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Flores, I too smoke....I smoke more than your 4-6 a day. Some days I smoke more than others. I am 36 weeks. I have tried to stop but it's so hard especially because this pregnancy has been sooooo stressful for me. My baby is measuring fine, growing every day. I hope she's ok. Be prepared for people on this website to respond negative, and say mean things. I wouldn't worry too much if your only smoking 4-6 a day. My doc said as long as I kept it around 5 a day, I should be fine....

I feel your pain. I am only 8 weeks but am having a very hard time quitting. At the point you are at in your pregnancy I have heard of doctors advising NOT to quit as it would cause more stress. If all is progressing well and you have cut back to what your doctor said is ok you should be fine. Please don't let others ridicule you and make you feel small and ashamed. You are doing the best you can by cutting back. Good luck to both of youl!

I am 16 weeks and I still smoke...This pregnancy was a complete suprise so I was not prepared in the sense that I could just stop smoking...My doctor is aware of my habit and I smoke probably between 5-10 per day. It will be easier to cut back soon as I am starting to show and will not be able to sneak out at work and smoke anymore w/out people seeing me. I smoke on the way to work, ususaly 1-2 a lunch when I go out, 1 on the way home, and usually 3-4 in the evening...all seems to be going well w/ baby, measuring right, i go to the doctor tomorrow. I completely understand what you are going thru, I hate the fact that this could harm my baby but I'm just really addicted. I smoke thru my first pregnancy as well and he weighed almost 9 pounds at birth mainly because I over compensated for trying to cut back on smoking so I ate everything in sight and my doctor said If that happens this time, so be it, i gained a total of 65 pounds w/ first...and i'm a tall girl, 5'8" and started at 135 pounds...lost all weight first time, but here we go again, but that's okay....my doc said the same thing Andie's doc said, keep in around 5....Try not to beat yourself up to bad and please be prepared for alot of negative feedback as people tend to get really fired up about this issue and could make you feel really bad. I wish you the best, your baby is almost here.....that's exciting, i have to wait until January AAAHHH.......but at least i can pig out during the holidays....

I smoked 1/2 a pack a day until I got pregnant. I finished what I had at home and promised I wouldn't buy more cigarettes. I still haven't bought any (I'm 23 weeks now), but my mom and sister let me bum from them. They didn't quit when they were pregnant (3 kids each) unless it made them sick. I only smoke around them, usually weekends, and it's 5-10 cigs in one weekend day. Sometimes I don't have any, sometimes only one. I can go the whole week at home without smoking. Cinnamon gum - Dentyne Fire (sugarless) - really helps curb the cravings. Cinnamon and lemon work on the same taste buds as nicotine/tobacco. I feel guilty about it, but I am doing what I can. Hubby tries to be supportive, but he has never smoked so he doesn't understand. Good luck to everybody!

" It will be easier to cut back soon as I am starting to show and will not be able to sneak out at work and smoke anymore w/out people seeing me." -- So you care more about what other people think of you than how your baby is growing? That is what it takes for you to cut back? YOUR IMAGE?!

Have you guys tried switching to ultra lights? After I got pg, I switched to UL and cut down a WHOLE LOT (maybe 12/week). It helps if you stay away from people who smoke also, but it's hard if your significant other or ppl you live with smoke.

Flores, i'm sorry, this is what happens...again, it has nothing to do w/ my image, whether you believe me or not, i do not care...i am really trying to think of ways to keep myself busy so i do not smoke...i'm sorry, but we can never have a forum like this because someone always ruins it. I'm glad that you "sad" do not smoke, how i wish i never put that cig in my mouth in college...it is an addiction not a pa__sing fancy, i know the dangers, and it would have been nice to be able to share or thought and concerns w/ other women who are going thru the same thing but that can never happen because of people like you. If you do not smoke please get off this thread, the thread is 'smoking and pregnant', everyone is this world is ent_tled to their opinion but you are just plain mean. Andie please do not pay any attention to her, she is on her soapbox, and one day someone will kick it out from under her. I'm sure she is perfect and we should all bow in awe....what goes around comes around, she doesn't offer any support on this forum only nastiness so when she is the one in need no one will support her. Just leave it alone and do not respond to her anymore, just adds fuel to the fire, let it go.

I know what you mean, smoking is an addiction. It's very hard to quit. I smoked during my first preg. I couldn't quitm but unfortunately it ended in miscarriage-nothing to do with the smoking. But I'm sure people will have to add their 2 cents about it. I have finally quit now, it took switiching jobs, a lot less stress because of the job switch and my husband quit, so it made it easier for me to as well. I knew that he would get mad at me if I smoked, so that was a deterant for me. But I understand about being at work and smoking. People just don't care. Even if you tell them they are pregnant, they are the ones who also smoked during pregnancy and say I smoked through my whole pregnancy and my baby was fine. Which is the case-most of the time. So as long as your doctor knows and says 5 a day is ok, then listen to your doctor and not the b___hes that like to think they are perfect and rule the world. Stay Strong and know that you do have support!

Not being judgemental but they do have smoking help groups to help. Try to look for one in your local area. I know several people that smoked throughout their pregnancies and some of their babies had problems. It is really the best thing you can do for yourself and your baby. Quit now. I am sure you can find support somewhere. Have you talked to your doctor about a plan? I just can't imagine hurting my baby. I was a smoker too and quit as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I had a miscarriage and didn't want to risk losing or hurting this baby. It is really bad for you.

