The hubs and I have an announcement: we have decided to grow our family through adoption.
We have many reasons for this and some of them have to do with RA. First, though I want to say this path has called to me. From a young age, I have felt passionate about adoption as a way to help women and children in need. It also happens that having RA can cause difficulties getting pregnant, staying pregnant and, more commonly, staying healthy and pain-free throughout and following pregnancy.
The hubs and I went through the process of going off of methotrexate and waiting until it was safe to try (3 cycles methotrexate free). However after just a few months more, we reached a point where I felt like I was heading back to the bad physical place of last summer. We made the decision to go back on methotrexate.
During this period, we also went to an info session at an adoption agency and consulted friends who have adopted. We talked at length about why we want children and if those reasons had anything to do with genetics. We found that while we were naturally interested to see what a child that is the biological product of the two of us looks like, many of the other reasons had nothing to do with biology. After our August roadtrip, we reached out to the agency to begin the process.
I thought a lot about blogging about the pregnancy process with RA as we experienced it, however I also wanted to keep it private so as not to put too much pressure. It is an important issue for young women with RA and one that I am open to discussing now. I just couldn’t let myself get back to what I call “the bad place.” It’s where the motivation to run came from, the motivation to eat well, and the initial motivation to open up on this blog. And it was enough motivation to last a lifetime-no need to experience it again.
Now I am excited to share our adoption journey. Much much more on this to come!
Yes. That is me, getting a tattoo. Now, I have one tattoo already, but I got it seven years ago and did not remember much about how getting a tattoo feels. I also thought about that tattoo for…hmmmm…about six years before I actually got it. This one was perhaps a little more impulsive. I’ve only been thinking about it for a couple of weeks. However, it will be a constant reminder of the journey I’ve been on for the past year. When I’m having a sad, slow or bad day, it will pick me up. When I’m having a great day, I’ll proudly show it off. When I’m 80, I’ll look at it and smile. And when I’m not feeling it, I’ll put on a bracelet or a watch. Here she is:
Thanks to Julie for designing it. Sorry Mom and Dad.
year of fun 