Pregnancy and Parenting with Psoriatic Arthritis: Jamie’s Story

<p>In this episode, Cheryl & Jamie discuss:</p><ul><li>Jamie’s challenging diagnosis journey</li><li>The difference between her pre-psoriatic arthritis pregnancy and parenting experience and her experience being pregnant with psoriatic arthritis, including a discussion of medications</li><li>The difficulties of being a young person with rheumatic disease</li><li>The challenges of family planning with rheumatic disease: whether to have another child or not?</li><li>What it’s like to live with anxiety along with rheumatic disease</li><li>Balancing gratitude and grief</li><li>Learning to overcome “mom guilt”</li><li>Our children need us to be present not perfect</li></ul><p>Speaker bios:</p><p>Jamie lives in Gloucestershire, England, with her husband and their two children; Harper aged 4 and Kit who is almost 5 months. She was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in early 2019 and is still in the process of “learning” her condition. She is a freelance writer and self proclaimed coffee addict who is passionate about combining traditional and holistic approaches to find the best combination to manage her chronic illness.</p><p>Cheryl Crow is an occupational therapist who has lived with rheumatoid arthritis for seventeen years. Her life passion is helping others with rheumatoid arthritis figure out how to live a full life despite arthritis, by developing tools to navigate physical, emotional and social challenges. She formed the educational company Arthritis Life in 2019 after seeing a huge need for more engaging, accessible, and (dare I say) FUN patient education and self-management resources. </p><p>Episode links:</p><ul><li>Resources mentioned in the episode:<ul><li><a href="https://www.rheumatology.org/Practice-Quality/Clinical-Support/Clinical-Practice-Guidelines/Reproductive-Health-in-Rheumatic-Diseases">American College of Rheumatology clinical guidelines for pregnancy with rheumatic disease</a></li><li><a href="https://www.mamasfacingforward.com/">Mamas Facing Forward - website</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.mam