Hi ladies. I'm sorry that this thread too became a soapbox for some to stand on and preach the evils of smoking. We all know and are quite aware of that. What we need now is support and a caring friend to encourage us without being judgemental. I still have not quit but have slowed down. My big problem is that I can smoke at my desk in my office which almost everyone here does. my husband smokes as well as most of my friends. Not trying to make excuses but I have a very addictive personality and it is VERY hard to give it up cold turkery (which my DOCTOR advised NOT TO DO). We have now made a rule at ho me that if you smoke, you go outside, so that is helping some, and after supper (which is when I REALLY WANT ONE) we go for a walk instead. That seems to help. Another trick I have been using. If I feel I need one, I make myself wait 30 minutes before lighting up. If at 30 minutes I haven't been craving craving craving, I make myself wait another 30 and so on. I also try and smoke only one or two drags and put it out. Good Luck to all of you. And sad, we know we know we know and we are trying not to hurt our babies or else we wouln't be on this thread baring our souls, our shame and our embara__s____nt. Bless you for never smoking and taking great care of the child inside of you. Please let us take care of our own.

The funny part is I only smoke when no one is around. I have been hiding it for 5 months and no one has a clue. No one around me smokes so I don't know why it is so hard to give up.

I smoked about a pack a day when I found out I was pregnant. I had tried to quit before but was never able to. When I found out I was pregnant (it was a huge surprise!) I cut down to 5 cigs a day for 4 days, and then quit completely. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. My husband, parents and best friend all smoke so that didn't help, but they all supported me by not smoking around me. Plus I hadn't smoked in my house for years. I know it's not easy at all. I'm glad to hear that you're cutting down because every little bit helps. I hope you can quit all the way - I can tell you I feel better than I have in a long time. One thing that helped me a lot is I gave myself little goals. First I'd wait just 5 more minutes for a cigarette. And then 5 more. Or I'd wait until I'd finished this one project. Little steps, but it helped. Best of luck to you!

Hi everyone. I am 22 weeks pregnant and have been smoking for several years even though I am only eighteen. When I found out I was pregnant I too was not really prepared to quit. I did cut down and try to keep it to a minimal of 5 a day, but on stressful days I do smoke more. Like someone said before it does help if you have to go outside to smoke, especially if it is either hot or freezing cold. Also I try to smoke halves at a time. That way you smoke when you want but at the end of the day you really only smoke half of what you would have in the first place.

Unfortunately everyone around me smokes, my mom, my dad and husband smoke pipes and cigars, my MIL smokes, so they are non-judgemental, the only person I will not smoke in front of is my Grandmother.....but we do have the same rule at our house as Cathy does, and we had that before i got pregnant, we just don't smoke in our house at all, we go out on the back deck, we don't smoke in hubbys vehicle and i smoke in mine only when i'm by myself. I like Cathy also try to only take a few drags and then put it out...on the weekends when it's really hard i'll grab my 3 year old and we will go to the galleria and i'll leave my cigs at home, sometimes we are gone for 3-4 hours, so that helps me on the weekend, anytime i go anywhere w/ my son i leave them at home and i'm so preoccupied w/ him that i don't think about it as much....oh and i cannot tell you how many bags of sunflower seeds i've eaten.....I really do try to keep myself busy and i can go for really long periods of time w/out smoking, but when i get home and relax, son watching spongebob, hubby painting parts of the house, i just want to go sit on the deck and have a smoke with a nice non-alcholic beer (yuk) but they actually taste pretty good if you put lime juice in them.....

If you want to stop smoking, it is hard, but like JM said, not as hard as you think. What I did was I said I was going to quit, but knew that at times I would cave in and have one. I didn't want to be hard on myself and then say well, since I smoked one I might as well keep smoking. I also didn't tell anyone that I was quitting. Why? Because- I didn't need the added pressure of if I just couldn't take it and wanted one-to have people yelling at me and ridiculing me for smoking when I said I'd quit. That just seemed to me like added pressure and stress that you just don't need. I also usually only smoked when no one was around. Then I would try to hide it, like brush my teeth, spray myself - This made it more hard, because now instead of just having a cigarette, I was having a cigarette, brushing my teeth, mouthwash, spraying perfume. All these added steps just to smoke, just got to be too much. I worked myself from a half pack everyday, to one a day to one every few days to one a week, to maybe one or two puffs a week. Finally I just didn't buy them anymore. I still have one everyonce in awhile when I have drinks-I'm not pregnant, so it's ok. I know that I'm not going to get addicted from enjoying one with a drink once or twice a month, and it makes it a lot easier to quit, when you don't actually say I quit. That's what worked for me, and it may not work for the next person. You just really have to feel like quitting, and then do it. It's really a personal struggle more than anything else. But I would say the first month is the most difficult. Once you get by that, you are good to go. Hope this helps a little. Good Luck!!

It is natural to want to hide an addiction from people. It is not about image, but it is about shame. Anyone who has suffered with addiction knows what I am talking about. The shame leads us to want to hide it from others. Good luck ladies:)