Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
As some of you may be aware, me and my significant other are trying to concieve.
I have had RA for 2.5years now and have been on Methotrexate until December 2008 when we decided that we wanted to start trying.
Unfortunately on Mothers Day in March 2009 I suffered a miscarriage which was the most awful experience of my life and equally upset Rob aswell.
But we are now ready to start trying again. Does anyone have any wise words of wisdom for us? And has anyone gone through conception, pregnancy and labour while suffering from RA?
Thankyou in advance
Hugs to all :)
I have had RA for 2.5years now and have been on Methotrexate until December 2008 when we decided that we wanted to start trying.
Unfortunately on Mothers Day in March 2009 I suffered a miscarriage which was the most awful experience of my life and equally upset Rob aswell.
But we are now ready to start trying again. Does anyone have any wise words of wisdom for us? And has anyone gone through conception, pregnancy and labour while suffering from RA?
Thankyou in advance
Hugs to all :)
Tell Rob I am a father with RA, and doing fine! Oh, you mean the conception, pregancy and all that. Sorry, I'll leave that to the ladies. I always wanted to be pregnant and have a baby tho'. I guess that should be shared in a different group, huh? Sorry. Kguts told me men can actually lactate, however! K, I'm outta here.
Wise words? You are going need tylenol and lots of it. Many women go into remission during pregnany. If you do, you're lucky.
If you don't, then your like me. The added pregnancy weight can cause problems for your leg jionts. I got myself some caines - it helped. When you see all the cute maternity wear, don't buy it - get stretch pants and t-sshirts, comfy shoes. Invest in good runners - these will help with pain. get some of those microwave heat packs - you will love them. And take long hot baths. I got a pregnancy belt, it was wonderful. HELP YOUR HUBBY UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WILL NEED LOTS OF HELP.
The labour isn't so bad. You get shot up with pain meds - you won't feel the RA - just normal pregnancy and labour stuff.
The hard stuff is after the birth. carrying baby can be hard. You'll want a nursing pillow and a baby sling. Get a igher crib that has walls you push down so you don't need to bend over. a basinet when the baby first comes can be really handy, you can put it next to your bed, and lots of them have wheels. I have an indoor stroller for when mine, and that when when they're wee, you can put them in there instead of holding. The baby car seats are really heavy, so my outdoor stroller allowed those to be klipped in to the stroller. Baby food jars are really hard to open, so I bought the kind that were in plastic containers already, or had my hubby open them and put them in small contaniers.
Aoife (sorry, spell checker is broken)
Feel free to ask if you have more questions.
Misty
Atleast now I know it's not the complete nightmare I imagined.
Of course, I will keep you updated on any progress.
Starting to feel the effects of being off the MTX now, suffering with pains now whereas I was almost pain-free when on the MTX. I was on 20mg once a week orally. Also having to find so much effort to do things like laundry/tidying.
I am considering going to my Rheumy and discussing possibly going on some meds that are safe to be on whilst trying/through pregnancy just to ease my symptoms a bit.
It's exciting but also slightly scary :) In a good way
xx