The results are in - and it's all good news!

I remember about two years ago, when I brought up the idea of getting pregnant with my Rheumatologist at the University of Kentucky, she cautioned me that it would be a long road.  I had to taper off my methotrexate, which would take approximately six months, and then wait at least another three months for that medication to be totally out of my system before we could even start trying.  Then she said, not only would my reproductive system be considered "geriatric" by the time I'm 31, I would also be at a higher risk for having a Downs Syndrome baby.  Oh, and it would probably take several tries to get pregnant.

I just remember leaving the office that day and hearing "geriatric" echoing over and over in my head.  For days I thought about it almost constantly, and still think about it to this  day.  Honestly, it kinda bummed me out.  Over the past year and a half I had overcome quite a bit, the crippling arthritis, the nasty side effects from the medication, bouts with arthritis flare ups, and just getting back to being myself and having a normal life.  Lets face it, not all women with rheumatoid arthritis have successful pregnancies.  Many women have to deal with severe arthritis flare ups, since they can't take their main preventative measures.

I really consider myself absurdly lucky.  Not only did I have no trouble getting pregnant, but I haven't had a single flare up in almost five months now, and last week...I got some even better news.

Earlier this month, I went to get  blood work done as the second part of my screening tests for the previously mentioned "scary diseases"...and the genetic counselor called me around 9 am this morning.  Basically, I have about a 1/10,000 chance that the baby could have Downs Syndrome, which is really good considering most women my age have about a 1/1,000 chance.  Spina Bifida is about 1/9,000 - which is a huge relief for me because people who have taken methotrexate tend to be at a significantly higher risk factor for that disease because of what the drug does to your body. 

Even better - the genetic counselor said she was very suprised to look at my age after she read the blood work, since everything read about as low-risk as the labs would go.  She said if she didn't know any better, she would have thought I was 20-something.  Geriatric my ass!!

Here's a not-geriatric belly picture! I'm feeling a little bloated because Paul, Diane and I just DESTROYED a huge plate of nachos. So I didn't do the side view today. 

Looking pregnant!

Here are some progressive shots of the nachos we devoured. Just because - who doesn't love a picture of delicious nachos? 

Before

During

Aaaaaaaaah-fter

Okay - now that you have a food coma just from looking at those pictures - I will leave you with one more piece of good news...on Wednesday I was woken up at 4 am....BECAUSE THE BABY KICKED ME!!! It was about the craziest thing I have ever felt.  The baby must know I'm talking about it, because I can feel it moving around right now.  Just in case you're wondering...the baby is about the size of a 5.5-inch bell pepper and is forming bones, and really is starting to look like a baby.