Clagett Triplets

Atlanta

Hannah visited this past weekend and had a featured extra part in the movie. She got to go to hair and makeup with was the highlight for her. The director gave her and my cousin Torey a special part in an important scene where you could see both of them. Hannah was thrilled and looked so cute on screen! Everything else is going good the girls are changing each day and growing like crazy. Lexi and Brynn are talking more each day, Brooke lets them talk for her. Their new words are touch down, bounce, banana and lots of names of people that they see on set. Their new thing on set is when they hear the words "cut" they want everyone to clap for them and they clap for themselves. Its pretty funny to watch because everyone does it....

I'm posting some new pics....

 

More Than Half Way!!

So we made it to the half way point last weekend and now have an end in sight! The girls are doing good and still loving all the attention and people. I think they are going to be really bored when we go back home. This week we filmed in a neighborhood in Atlanta and Phillips Arena so it was an exciting week. They still love all of their pretty clothes and shoes each day! Hannah is coming this weekend and is going to be an extra in the movie...she is so excited to be in the movie with her sisters. The director was nice enough to allow Hannah and my cousin Torey to be in a scene. I'm going to post some recent shots from this week!

-All three girls in our green room!

-Brooke acting like a movie STAR!

-Going to makeup during the cold front before mommy got coats!

 

Movie

We are still in Atlanta filming a movie with the girls. Its been a crazy yet interesting and fun experience so far. The girls are loving all of the attention they are getting and Hannah loves visiting on the weekends and exploring Atlanta. This week the movie filmed at the airport, a high end baby store and Wholefoods. It was a very busy week but the weekend finally arrived. We visited Stone Mountain yesterday which Hannah loved. Today we are going to the Atlanta Zoo!

 

Atlanta

So as I said in my last post the girls got a part in a Warner Brothers movie that is being filmed in Atlanta. It was a big surprise and happened really quickly. It meant that we had to relocate for a few weeks. So my mom, the girls and I have been in Atlanta for three weeks now and will be here until the first week in Nov. Tom and Hannah come to visit on the weekends. It was a stressful decision but also an opportunity that we could not pass up. I was the most worried about Hannah who would stay in Frederick during the week to keep her normal routine and travel on the weekends. She is one strong little girl and so far has done great. She loves the adventure of coming to Atlanta on the airplane each weekend and doing lots of fun stuff while she is here. There is so much to do in Atlanta and by the time we leave I'm sure we will have done it all!

The girls are having a good time and loving all of the attention that they are getting on set. Lexi loves wardrobe and makeup, Brooke loves putting on a show for the camera and Brynn loves being in charge and everyone paying attention to her. Its been a great experience so far just a lot of work with three little ones. There is so much that goes into making a movie that I never even thought about before. I can't believe how many people it takes to make everything happen on set. We have been going to lots of locations to shoot which has been fun but also alittle stressful. The girls have a trailer that moves with us and its filled with all the things 3 15 month olds need. I will try to keep updating the blog when I find time. I thought I would share a few pics so far....

End of Summer

We have been really really busy and I have not updated the blog as much as I should have, sorry! So what has been going on...lots!

Mommy, Daddy and Hannah went to Disney in August for five days while JuJu and Bull watched the triplets. Five days of spoiling Hannah and she loved every minute of it! We had a great trip! She has been such a great big sister and has been through a lot in the last year. She really deserved the trip. Disney is the most amazing place for kids with food allergies. They make accommodations and she actually sat in a restaurant and ate, so exciting!

Hannah started all day kindergarten and is such a big girl. Its a long day but she is surviving and most days liking it!

The big news is that the girls got a part in a movie. The movie is filming in Atlanta so we are off to Atlanta shortly. More news to follow when life calms down alittle!

 

Boston Trip

It was an exhausting trip to Boston and I think we are all still recovering. We flew to Boston on Thursday and met with the doctor whom we had spoken with but not met. He repeated a sonogram on Lexi's back and then talked with us about the procedure. The only concern was that during the sonogram he found that she has microcysts surrounding her macrocysts. The problem with this is the microcysts make treatment more difficult to treat. In most cases a different drug needs to be used for the microcysts than the macrocysts and the microcysts are more difficult to inject. The big problem was that if the microcysts were not treated they would continue to grow since they were on the outside of the macrocysts. We had a long discussion about what to do...we had two options

-to treat as we had planned with the drugs they normally use and hope that the microcysts respond

-to use a different drug, a chemo drug to treat the microcysts and to use the original drug to treat the macrocysts. The big concern for us was that the chemo drug has only been used for this procedure in the US for six months and can cause long term effects. This would mean that she would need a chest xray every six months for 10 years. All of this scared me!

We decided to go with the original treatment this time and hope and pray for the best. If it did not work, we would use the chemo drug the next time.

She went to our room with us on Thursday and went in for treatment VERY early on Friday morning. The procedure took about three hours and the dr. came out with good news. It is very unusual for the marcocysts to drain into the microcysts but in this case that appears to be what happened. He showed us the video of the sonogram and it appeared that the entire cyst area filled with drugs. The hope now is that in six weeks when the sonogram is repeated it shows that the drugs are working on all the cysts. The hard part of the procedure was when Lexi woke up. The drugs are extremely painful and she was in so much pain. It was so hard to watch. She was given three doses of morphine before she began to settle and get comfortable. It was a really rough day for her and I'm glad that it is over. The trip was really long and so exhausting. The only way that Lexi was happy was when she was in the stroller and it was moving. I think Tom and I saw half of Boston on foot. We walked so much. On Saturday she was out of the hospital and my brother Mike who lives in Boston gave us a walking tour. The doctor thought it would be good for her to be out in the stroller and getting fresh air. We walked most of the day and saw much of Boston including a swan boat ride in Boston Commons. Thanks Mike!

