Ch-ch-ch-changes

Hello?

Is anyone out there still reading this poor, neglected blog?

I am impressed if you are!  The last time I even looked in the blog's direction was right after Chloe was born...and she just turned 3 months this past week.  

I know, crazy, right?  It has gone by fast for me as well!

I will *hopefully* do a massive update soon.  For now, I kind of wanted to explain my absence.  So get comfortable, maybe grab a snack and beverage, because you are about to read a lot about just me.  Booooring.  If you want to skip it, and just wait for the big update, I understand.  We can still totally be friends!

So here we go.  Remember how I couldn't walk after I had Chloe?  I thought it was weird, but just wrote it off as a side effect of pushing a human out of my body and considered myself lucky that it went away after 3 days.

However, similar pains started occurring throughout the rest of my joints.  I would wake up one day and not be able to move my arm, hip, etc. more than a few inches.  Even the joints that weren't causing me tons of pain had a dull ache, and for some reason my feet were always so sore I incorporated an interesting hobble/shuffle into my strut.

I tried to tell myself it was postpartum hormones with a hint of old age, but was worried enough that I mentioned it to my doctor at my postpartum appointment.  She ordered blood work to test for Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Turns out, at the ripe age of 28, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. 

Fun fact: I was officially diagnosed by the Rheumatologist EXACTLY one month after I publicly mocked my husband's old age on his 30th birthday on Facebook.  That, my friends, is Karma at her best!  I basically had it coming!

Just a few facts:  

It is an auto immune disorder.  My immune system is attacking my joints.

It is something I will always have.  It can be pushed into remission, but we are currently trying to find a Rheumatologist I love...because apparently he or she will be my new bestie who I will be spending a lot of time with.

For now, my case is pretty mild.  I don't have swelling or very much damage to my joints.  I am really sore and stiff every morning, but it usually improves within a few hours.  The thing that affects me the most is when my fingers and wrists are acting up...it can make doing small and tedious tasks nearly impossible.

My doctor was able to prescribe some medications that I can take while nursing Chloe.  THANK HEAVENS!  I started trying to give her a bottle a day when I first found out I probably had RA, and it is not going so well.  6 weeks in and the kid still won't take a bottle.  Stubborn little midget.

For the most part I like to think I am handling it well.  I have had a few meltdowns, usually related to me not being able to function as well as a mother to small kids (such as getting shoes on Tucker's FAT feet or buckling Chloe's seatbelt).  It can be frustrating to have days where I feel like my body is not only failing me, but is affecting my ability to take care of the littles.  But like I said, those moments have thankfully been few and far between.

Jared has been a rock star.  He has really stepped up to help out with the kids, house and sometimes even physically take care of me.  He even had to drop everything at work one day to help me out of the shower.  Long story short: I sat down in the shower...huge mistake.  My fingers, wrists and shoulders were too sore to pull myself back up.  Luckily my oh so helpful 3 year old finally responded to my calls, brought me my phone and I had to have this conversation:

Me: Hey babe, how is work going?

J: It's ok.  Kinda busy.  How are you?

Me: Ummm, I am ok.  So tiny problem.  I sat down in the shower and can't get up.

J: What?

Me: I mean, it's not a huge deal.  I kinda feel like the kid on a Christmas Story.

J: Ok, I am coming home.

Me: Well, no rush.  It's not like I am going anywhere.

J: (probably some Life Alert "I have fallen and I can't get up" jokes)

It was obviously a proud moment for me.

So that is it.  All in all, we are doing fine.  I am trying to learn how to listen to my body when it tells me to sit down and not worry about the dishes. 

I am slower, but turns out Jared and I think arthritic Lindsey is a hoot.  Poor old gal is the butt of many jokes in our home.

 Those of us with hair sometimes look a little rough (curse you elastic hairbands), so it is actually a blessing that 3 of the 5 of us have little to no hair.  

And fortunately, even on my most homeless looking days, I have a happy, chubby baby on my hip to distract  people from how awful I look :)

Go ahead...try to look at me instead of her.  It didn't work, did it?  Mission accomplished.