My very first Mother's Day...

And it was pure bliss!! Johnny got up with Deirdre and let me sleep in; I received flowers from both my husband and my daughter (funny...her taste in flowers is very similar to her dad's); Henry, the blind, diabetic pug was particular un-whinny; Darwin, his brother, was a sweetheart and extremely cooperative; and, to top it off, Johnny made dinner, Deirdre went down for the night without as much as a whimper, and the boys kissed me goodnight before we went to bed (was that too much information for non-dog lovers?)

All around - the best day ever. For awhile, I didn't know if I was going to get the chance to celebrate Mother's Day in this way. During my first few years with lupus, things looked a little grim:

In the beginning, I was told by my doctor that I shouldn't become pregnant. It was dangerous to get pregnant while in a flare - I was just too sick.

Fast forward another couple of years, and I found that I couldn't get pregnant, or at least, not successfully. After getting the go-ahead from my doctor, I tried to get pregnant and did, but then miscarried after 8 weeks. After recuperating for a month or so, I started trying again, but to no avail. Truth is, my body was a wreck - I was in a lupus flare, but tried convincing myself I wasn't. I thought if I just got pregnant, my symptoms would fall by the wayside. I was wrong, and instead, I went into one of the worst flares of my lupus career. After struggling for months, I ended up in the hospital for a week with lupus-induced pancreatitis and severe anemia. The blood transfusion, clear liquid diet and endoscopy were enough to convince me that maybe this wasn't the best time for a baby.

For the following couple of years, I worked on getting my health back in line - treating lupus aggressively with medication that wasn't safe for pregnancy (Cellcept) - and putting my plans for pregnancy on hold. I told myself those plans were just postponed, but as sick as I'd been, I knew there was a possibility that I wouldn't ever be able to get pregnant. But you know what? By that time, I was okay with that notion. I knew the most important thing was to get healthy, stable and strong. Once I did that, I'd be able to consider all of my options and weigh them with a level head.

And my thinking paid off. A couple of years of focusing on my health and wellness allowed me to switch medications, attempt to get pregnant, have a successful 38-week pregnancy, and give birth to a beautiful, sweet baby girl named Deirdre. I never thought I'd make it here, but I did!

Three cheers for living well, despite lupus!