July – stopped birth control
August – started charting cycles (thanks Tara for the great book “Taking Charge of Your Fertility”). This will help us be able to (hopefully) conceive soon after we start trying. Stopped Simponi (current main arthritis drug) and went back to Enbrel (one I took before). Enbrel has been on the market for 2 decades and many women have had babies with it. It isn’t the perfect treatment for me, but is about equal to where I have been on Simponi but with much more baby data behind it. Started prenatal vitamins.
September – Stop methotrexate (icky chemo baby-killing drug), stop hydrochlorothiozide. Starting aspirin to reduce risk of pre eclampsia.
October – Stop remaining drugs: rozarem, Celebrex (which I will taper off during the month), tramadol. The Celebrex taper will be the hardest since it keeps my tendons working. This will be the start of a harder period for me.
November – At the beginning of the cycle, be done with all drugs other than Protonix (acid reflux), Inderol (migraines), and Enbrel (arthritis). Try to conceive baby when fertile.
Pregnancy – Hopefully it will happen right away (yes, I am always this optimistic about everything!) We can’t predict how my arthritis will respond to pregnancy. I may get remission (complete break from all symptoms). In that case, we are having 12 kids (just kidding). It may stay about the same, and it may be much worse. I am also at higher risk for pre eclampsia (dangerously high blood pressure), so I will have to watch for that. If my arthritis is pretty bad, I will likely start taking prednisone. This is completely safe for pregnancy and will keep me healthy-ish. If my arthritis is completely uncontrolled, then the baby could not grow well (and it would suck), so we have a good back up plan that is safe for both of us. We have a great high-risk OB and will be meeting with her regularly (yes, very regularly for high risk pregnancies).
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