Hey, congratulations!

If you haven't yet, make appointments to talk with both your OB/GYN and your rheumy to discuss all of this. What meds were you on? I'm sure you know that methotrexate is absolutely off the table. I have read that the biologics are safe for nursing mothers, and perhaps even in pregnancy. I well know the desire to stay away from absolutely anything while carrying a child, though.

Nurses tend to skew heavily female. You must have colleagues who have had babies. Even if you haven't officially told them at work, is there someone you could pull aside and chat with?

You are right that pregnancy often kicks autoimmune problems to the curb for a time, and nursing can extend the grace period. Start talking to your docs now, though, so you can have a plan in place if RA rears its ugly head.

I'm so happy for you that RA be damned, you're having a baby!.

Wow! How wonderful! Congrats!
Hey you do what ever you have to safe guarding you & that precious wee one.
I'm with Alto speak to your docs.
My sister had 4. RA & all. No treatments like we have now.

Truly truly hope this puts RA in its place.
Breast feeding is a biggie today. My daughter could not for long as she was hit with infections & problems after''','''',,'. Doc said even if it was for just a short time. Like right after birth.
Perhaps it's not that fact it can come on strong after as it is the body has had such a reprieve. Perhaps it feels worse after.
Of course taking a guess here. I
I'm just so thrilled for you.
Take good care & be sure to keep us updated.
Big hug!
Sammy

First of all - congrats!! :) That is so special.

I would talk with your OB and rheumy about meds. I have met with a maternal-fetal med specialist and my rheumy as my husband and I are trying to conceive. The MFM has treated many women that have RA and SLE and require biologics throughout the pregnancy, and have had beautiful, healthy babies. My rheumy has said I may not need any meds since some women go into remission naturally while pregnant.

I can't give you any first hand advice since I am not pregnant yet, but if you have instagram or FB - look up "rheumandboard".. She is a young woman who has RA and blogs about her experience.... and she just had a baby and is breastfeeding. She is taking Enbrel :)

For the work part - I completely understand and feel your pain. I'm a PA and work with very sick kids... I am honest with my team bc i'm immunocompromised, and I usually opt out of things like TB, Cdiff, HIV, etc etc. AND if anyone is pregnant on our team, they are not expected to see any of those types of patients. Since you are pregnant AND immunocompromised, they should be completely understanding! I would talk to your supervisor and see if there are ways you can avoid those situations.

congrats again, good luck :)

Congrats! I just wanted to put it out there that I am in the same boat. I saw and internal-fetal med specialist as well. I am at 13 weeks now and am off all my meds. But I had a rough few days so I am going to discuss with my Rheumatologist next week about whether he thinks I should start plaquenil (internal fetal med sp and ob ok'd this during preg and breastfeeding) or if I should try to stick it out. I am newly diagnosed and seem to be in the mild cat. which I hope doesn't completely change post-baby. I just had a rough time and used some of my personal time due to aches, pain and fatique recently. I can tell you I have had improvements though. The burning in my hands has fading. they are still sore, but the fire is put out. I think the storms threw me for those few days. I feel ok...not remission yet though :(.

So far, the plan is to stay off meds til the moment baby comes, then restart plaquenil right away. they said this should not affect breastfeeding. just to tell you what my fetal sp. said, she mentioned that some say breastfeeding makes your RA worse, but she said there is not enough research to fully support that. She said everything is a case by case basis.

I had a pretty severe case of pubic symphysis dysfunction with my son (4 yrs) so I am having a C-section.

Looking forward to reading others responses to your post.

Wishing you and your baby the best!

Hey guys thanks for your responses. I've read them all Over and over.
So, I had an appointment today with my Rheumy :(
I'm 13 weeks now ( ultrasound shower baby to be smaller so we extended the due date ) and my RA symptoms have been bad.
In the beginning I always said that I would put baby first And would not take meds only for my benefit.
So far I stopped my actemera Infusions, and only take tyenol for pain relief.
There's been no pain relief and my pain seems to get worse, could also be the change in weather here in Canada..
Anyways I cried with my Rheumy because I have been just smiling along saying I'm fine, but when he saw how all my joints are so bad again he faced looked actually shocked. He asked how I was doing this. Ill admit work has been very hard, the last two weeks I treasure any sit down time And limp on the way, during and bAck to my car. My one foot hasn't stopped hurting ( u know how some days it's just different joints hurting everyday ..) well it's stuck, lost my range of motion.
My RA is so severe and the Rheumy says he really thinks I need to go on something. That Since I'm so Inflammed less nutrients could be delivered to baby..
So I cried all day today, rock and a hard place.
Let my RA stop nutrients from baby or take potential harmful drugs
He wants me to take 20mg prednisone. Previous experiences with prednisone my body felt good but I bloated, got depressed and just weird affects.
I've read first trimester cleft pallet is seen in kids. And 2nd and 3rd it's pre mature birth, which doesn't sound good..

Anyone take prednisone while pregnant? Or have constant, worsening flare? WhAt was your outcome?

Oh no :( I'm sorry to hear this. I have no experience taking Prednisone while pregnant but have taken it a few times in the past for RA/lupus flares and just hate how I feel on it (mood swings, fast heart rate, gastritis), but my joints of course felt amazing. I know a woman I used to work with took prednisone throughout her entire pregnancies for lupus and had two healthy babies.. it was a very low dose, though.

PS - I recently found out I am pregnant too. Message me if you ever want to talk :) I decided to stay on enbrel ... I was off it for the first three weeks, and by week three I was sore and stiff again :( I talked with my doctor and decided to stay on it. Scary but I'm happy with my decision.

Good luck with whatever decision you make. Hope you feel better!

Hi RAsucks. I am not pregnant yet, but my husband and I are talking about having our second. I was diagnosed this past January, just a few months after our first child was born. She is now 13 months old. This has been a really emotional time for me. I am currently only on Plaquenil since it's the only thing that is really safe to take while pregnant. I hate to say but it's not working too great for me. My pain is very localized though. It's worse in the morning and its only bad in my left foot and right wrist. My foot has been getting worse. I'm waiting to hear back from my Rheumy about a possible injection for my foot. I am just not ready to got to a more extreme treatment yet since we are discussing pregnancy. I really just wanted to extend out to you because I can sympathize with you. Thoughts and prayers going out to you.