smoking !!!

[louise2011]

please do not judge me or bombard me with how selfish i am , i already know all this I was a smoker of about ten per day have been for years , now i am pregnant (planned) and am finding it really hard to stop i have cut it to two a day , i know this is not a justification .

I am an bright 39 year old woman with a great life and family so i,m not daft but i just cannot stop the 2 i am still having.

I did not smoke in public prior to being pregnant as i was ashamed , so now imagine the shame . i look at women / girls in town smoking when pregnant or with prams and feel distgust and wonder how they have the nerve to smoke in public then i hide away where nobody will see me and do just what they are doing ! i know its mad and i do not understand why i judge others . but think its ok for me to do it

any advice on this ? forgot to say i am 15 weeks

 

[Piglet10]

i think cutting from 10 - 2 is very admirable, obv the ideal is everyone conceiving is 21 with a size 10 perfectly healthy body non smoker non drinker etc etc, maybe u cud seriously try cutting it to one??? like if u know ull still get one it mightnt be so bad?? i wud ring ur gp too they might a) be able to help or b) tell you that 2 isnt actually all that bad ???? im not saying its advisable to smoke but i dont know what the risk of 2 a day is i cant imagine they r huge (sorry if i offend anyone!!!) xx

 

[louise2011]

thank you for not judging me , i have been honest with my midwife even though it shamed me to do so , i have been very good on the drinking as we love our red wine and i can honestly say i have cut this out completley and not had a drop , but i feel deep down i am using my good behavior to excuse my bad

 

[Sassysugar]

Hi there, welcome to the forum!!!

I recently watched a programme on tv called missbehaving mums to be and they followed a lot of girls on there who smoked but who wanted to give up. The midwife on there gave lots of good advice and showed what the potential risks could be, so maybe you could chat to your mw, she might be able to point you in the right direction on how to give up completely? You've done well cutting down, maybe it just needs a little extra push and something to keep you occupied when you feel the urge to smoke, what about patches/gum or those fake cigarette things to keep your hands busy? On the programme it showed that giving up benefited the baby really quickly with the carbon monoxide being out of its system within 24 hrs.

I don't smoke so probably don't appreciate how difficult it is to give up, my dad does though and I know he finds it hard. Hope you get sorted hun

 

[Piglet10]

i know my friend was a smoker of 10-15 and they DIDNT recommend she cut them out quickly as they thought her stress and blood pressure wud go up, they wanted her to cut out gradually?? and as for judging nobody has the right to judge you, u r trying xx

 

[Sarah13]

I managed to give up when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter 14 years ago but luckily for me it really made me feel sick! I still had cravings which I replaced with lollipops so I still had that hand mouth action and kept my hands busy the rest of the time. I always thought about what I was doing to the baby (sure you don't need telling!) and that made me feel really guilty and also put me off. You've done well to cut back and your nearly there, maybe chat to mw about it so you can finally stop, think how great it would be to never smoke again, esp with a new baby. Good luck x

 

[Bexybun]

We dont judge on here, only support! I smoked all the way through my first, but I have quit this time- it's soooo not easy though! I think you have done amazingly well to get down to two a day- unfortunatly I couldnt do that, Im a twenty a day or nothing at all girl. All I can suggest, what worked for me when quitting this time, is to scare yourself with facts- after watching the programme already mentioned, Misbehaving Mums To Be, I was so scared of the harm that it would cause the baby and realised just how bloody lucky I was that my daughter was and is fine, that I was determined to quit. Also, watching the older kids say to their mums "when I'm older, I can have a fag just like you" and "I dont like it when you smoke because it makes me cough" made me realise how much I enjoy cigs doesnt compare to how much I love my children.

If you do manage to kick those last couple of fags, excellent- but if you dont, dont be too hard on yourself- nicotine addiction is damn hard to conquer. As for judging others for what you do yourself- dont sweat it honey, we all do that Hell, Im one of the worst! x

 

[snr1982]

I smoked all through my first pregnancy and didnt even try to give up coz i didn't want too- 20 a day. i think cutting it down to 2 a day is amazing - I could never have done that, im also a all for it or nothing so well done! I gave up about 5 years ago now because i wanted too, not coz I was pregnant or someone told me too.

