PREGNANT and cut right down but cant seem to get past that ! I need help , any advice ?

[babyb]

[monky Administrator Cake sniffer outer]

Hi Babyb, a big welcome to you to this lovely quit smoking site there's loads of lovely people and help on here gal

Hmmmm am a bloke, so I dont know much about quitting when your pregnant but I shell go and see if I can find any info for you

Erm are you using any NRT to help you at the moment ??

Speak soon Pete

[Wonder]

First of all congratulations.

There's so much guilt with smoking when pregnant and we all want the best for our children. I managed to stop smoking on both occasions when pregnant but were packing in for the baby and not me and soon went back to smoking soon after the births. I still remember thinking how could the expectant mothers be having a fag outside maternity unit at the hospital with disgust, where now I realise I should have been pitying them for being so addicted. It's a horrible trap that we fall into.

Cutting down is still a positive step but being totally free from fags is the way forward to living a long and happy life with your children. My children are now 14 and 16 and I only managed to stop for good last year. So we are not here to judge you. We are all smokers or ex-smokers wanting to be a Non Smoker.

I know I rave on about how I stopped smoking but I am passionate about the method because it worked easily for me. No pills or potions will be required to give this method a go ... I read a book called Allen Carrs Easyway to Stop Smoking. Get it from the library or off ebay, you have nothing to lose.

Good luck with what ever method you try to stop and if you still need the odd cigarette, just try and have a super healthy diet, eat loads of veg and drink water and keep off the wine.

Take care of you both X

[jasabelle]

Hi Babyb,

Congratulations on your wonderful news, and congratulations for trying to give up smoking for your baby Cutting down will have made a great difference to the health of your baby already so well done you! I have been in your shoes twice before (I have 2 wonderful little girls and had to give up smoking with each of my pregnancies because I stupidly started smoking again when they were a year old). All I can say is that this site is a godsend and you will receive support from people on here when ever you are having a tough time and it really helps. My advice would be to use some type of NRT (I know that you want to not be dependant on nicotene but having nicotene from NRT is far far better than the carbon monoxide and tar etc from cigarettes). I would definitely try an E-Cigarette, try and replace the odd cigarettes you do have with the E-Cig, it is the closest thing to smoking but has only nicotene (you can get different strengths and menthol/regular etc) and you can eventually lower and lower the nicotene until you are on the nicotene free E-Cig. This is my 3rd quit attempt ( the previous times I just went cold turkey and ended up starting smoking again, so this time I'm trying everything and so far so good!) and am 5 weeks completely smoke free, I use the E-Cig only in situations like nights out when I know I might slip up and it hasn't let me down

Also I'd like to suggest asking in your local Rowlands Pharmacy if they do quit smoking support, the one near me does it and you go in and get a quit pack etc but they also ask you if you'd like to come back each week to be breathe into a carbon monoxide detector thing. I think if this had been around when I was giving up while pregnant I would have definitely done it, I would have definitely deterred me from having any slip ups if I was being checked up on! And also to be told every week, "well done- carbon monoxide free" would have spurred me on big time.

Good luck with stamping out those last few cigs-you can do it hun, if I can, anyone can! Don't put too much guilt on yourself for the cigarettes that you have had, just praise for the ones you continue to give up. If you ever need to chat don't hesitate xx

[EmJay Partner]

Hi babyb,

Congratulations on finding your way to our site

You a more than a few steps closer to leading a healthier lifestyle for both you and your baby just by thinking about quitting. Giving up smoking can sometimes be difficult when trying to stop smoking for your own reasons, never mind for someone elses (your baby).

When pregnant, a smoker will use up the nicotine they intake a lot faster than if they were not pregnant. This quite often leads to them smoking even more. So to have cut down already, you are doing absolutely fantastic You seem to be working really hard to have reduced by so much.

There are pregnancy stop smoking advisors who are fully trained in helping people like yourself to stop smoking. You may benefit from using some form of NRT (that is not harmful to your baby) and by speaking to somebody, they couls talk through the various options with you. Have you tried to access your local stop smoking service at all?

If you would like to know where to access your local service, send me a private message with your postcode and I can put you in touch with a pregnancy advisor in your area to give you that extra bit of face to face support, if you would like it.

You have been given some fantastic advice above already, everyone on here is really helpful and the support shared is amazing

[quittastic]

Well done you be proud. I have never managed to quit smoking before this attempt {I am proud to say I am smoke free 7 wks now} and am determined to stay that way. I have 2 gorgeous kids but I am ashamed to say I smoked heavily throughout both pregnancies I am a true example of If I can quit anyone can! Luckily both my kids are very healthy although a cold always goes straight to their chests so I always suspect my smoking cannot have helped. When my daughter was born my placenta came out very ragged and was also described as grainy. this was a direct result of smoking. It was hard for the midwives to tell if it had all come out and this resulted in a retained placenta It took 10 wks for docs to get to the bottom of it. Ihad several trips to a and e lots of internals bad cramps and lost a lot of blood all whilst I had a newborn. Not a nice experience and one that I caused all by myself.

[babyb]

THANKYOU all for the advice , youre all very kind and helpful. I appreciate it very much ! Im only having 2 or 3 a day at the moment and i feel very guilty I get halfway through a cigarette an think ,oh god what am i doing ? but carry on ! hopefully i will get past this