Prior to labor, I tried to listen and read birth stories. I searched Instagram for labor and delivery pictures and watched Youtube videos of new babies being born. Why? Because I wanted to be as prepared as I could be. Sure, my plan was to have a natural birth. But what if that wasn’t to …
Sharing my psoriatic arthritis story is something that has been important to me for the last few years. Why? Because in the beginning, I felt alone, with not many options. Learning about other’s stories, and what has helped them (and conversely not helped), really assisted me in getting on a path to managing my condition. …
I found out I was pregnant a week-and-a-half after my husband left for a year-long Army deployment. Up until that point, I was sad that he’d be gone for a whole year, but I never thought I’d be dealing with such an emotional situation while he was gone! It took me more than a month …
Read more “Pregnancy & Deployment: 4 Tips for Staying Mentally Strong”
Last year, my friend Alyssa started a new venture, The Journal Deck. The premise of this love project is to bring journal prompts and oracle cards to life. Picking a card each day, The Journal Deck provides you a journal prompt to explore. When Alyssa announced The Journal Deck, I was really excited. Personally, I think …
I went to see my rheumatologist recently and we were chatting about my psoriatic arthritis, psoriasis, pregnancy and how it’s been affecting me. I had every intention of blogging my way through my trimesters, but I gotta tell you . . . growing a baby is EXHAUSTING. After working during the day, the last thing …
Read more “Psoriatic Arthritis, Psoriasis, & Pregnancy by Trimester”
My LONG psoriatic arthritis story summarized: In 5th grade, I had my first knee surgery. My meniscus was ripped, flipped and separated from the bone. My orthopedic surgeon back then said it was most likely something I was born with and I injured it from dance and softball. But, from that point on it seemed …
Read more “The Ultimate Resource For Managing Psoriatic Arthritis”
Each of us with psoriatic arthritis and/or psoriasis is unique. Some of us are on biologics, some on other drugs, and some of us can manage our conditions in alternative ways. I’ve been someone who’s tried methotrexate, did a 2-year stint on Humira (1 year bi-weekly and 1 year weekly), spent 2 years off of medications …
Read more “Managing Psoriatic Arthritis & Psoriasis While Pregnant {Otezla Update}”
Since I started my blog, I’ve always published a Thanksgiving post. Reading through my 2013 post this year actually made me tear up this year. I had come a really long way up to that point and, since then, have gone even further. As you can see, many things in my life have changed since that post (HA! Case …
Back in middle school, my doctors didn’t want to put me on “heavy duty meds” because I hadn’t even gone through puberty. And, come to think of it, it was the mid 90’s so biologics were probably not indicated for juvenile use yet. In 2012, when I did start on them, I wanted everything and ANYTHING that …
Read more “Psoriatic Arthritis And Biologics. What You Should Know.”
This summer I’ve been really quiet on social media. It started off with an awesome family vacation, followed by my boyfriend leaving for a year-long deployment, followed by weeks of not feeling well. Josh left on July 7th and that weekend I just crashed in bed. I had been traveling for almost a month straight …