 

[Cleobaby]

Do you know what, normally i would say an absolute no no to fags but... you doing great cutting down and don't forget - it's maybe better to have 1 or two than be miserable. Unhappy mum = unhappy baby. I prefer to have half of glass of my merlot from time to time rather than be miserable

 

[xshauna_bazx]

You have cut down alot and it takes time. Its so hard to do but anyone can do it... i did and been packed in over a year now and really proud of myself, i still can't actually believe i done it. I used to smoke 40 a day too! xxx

 

[kedi376]

Hang in there, you're doing amazingly well. Don't punish yourself too much hunny x

 

[misscrazycooki]

I used to smoke and I found out early when I got pregnant, just the fact I had been trying for so long and was having tests done made me not do anything to lose it as I wanted it so badly x sadly tho my partner never quit so now he is tempting me back again tho I find I can quit and start at the drop of a hat. He's been smoking years and well I have given up trying to make him quit now.

Just do what makes you happy hun if your not ready to quit you won't do it x

 

[abbiecourt]

if you talk to your midwife she can send you to a nurse who will help you stop x

 

[Maria1977]

You've done really well to cut down so much and you will get there when you're ready.

I quit the day I found out I was preggo, which was 3 May last year and I still think about it everyday. Everyday, after all this time I'm still fighting those urges to smoke!!

 

[Jayceesmumma]

I found it hard with all of my pregancies to stop, but i managed it in the end.. I watched misbehaving mums and it does open your eyes a bit and scares you everytime you have a fag.. I cut down from 10 to 2 as well.. then i went 4 days.. had one.. 4 days.. had one.. lol but now im on 14 days i still crave it slightly but no way near as much as the first week! it gets easier with time. Im not forcing myself to stop as i find its 100x harder telling yourself you 'cant' have a fag rather than you 'dont need one right now'.. keep busy and active to get your mind off it..
I was also told that cold turkey can be slightly damaging due to stress etc..
dont pressure yourself too much take your time your doing great!
Also my mw said 1 every now and then isnt all that bad (she told me not to tell anyone lol)

Well done, your doing a great job!

 

[louise2011]

thank you very much for everyones kind words and support i was nervous about posting this on here but i will keep trying to keep cutting back until i suceed

 

[AugustMum]

As the others have said, you've done well to get it to 2 a day Have you thought about having just one a day? Like half when you'd normally have the first and the other half when you normally have the second.

I gave up within a week of finding out I was pregnant (the stress of it all made me want a few after the test! lol) but haven't had one since and that was Nov 2009. I still get the urge to smoke, so I don't know if it ever goes away but I found chewing gum a life saver and still keeping up usual routines i.e. still going outside after food for a chewing gum lol. Sounds silly, but it really helped!

 

[Binzy]

Giving up smoking was one of the hardest things I ever did. I gave up in Jan on the day of my BFP, I smoked 15-20 a day for around 18 years. 5 months down the line I still occasionally want one (my oh still smokes so I could easily just help myself to one whenever I wanted) but I haven't) I read the Alan Carr book and although it's quite repetitive it really helped. The first 3 weeks are tough but try going a couple of days without one and see what happens. Like the others have said going from 10 to 2 is a big achievement, why not cut down to one then one every 2 days and see what happens?

 

[Taassh_0x]

I know how hard it is to stop smoking, people can judge me all they want on here I really couldn't give a shit of their opinions. I can't stop either, I can have around 2 a day... but I know a lot of women who smoked through pregnancy and it doesn't necessary mean your baby's going to have a disfigurement or you love them less. If you stop smoking without having the willpower too or your own determination you will get stressed, stress can stress out the baby and even cause them pain. My friend has had 3 pregnancies, 2 ended up in miscarriages but she didn't smoke through those and lost them around 5 months... her other pregnancy she smoked and gave birth to a healthy baby boy. So don't listen to what people say, you've cut down thats the main thing and don't stress what other people think. It's your pregnancy! not theirs so tell them to F off! lol