Hannah...Liz's Story

Medications: The medications I've taken have been Vioxx, Mobic, Methotrexate (w/ Folic Acid), Enbrel, Humira, and steroids.
Medication changes before/during pregnancy: yes. 3 months before conceiving my daughter I ended all medications. (at the time I was only taking Enbrel)
Breastfed: yes, for 3 months until my flare got too bad and I couldn't continue on w/out my medication.
Post-partum flare: yes! A lot of girls on this site have said breastfeeding was to blame and I have to agree! I asked my other friends w/ babies if BFing hurt so bad it made them cry each time they nursed and they all said no. Then, about 6 weeks into BFing my pain returned terribly. I had to make a choice whether to continue BFing or start my medication. I almost fell down the stairs holding my daughter and I was starting to be unable to get off the floor when I was playing w/ her so I knew the choice I had to make.
Years of RA diagnosis: I was 2 yrs old when I was given the diagnosis of RA and Uveitis (arthritis of the eye brought on by my RA). So that was 23 years ago.
Age at conception: 23
Anything else pertinent

Before I got pregnant w/ my daughter I had tried every drug imaginable to try to control my RA. My dr told me I had to try methotrexate and certain other drugs before I was allowed to use Enbrel. I tried everything and nothing worked. I'd have my knees drained and get steroid injections on a monthly basis. I was having trouble getting out of bed w/out falling. Once on Enbrel, my life changed! I was able to run again. I lost about 40 pounds b/c I could walk and run again. 3 months before deciding to TTC, I stopped using Enbrel and was fine for those 3 months.

Pregnancy
As soon as I tried for my daughter I was pregnant, but I had yet to have another flare up before getting pregnant. My pregnancy was fairly uneventful. I thought I would lose my daughter in the beginning b/c it felt like my body was rejecting the pregnancy and I was in constant pain. That passed after about 3 weeks and my pregnancy was fine. At week 27 I had a uveitis flare up and couldn't get out of bed for a week, living on vicodin. Eventually it passed and the rest of the pregnancy was fine. At birth, she was rushed to a NICU team b/c the cord was wrapped around her neck 3 times and she had a ton of meconium released and so she was made to not breathe until she was cleaned up. She was jaundice at birth but quickly got over it. Her first year she was sick a lot. She had 7 ear infections and then was given tubes. She got pneumonia after her tubes were put in and was sick almost weekly. She had been in daycare from age 3 months to 11 months and after I started staying home w/ her, she became extremely healthy and is to this day.

I had to make a choice to stop BFing at 3 months so I could start my Enbrel as it was becoming impossible to hold my daughter. I felt like I could constantly drop her if my knees gave out or my hands stopped working (which happened often). It was probably the toughest decision and I have a lot of guilt b/c I stopped BFing early. I blamed myself for her tubes, even though the dr said it wasn't due to the stopping of BFing. W/ the next pregnancy, I will pump pump pump all day long so if I do have another flare up, I won't feel as bad. I started trying for another baby when my daughter was about 10 months old..I got pregnant fairly quickly and shortly after m/c. Afterward, my cycles took a while to get back on track. They are finally back on track and I'm hoping to get pregnant. I believe my flareups are coming back and I'm going to try to get on Enbrel both to control the pain and flare ups and hopefully to get pregnant as I think the reason for my trouble is b/c of my RA. Today though, my daughter is wonderful. She's extremely smart (although I'm sure all parents think their kids are the smartest, lol). So far, she shows no signs of RA or Uveitis (I was diagnosed 8 months later than my daughter is now w/ mine).