Becc, both my FS and my rheumy assured me that my arthritis wasn't impacting on my fertility. The woman I saw for acupuncture thought very differently.

I also have PCOS. It appears that I have possible auto-immune problems leading to miscarriage (can't confirm it unless I get off all the arthritis meds, and that's not going to happen!). I have a serum-negative form of RA, so they can tell me what it's not, but not what it actually IS and I'm left thinking that the doctors don't know a hell of a lot about it and considering the immune system effects every other system in the body, I do believe that my inability to fall pregnant and stay pregnant are related in some way to what ever the hell may be wrong with my immune system. If I had a serum-positive form of RA, I may have been more inclined to believe them.

What I found when Sam was born was that I very quickly had to give up my dreams of breastfeeding. I couldn't establish a supply and he was premature (36 weeks) and couldn't suck or attach properly and it was just a generally bad situation. But I had to give up on that dream to be able to take the medication that would allow me to care for him in all other ways. You learn to pick up babies with your arms rather than your hands. I stick with disposable nappies rather than cloth to reduce the amount of washing I have to do. I wanted to use slings and wear my baby - but I found that putting him in the pram was better for my mobility and pain levels and he's happy with it now. Avoid baby clothes with snaps and buttons - elastic waists and pull-over tops are much easier to get on and off. I think dresses would be ok with a girl as once they are on you still have very easy nappy access. Other than that, just make sure that the baby bath, change table and other things are at a good height and comfortable for you to use.

Screw the housework, put yourself and your baby first - a bit of mess and dirt never hurt anyone. Make sure the freezer is stocked with frozen meals now and when you can cook, make sure you cook extra to freeze. I'm very lucky in that my husband is extremely supportive and helpful and does a lot around the house despite travelling an hour each way for work and working full time.

Hope some of that helps. It's also pretty amazing how much babies build up your strength - I now lug a 10kg bubba around without too many issues when I first found him quite heavy and difficult to hold for long periods when he was 2.48kg at birth.

I've just been started back on salazopyrin in combination with methotrexate and we've just added a new NSAID into the mix, so I'm hoping that I'll be feeling much better very soon. Prednisone is a wonder drug, but I've been on it way too long (from May of 2007 and only just stopped it in November of 2009) and really need a break from it for a while. Make sure you take a calcium supplement (will help with the pregnancy muscle cramps as well) if you start it. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it, but it really does work - it's just not that good as a long-term option.

BW