So the plan from here is to repeat the sonogram in six weeks at Shady Grove Hospital and send it to Boston. The doctor will compare it to her other sonogram to see if the cysts are getting smaller and combining. If that happens, she will return to Boston in Oct. for another treatment. If the cysts are not responding, then we will need to discuss the use of the chemo drug to treat. So we just pray now that it is getting smaller and we will get good news in six weeks.

Lexi is feeling much better now. The pain is gone and the swelling is going down. She is happy and back to herself. I think she is so glad to be home and back with her sisters.

Thanks for all the prayers please keep them coming...

Progress and Prayers

The girls have been getting in home therapy and outpatient therapy since they were discharged from the NICU. Although the therapy has taken a lot of time and a lot of driving (we went to Columbia for outpatient therapy) it has truly helped the girls. Miss. Vicki from Infants and Toddlers has visited us once a week and helped the girls make such amazing progress. Miss Krista is their physical therapist that we travel to Columbia to see. She was nice enough this week to come to our house for therapy. She has worked so hard to help the girls catch up for their prematurity. The good news is that they are all discharged as of this week from outpatient therapy. We will miss Krista but are so glad to stop our once a week trips to Columbia. I think back to when we first started going and they were so tiny and fragile. Now they are running all over the place, singing, jumping, using words, going up stairs, pretend playing, and just on the move. Truly amazing...

This is a picture of the girls with Miss. Krista..I should have taken the picture before therapy not after..

 

We leave this week to take Lexi to Children's Hospital of Boston. We will be there for three days and we are not sure how much of the time she will be in the hospital and how much she will be with us. It depends on how things go with the session of treatment. The doctor is scheduled to be with her for four hours which means she will be under for about that long. We will know a lot more after we meet the doctor on Thursday and after the first treatment is complete. So please keep the prayers coming on Friday morning. She is scheduled to start with the doctor at 7am.

Liz

The second day the girls were in the NICU and I walked in I met a student nurse, Liz who was taking care of the girls. She took care of them with such love and patience. She took time to find matching hats in the NICU and matching blankets to make them look so cute. I watched her and felt at ease when she was taking care of the girls. I remember having a conversation with her and she told me that she was placed in the NICU last minute and she did not think that it was what she wanted for her future. It was so evident that it was where she belonged. She was so good at her job. One of our last conversations was about babysitting and I remember asking her if she ever watched triplets, we both laughed and she wrote down her number.

So when the girls got out of the NICU and I realized quickly that I needed help I called her and she came to visit. Watching her with the girls brought back that same sense of ease. So LIz started coming  to our house a few times each week. All four girls love her and light up when she walks into the room. She has become a part of our family and has played a huge part in us surviving the last year.

So that brings me to this week when she is starting her first day as an RN in the NICU at the University of Maryland, a place so close to our hearts.  It was so clear to us that she belonged in the NICU caring for babies. Each baby that she gets assigned to will be so blessed to have her. Good luck Miss Liz we are proud of you!!

*It may be selfish but we are excited for your days off from the NICU and your visits here!

 

My Baby is FIVE!

Hannah celebrated her 5th Birthday this week. I can't believe that she is already five and getting ready to start kindergarten.

July

It has been awhile since I have written a post. We have been really busy...July started with Fourth of July activities. We took part in the Fourth of July bike parade in our community and everyone had fun. Hannah won 1st place for her decorated bike - she was thrilled! The girls received fourth place for their stroller! I will post some pictures. We went to a cookout on our street at the Ketchums who were nice enough to have all of us at their house. The girls had a blast walking around and playing with all the kids. It was a great day all around.

 

 

The girls went back to the University of Maryland for a NICU follow up. They still consider the triplets 11 months old because they correct for the two months that they were premature. They were thrilled with their progress and the fact that they are all walking and talking. It was a long appointment and took about three hours. Brynn, who is baby C and always last for everything, was not happy when it was her turn. Instead of stacking the blocks for her developmental test she threw them at the doctor. She expressed how we were all feeling, DONE! Overall though it was a good appointment and it makes me happy to hear that they are developmentally on schedule or ahead of schedule. We have been working so hard with all the different types of therapy and its good to hear that it is paying off. The only concern is Brynn's right leg and she will see an orthopedic specialist on the 16th. It seems to give out on her frequently which makes her fall and she walks on the outside of her foot. Hopefully it will be a simple fix.

We have been talking with Children's Hospital of Boston and Lexi is scheduled to have her first session of therapy on the 7th of August. We will be flying to Boston on the 6th to meet the doctor for the first time and to repeat a sonogram to look at the cystic hygroma before they start. The scary part that we just found out is that the session of sclerotherapy will take a minimum of three to four hours if not longer. So that means she will be under anesthesia for that amount of time. I will be a nervous wreck. If all goes well, we will fly home from Boston on Sunday the 9th of August.