Smoking

[ingramarmywife]

Hi, Im in my 20th week of my pregnancy and I can't seem to quit smoking! I have been trying like hell but it doesn't seem to stick. My baby is a big enough of an excuse to quit but sometimes it just doesnt happen that way. I quit with my son , so it's not that I dont know what the consequences can be because I do. its just that this time when a craving grabs hold it doesnt want to let go that's for sure. I need all the help I can get!

[brice1967]

I was born with under-developed lungs and spent the first ten days of my life in an oxygen tent.  All of my childhood, adolesence, and parts of my adulthood I was plagued by respiratory problems directly related to a birth mother who smoked.  (I was adopted at birth, and my adopted parents inhereted a problem with my health because of an irresponsible birthmother)  Granted, I am 44 years of age now, but my respiratory system is still somewhat compromised because of this.

Your child does not deserve this, and you do not deserve tha anguish of watching first hand what you smoking habit will do to your developing child.  Besides drug use, this is probably one of the worst things you can do at this point.

As a mother, you need to give your unborn baby every opportunity at a normal childhood, and we all know smoking will prohibit that.  I can tell from your concern that this is something that you do not want on your conscious.

Seek help from your doctor a.s.a.p.  You'll be glad you did, and your baby will too.  Smoking is bad enough for your health alone, not to mention the baby and the child you already have.  

[kathyjo]

my advice is along the same lines as Teko but I will add a little something to the discussion being the mother of 2.
I smoked through both pregnancies, trying to limit myself to 1 an hour but of course it didn't work and toward the 3rd trimester, I had given up.
My son is 25 now and chest deformity, "Pectus Excavatum" that he blames on my smoking. My daughter is 22 and has asthma which she blames on me. I don't know if either of these things were caused by my smoking, perhaps the asthma, but the point is, they believe it and remind me often. Of course I feel guilty, terribly, but not a lot I can do about it now and when I have grandchildren, they won't have to worry about me smoking.
Put the smokes down and everytime you crave on, close your eyes and envision your unborn baby sucking on that smoke...harsh but a reality.

You can do it! It's tough, but if you want it bad enough, you'll do it!

[teko]

If the fact that you are pregnant is not enuff to make you lay them down, then your not gonna lay em down. It is simply that simple. You must have the mindset and if the mindset is not there, your fighting a losing battle. I just quit a couple of months ago cold turkey after smoking 2 packs a day for 35 years. I would smoke knowing I had copd and hold a smoke in one hand and the inhaler in the other. Sad isnt it? However, when I landed in the ER because that next breath that I have come to take for granted wasnt there, reality set in. It was breath or smoke and obviously I couldnt do both for long and the smoking would win in the end by taking my life. When the doc told me if I did not quit now, I would not live to draw retirement, it struck a nerve. I am 59 and can draw retirement in 5? Oh yea, it got me attention it did. That was on New Years eve and that was the last cigarette I had.  Now, come on.... You can do this and unfortunately messing around with a lot of aids is simply gonna mean the babe is here before you get off of em. Like I say, you can do this.......

[CrystalQuit]

Asking for help is the right way to go, you're on track. I've quit and restarted and quit again, and restarted again over and over for years, but everytime I think I learn something new about what worked for me. If cold turkey isnt for you, I completely understand. One thing that really helped me in my most recent effort to quit was to ease down the number of cigarettes I was smoking each day, one cigarette at a time. How much do you typically smoke a day?

Numbers could be a good starting point, together with things like the gum or the patch. Although its dreadfully expensive, I think the gum helped me the most. And even though sometimes it seems way harder to cut down from some high number like 30 or 40 cigarettes a day, sometimes the hardest is when cutting down below the last 10 cigarettes a day. When I was determined, I could usually, eventually ween myself down from my usual 2 packs a day, to where I was right at only 1/2 a pack a day, but counting down 1 cigarette less each day from there was tough, 10 one day, then 9 the next day, then 8, then 7, then 6, then 5, and so on. Less than 5 was always rough, because even if I could do zero cigs for for a day or two, Id get to feeling too proud of myself and let myself have one, then two, then three and before I knew it I was back up to 5 to 10 cigarettes a day - After I'd "already quit".  Ridiculous.

The second thing to keep in mind only breifly is duration: How long have you smoked?

Sometimes it may have more to do with when you started, rather than how long ago. A friend of mine who started smoking when she was 20 years old smoked for 10 years, and quit on her 30th birthday cold turkey. Meanwhile, I started smoking over 20 years ago when I was still middle school, and its been such a part of my life for so long that it always makes relapsing all too easy. But the truth is - thats just an excuse and I know it.

So while its great to count up all your years of smoking addiction, dont let them become an excuse for you. Instead, try to use them to motivate yourself, saying "I've smoked for 19 years (or however many years it has been) and this is the last one I smoke while Im pregnant!"

Hope you keep up the fight to gain control of your smoking while pregnant, one day at a time, one cigarette at a time, until you take care of business!

[teko]

Remember it takes 72 hours to get the nicotine out of the system, my da always managed to quit using the patch. But being pregnant you are best to just lay em down and face the music. You can do this.