Pregnancy Info HOME

hi i am never smoked but have many family members that do.... but i know that is very unhealthy for pregnant women. i am going to share something with you my mother smoked while she was pregnant and she didnt smoke much but she did it oca__sionally. I was born right at 28wks and i only weighed 2lbs and end up losing one, i stayed in the hospital for 8 mos because of the addiction and stresses my mother couldn't fight off. I now have a scar that i have to live with for the rest of my life plus digestive issues among other things. I will pray for you and your unborn child but i look at it this way would you hand your baby a cigarette? I think not..... i am a single parent going to school full time and work full time so i know how hard stress can be.... you have to pray and ask for guidance so that you can be the mother i know you want to be...... GOD BLESS YOU!

I did that for a while and now I smoke half a smoke a day sometimes one smoke a day. I think that stress is worse for the baby. People that do not know what a ciggarette addiction feels like, they easily attack people who smoke. For what they do not know, the addiction level is like being a herroin addict. Quiting smokeing causes alot of stress on the body. So. If it takes you to slowly stop then that is fine. I think that two a day or one a day is much better then a pack a day.

Hi Floricica, I do know first hand what it is like to have cigarette addiction because I was a smoker myself for over 10 years at about a pack and a half a day if not more sometimes. I quit just over 2 years ago and have never felt better. I know what you mean about stress and whatnot but I also now can see where TriaB is coming from too. Everyone has stress...it's a part of life and it's no harder for a smoker than a non smoker. You have to learn to deal with stress in other ways than lighting up. I actually took up meditation I wanted to quit that badly and not go through bad withdrawals. I read an Alan Carr book that came highly recommended and that helped a bit too. Talking with other friends who quit also helped. It was a combination of several things. A biggie was that while I was smoking I kept trying to conceive but I also kept miscarrying. I'm not sure it all had to do with the smoking as I was, like you, down to a couple of cigs a day, but just couldn't quit totally. It's funny though that when I actually quit for good I got pregnant with my first live birth--my dd--and she was born past due date and healthy as can be. You know what my excuse was to everyone when I couldn't quit? Same as yours...that the stress of quitting would be worse for the baby than the smoking. I also know several friends who all don't know each other who smoked in pregnancy and they ALL said the same thing. I don't know who started that rumor or where but it's not totally accurate. It gives the smoker peace of mind really is all it does. I'm not trying to attack you, but just saying that everytime you smoke that cig the nicotine is increasing the heartrate of a baby whose heartrate is already super fast, you are stressing his or her whole system. Nicotine puts your whole body in a stressed mode (although you feel relaxed because the addiction is being fed, if that makes sense). It's a stimulant and causes a fight or flight response in the body. For me, my dr. also believes that I was having blood clotting issues made worse by the smoking because smoking can cause your blood to thicken and that's not a good thing at all while pregnant. When you want a cig try calling someone and talking through it. Maybe do you like a tea or some kind of drink you can subst_tute (try to avoid too much caffeine, same deal) fora while? Reading helped me a lot, I got into some good books and would read while drinking a soda. Anyways, enough rambling, but it can be done if you really think on the risks. I know a lot of women who would say "hey, I smoked in my pregnancy and my kids are fine, blah blah blah", but I look at those kids today and even if they don't have lung problems or asthma, they have all kinds of other behavioral problems (add, adhd, etc.) that who knows if smoking attributed to them. At least I know if my kids get those things that I still did what I could to avoid it. Good luck and oh, checkout this site: quitnet dot com....it helps a lot too!

Hey Stefkay. Thank you for the advise. I managed to cut the habbit to half a smoke a day. I actually skipped a day. I try every day to not smoke that half smoke. I don't think I will quit for ever smokeing. It's good that you were able to quit. Not everyone has the same will power. Before I was pregnant with my first son, I managed to give up weed and alcohol which I never touched since then. I also stopped smoking during that pregnancy. Obviously the only thing that I have to worry about is smoking but it is really hard this time. I was sick during my first pregnancy. Smoke bothered me. This pregnancy is like heaven. Nothing bothers me accept a little heart burn. I dont even have pimples like I did before. OR cravings for grose food. SO I don't know it's driving me insane but I am trying my best.

Good luck with it, it sounds like you are doing good and doing the best you can! Hang in there and just do what healthy things you can do like getting plenty of water (cigs dehydrate you and you need water for the baby and amniotic fluid), take vitamins and try to eat as healthy as you can. All that stuff we all know anyways :)