RA & Having Young Children | Arthritis Information

I am back at work after a long 3 day weekend. I had such a great time bonding with my sons (who are 1 and 3). But I have to say, my wrist is REALLY swollen today. Hurts even at rest. My husband stays at home with our sons, but if it were me, I would be in so much more pain. I take my hat off to those of you who have to pick up kids, change diapers, put on clothes, etc., all day long! It was great to have 3 days straight with them, despite the pain.

Anyone else feel like they have rug burn when the swelling is really bad? I would swear that I had a superficial burn or scrape on top of my joint when it gets this way. My skin feels raw, but looks normal, other than being red from the swelling...

the hardest part of little kids is the constant picking up (them) dressing and diapers..

and car seats

and them climbing on you all the time..

mine are 6 and 2 1/2 and even the 6 still needs a lot of help with stuff..

by the time they are in bed, I'm ready to fall asleep myself, and they are asleep by 8..

Yeah, the car seats are probably the worst! I saw an ad for an RA drug recently, and it had a car seat in the middle. It was one of those ads that would puzzle most, but was targeted right at me!I feel your pain, my boys are also 3 and 1. I am a stay at home mom and it is hard sometimes. My ra is in my knees ankles and feet so getting them dressed and diapers isn't so bad, it's the playing and going outside for walks and the constant on the go never getting to sit down that is really hard for me.

My daughter is 4 months tomorrow. Now I feel better, after 2 months of MTX. I had a horrible onset. the worst part is getting up at night, and the exhausting feeling og fatigue in the morning. I am very lucky, I have my knees, feet, shoulders, wrists and fingers back. I hope it will last. I don't know how i'll feel when she starts crawling and walking.

What I miss most now is my energy. My long walks... Yet i'm happy I can take her in my arms without help now!

Best thoughts! So sorry for your wrist. I hat bad trouble with shoulders last week, but in a couple of days they were almost back to normal.

miruna

I am glad to hear that MTX has worked for you! I remain hopeful that it will kick in sooner or later!Hello everyone, I just want to applaud all of you who are being able to do this with such young families. I watched my grand daughter until she was 18mths. My daughter seen that I was having a hard time ,so she put her in day care. I don't know who it was harder on me or her. I will always cherish that time me and "woogs" are so close. Take care Nut

I applaud all the young mothers too. To care for such needy little beings when sometimes you can't even take care of yourself- I find that amazing. I was so excited the day my son graduated to a booster seat. That car seat had me in tears.

Now it is the shopping cart. Getting him in and out of the little seat at the grocery store is crazy. Just when you think you get them out their foot gets caught and you have to set them in the seat again---torture. I hope and pray everytime we go to Kroger that they have one of the carts with the little car attached. That he can do all by himself.When my boys were toddlers, it seemed that the only physical rest I got was when I was at work. I could actually sit in a chair for a couple of hours without having to get up and wrestle with hungry/sleepy/crabby/dirty little boys. I have a son who is 11 months and 26lbs and a daughter who is 3.5 and 35lbs. I find the days so hard, I am happy at 6:45pm when my husband gets home from work and dread 6:45am when he leaves again. Car seats, strollers, shopping carts, baby food jars, small toys... they all drive me crazy. I was so exhausted one day last week that I started crying and my 3 yr old asked me "mommy is it your bones hurting again". Made me cry harder. I feel like the worst mom sometimes, the pain and tiredness just get to you. I also applaude you all and want to give you all a hug too. It has got to be very hard to do that for little ones. Mine are 15 and 20 years old. I don't know how I would handle babies or toddlers and ra.

God bless you all!

These RA/kids/jobs posts always get to me. You should all be so proud of yourselves. Just having my grandchildren for three days wears me out, and my husband is here to help. I don't know how you do it and I am in total awe. I'ts a very strong group we have here. Bless your hearts, every one of you.

Yes I agree with Jesse don't beat yourself up for the hand you were dealt. There are able bodied people who neglect their children- the very fact that you are concerned at not being able to provide as you would like proves what a good mother you are.