Green Light from Dr. D

We went in for a check-up that was long overdue...

I've been feeling fine with the arthritis in general. The Enbrel is going well (especially now that Joe's been giving me my shots!) and I've only had a few minor flares. We brought up the baby issue with Dr. DiIorio to see what she thought.

Recent pregnancy studies show that less and less women are going into remission during pregnancy (30% down from 70%) and even fewer are going into full remission after the baby is born. Not good. On the other hand, age is the main factor that kept coming up in favor of having a baby now:

In terms of Conception... Because I'm still on the younger side of women trying to conceive, chances are that I'll have less problems getting pregnant now (as opposed to waiting a few years). In order to start trying, I have to be off of the methotrexate for 8-12 weeks... in that time, there's a good chance that I will begin to flare. So, time is of the essence... and the age factor is in my favor (for now).

In terms of Parenting... Because more and more women are having RA come back right after they give birth, its almost certain that I'll have to get back on my meds as soon as I give birth. The bummer is that I probably can't breastfeed (which I'm only bumming about b/c how am I supposed to shed the lbs. without that!?). The other factor is that not only will I have full-blown RA, but also a kid! I've always wanted to be a young parent, hoping to be able to keep up with my kids like my parents did for me, so I have a better chance of being able to do this now.

There was a bunch of other talk, but the bottom line is that Dr. D said to go for it... after the MTX gets out of my system!