CPAP machine and suddenly he was like, because I mean, he was up all night long.
We all just that was what dad dad just he would sleep on the couch with the TV because he was
up all night long. Think about all the sitcoms we grew up with, like all on the family and some
of these shows where it was a joke. It was just a joke. You could hear I mean, you could hear my
dad. You could hear it. Yeah. Wow. You know, but no idea. I can almost guarantee his doctor never
talked to him about that stuff. And he's not very good about the apnea machine. And recently,
I've said, you know, where's your tongue? And are you? Yeah. And I and I it's baffling to me.
And I and I did actually, okay, so I did tell him recently to have a conversation with his
his primary and his cardiologist. I said, if they're talking to you about high blood pressure,
but they're not talking about apnea in your airway, then you can tell them that they aren't
worth their degree. And you can even have them call me. And that's, I know, very bold to say.
But I said, if they're not touching on that, then they're just giving you more pills,
and they're not helping you. Right. But you know what? That's exactly an example of
what I've heard because they weren't taught that in school. They're just doing what they were taught.
So it's just amazing. And it's a lot of patience to say I've had. So I had something I have something
medically with me that I guess I learned some of my bravery pre kids with with doctors where a lot
of them would deny. And I learned how to move on to maybe somebody else. And but I when I had a
the first doctor that looked at me and said, thank you for teaching me something new.
How do you want me to support you on this? I thought, wow, you're in. Yeah, you're in.
And because now we can start that conversation. And you know, we've had providers on here before
too that have said, never stop learning. Right. We went through medical school, but
and you go get your CES or CMEs, whichever side of the house you're on and keep learning. You never
are going to know everything. So keep learning because science changes and involves as we learn.
Yeah. And there's so and I and I and I empathize. I realize they see a lot of people and the
pressure of the insurance system. I know that there's a lot at the same time.
She did tell me those things and she's been receptive to whatever I and I brought her
surprise, surprise. I brought her information and said, can you look at this and she's open to it.
And I realize not every doctor can or wants to or whatever. It's all nuance, but
but it's it's it's still sitting in that bravery and going forward. And do we do we want do we want
band-aids or do we want healing? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you have to do what you have to do. And
you know, I had to move across the country to find a provider that could support me in that way.
Because, you know, the other was doing exactly what they were taught, but it wasn't working.
So you keep fighting, you keep trying, you keep working, right? Is is airway moms, you just keep
advocating. Yeah. There was another book I read recently, too, called and it's written by a dentist.
And I don't remember a name, but you probably know of it. It's got in like in the moms in the trenches,
I think is the name. Yeah, that one. Yeah, that one. Yeah. Yes. Yes. And I'll put it. I'll put
a link to that one as well. Quick read. But but I thought, yep, OK, there we are. It was just another
one of those wonderful validations. Yeah. And all coming together. So yeah. Yeah. And for anyone that
thought that was a plant that was a plant that's actually not coming, give away. So that's why
I had it. I've got it. I love you. You can see my bookshelf up at the top. I've got it. It's up
there somewhere. Yeah, it's up there. Yeah. Mine's blurred. It's just full of all the things, the
research that we've done. And yeah. So I cannot thank you enough for coming on and sharing your
story and I hate to say tips, but guidance and just everything that you have shared
to help our parent audience. I really, really appreciate it, Molly. Thank you so much.
I hope that more kids and parents can find help. Yeah. So thank you.
Thanks again to today's guest, Molly Peterson, for sharing her story and to each of you for listening
to today's episode. If you're new to our podcast, please don't forget to subscribe. And if you
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