Thursday, February 27, 2014

February Articles on Answers.com

You can find a complete list of all the articles I have published on Answers.com by clicking here. Below is a list of the new articles I published in the month of February.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Pregnancy

Research & Advocacy

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

How To Talk To Your Partner About Sex

While it may be quite uncomfortable, good communication is critical to sustaining a healthy sex life, particularly when arthritis places additional obstacles on the path to intimacy. If the idea of talking to your partner about sex seems daunting, here are some tips that may help you foster communication with your partner on this very important topic.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Exciting News!

APL and I have some exciting news to share! And I'll bet from the picture you can already guess what it is! That's right....I'm pregnant! We are very excited to announce that we are expecting our second baby this summer! 

I've been meaning to write this announcement post for several weeks, ever since I crossed safely into the second trimester. Unfortunately, this pregnancy has been extremely difficult for me so far. I had "morning sickness" when I was pregnant with OZL, and I thought that was bad. Turns out that was extremely mild! I would trade this for that in a millisecond! I have been so very sick with this baby that I had to start taking prescription anti-nausea meds at about week 6.  And really all that did was stop me from vomiting all day every day. I've had major issues in consuming enough nutrients and, unfortunately, I've even lost weight since becoming pregnant.

About two weeks ago I reached a point where I couldn't even keep the anti-nausea medication down. I ended up at the OB's office one morning after throwing up three times before 10am. They gave me another form of the medication that dissolves in my mouth (instead of swallowing a pill). With the help of the new medication and, I hope, the advancing weeks of my pregnancy, I am cautiously starting to feel better. And while I am still having a great deal of difficulty planning or preparing meals for my family, I am doing slightly better with eating food that is put in front of me. I'm not gaining any weight yet but at least I'm not losing any more! And, throughout all this, the best news is that the baby is doing great!

And now that I am starting to feel a tiny bit better I am ready to start sharing my pregnancy experiences with the RA community. It's very important to me to share my experiences because pregnancy is another RA topic that I feel is not addressed nearly as much as it should be - especially considering that such a large percentage of people with RA are women and many of us are still quite young!

When I was ready to get pregnant for the first time I was desperate to find stories of other women managing to survive pregnancy and RA at the same time. Unfortunately, aside from one book (that I had to order all the way from Australia) and one brave blogger (who is now also expecting her second baby!!) I just couldn't seem to find very much good information. This is a gap that I'd really like to help fill if I can. 

I shared stories from my first pregnancy on this blog. This time I am really excited to have the opportunity to share my pregnancy stories on RheumatoidArthritis.net. Not only will that platform allow me to reach a wider audience, but through the search engine optimization work they are doing I may also be able to reach women who are blindly Googling "RA and pregnancy" - like I was before my first baby. So look for my pregnancy stories on the RheumatoidArthritis.net blog, and I will post links here as well.

And wish me luck that I start feeling better soon - because I still have a long way to go!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Expert Advice For Improving Your Sex Life With RA

Many of us with RA understand exactly how fatigue and pain can make intimacy difficult or unappealing. And we can probably all agree that a strained sex life will eventually take a toll on your relationship as a whole. I have compiled a list of all the useful information and advice about actually improving your sex life when you have RA. 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Book Review: “Arthritis, Pregnancy, And The Path To Parenthood” By Suzie Edward May

As soon as I started thinking about getting pregnant for the first time, I immediately started researching how living with RA was going to impact my pregnancy (and my chances of getting pregnant in the first place). I was very happy to find this book!

Saturday, February 1, 2014

January Articles On Answers.com

You can find a complete list of all the articles I have published on Answers.com by clicking here. Below is a list of the new articles I published in the month of January.

About Arthritis

Diet

Product Reviews