I wanted to bring this post back to the top and add my voice to nicklein's. I would love to have kids some day, but am very worried about the pregnancy, and then, even more about raising the kids! Anybody have some advice?

Ah, kids are a piece of cake. I have so many I lost count ;)
From what I've read, ra most often enters remission during pregnancy. Hormones play a part in in ra, and that is a suspect in why women get it more often than men. I also notice an increase in symptoms mid cycle, then end cycle the pain subsides some. Hormones. So they say pregnancy fan put you into a temporary remission. The main problem is after the pregnancy, women tend to enter a mother flare and have to resume treatment immediately, so most aren't able to breastfeed. Medications: no ra drugs during pregnancy ie methotrexate or Plaquenil. You can take steroids during pregnancy. You can take pain medication during pregnancy. They prefer you to not take pain meds the last few weeks however because it can suppress breathing once the baby's born, but so can the pain drugs they give you during delivery if you choose the medicated route.
Again, raising kids is easy. Know your values and instill them at a very young age. Correct a child from bad behavior at a young age, even 6-9 months old, and don't allow the behavior to grow. Example is, say a baby crawling goes to put their hand in the door jamb. That's a finger pincher. Correct them saying no danger! And not just redirect but gently yet sternly say NO and explain why, DANGER.....do this instrunctional calm correction consistently for any tantrums, dangerous behavior, rudeness. By the time they're three their personality and brain is just about set and correction of behavior becomes difficult if boundaries werent set in young toddlerhood.I find many parent begin discipline in an older child and by then they're out of control, as opposed to laying boundaries from Tue very beginning...at a crawling age. My opinion. Gl you two!

I proofread, and obviously not well!
**pregnancy CAN put you into temporary remission...
**boundaries from THE very beginning...

Sorry about that!

Darnit! Sorry for posting a load here, but I meant to mention. You can't take ra meds while breastfeeding, and I know because I was diagnosed after my final pregnancy. Never had ra during pregnancies, but was nursing and the rheumatologist needed her weaned before she could prescribe the ra dmards. All I took during that time was astronomical amounts of otc pain meds and steroids.

Thanks lionprincess for the comments, it is great advice! I was hoping that someone might comment as well about having RA and raising kids--being up to the physical challenges of, for example, carrying a baby or keeping up with an active toddler, while dealing with the pain, stiffness and fatigue that come with the RA. Also, are their women that do not go into remission during pregnancy?

Does anyone know about taking orencia or xeljanz during pregnancy?

Hmm...speaking of proofreading...."are there women", not "are their women"

All these biologics are category c. Unknown if it causes fetal harm. Use only if the benefits outweigh the risks. Well there are some category c meds that obgyns prescribe during pregnancy. Butabital for example is used during pregnancy for pregnancy headaches. it's c category, but prescribed by obgyns. it has been used and studied years, however.

You have to realize most obgyns will not oversee the ra med treatment at all, and they leave it to the rheumatologist. The rheumys are extremely careful, and as these bios are so new with very little to absolutely no fetal studies done, they almost all will not allow med treatment during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
I found, specifically on orencia, quote
There are no controlled data in human pregnancy.
There are no data on the excretion of abatacept into human milk.

There's no human studies, so no. I doubt any good doctor would allow you to continue treatment.

It's hard raising kids, big and small with ra. When it was new, I don't know how I got through it. But with treatment, even though I'm not greatly controlled, I can function almost at previous level. Carrying becomes hard, my feet hurt a lot. All the diapers hurt, but you adapt.

www.drugs.com/pregnancy/abatecpt.html

I have had five kids. I'm 57 and have had RA since i was 30. I had three kids before the onset. In those days i didn't wan any conventional treatment and so used diet. I had two more kids with that but i suffered quite a lot during the fourth pregnancy and a few weeks afterward. theni went into remission and had baby five. After that i went on prednisone and MTX because my donc so wanted me to. I have a Young friend who is 30 and has RA and Ankylosing spondyltis ( sorry i don't know the name in English, i live in franbce) has two children. She had the second after her diagnosis. She is now on biologics. She siad she will stop a few months before ner next pregnancy. As for raising the kids with RA......I got on as well as poss and my kids learned to do lots of thing vey Young and just accepted me as normal. So much so that only now that they are adults are they starting to realise the importance of what i'v been through. So all is possible

Bringing this topic back to the feed .. I just spoke with a maternal/fetal specialist for counseling. He told me biologics are category B and encourages me to remain on enbrel throughout my future pregnancy, because prednisone is actually category C.

Very interesting.. Still unsure if I want to stay on enbrel when I do become pregnant, but I guess it's better than flaring.