Giving up smoking - for pregnancy

Mink

To clarify, I am not actually pregnant but about to start TTC. However, I'm a smoker & I'm starting to cut down now. I plan on being off them altogether by time I get pregnant.

I'm finding it hard cutting down but it's doable. Just wanted to see if there's anyone else out there either cutting down with a view to giving up for pregnancy or maybe you are pregnant & smoking & want to cut down/give up.

I know there is a "Giving up smoking" forum but I'm talking about just related to pregnancy - especially when some women, who smoke when they're pregnant, hide it for fear of the backlash, but at the same time want to give it up while preggers.

My sis continued smoking (albeit at a reduced rate) during her pregnancies but she said she wishes she hadn't as she felt really guilty.

I've been smoking for 15 years and I've actually managed to cut down to 4 smokes a day, and that was bloody hard. Ideally would like to be up the duff within a month or two so need to be rid of the habit by then.

Nicole22

I don't smoke but I just wanted to say congrats on getting down to the 4 a day! I used to smoke years ago, gave it up long before pregnancy, but I remember how hard it is. I used to tell myself that I'll never regret not smoking that fag, while every time I gave in and smoked I always regretted it and was miserable afterwards. Keep up the good work!:D

Neyite

Mink,
I quit for the reasons you did, and I was a desperate smoker, but I did a hypnosis mp3 on the ipod and it was great. Still off them 4 years on. I will see if I can find it and pm you later this evening if thats ok.

Well done on getting to 4 a day. Pat yourself on the back bigtime. By the way, if he smokes, he needs to quit too. Smoking can affect sperm at a DNA level according to my doc.

Mink

Thanks guys. Today was more tolerable than yesterday on the cig front. However I've also given up caffeine as of 24hrs & having terrible withdrawal headaches. Must get through this week.

I'd definitely like the OH to give up/cut down. Will have to find documentation to prove it to him cos if I just tell him it affects the sperm he'll laugh at me (in an endearing way :rolleyes:)

Really having to let go of my two favourite vices, smokes and coffee. Good thing I don't mind not drinking over 9mths + or I'd be like a parcel of cats. At least with coffee, you can have decaff, ain't no substitute for the actual motions of smoking!

jam_mac_jam

Maybe try the Alan Carr book, it can really help and would be safer for you at the moment then other methods (champix is great for it but you cant take if trying to get pregnant). Well done though you are getting there, stick with it. If you are finding the caffine very hard maybe have the odd cup of tea or green tea as if you are suffering from both you may be more inclined to smoke.

Orion

Mink wrote: »

I know there is a "Giving up smoking" forum but I'm talking about just related to pregnancy

And in either forum you'd be stuck with me

Mink wrote: »

I'd definitely like the OH to give up/cut down. Will have to find documentation to prove it to him cos if I just tell him it affects the sperm he'll laugh at me (in an endearing way :rolleyes:)

It won't matter. He'll give up when he's ready - not to make the boys swim faster. There's forest loads of documentation about how it causes cancer and other illnesses but that doesn't make people quit either. Take it from a former 40/day smoker.

Congrats on deciding to quit and starting the process. It's a tough time but rewarding. Apart from trying to conceive you should read some of the threads on the Giving up Smoking forum - there's some great support and advice there.

Best of luck with everything.

Hannibal Smith

Wow well done getting down to for a day. I'm one of those annoying smokers who only smoked one or 2 a day, more when drinking, I always had to have one when I came in from work. it was an adjustment having to give it up, but I'm not even going to try and compare it to what a regular smoker goes through. The only thing I can day that really switched me off them was reading about what it does to the baby. I read that apparently the smoke you inhale goes into the womb and infects the area the baby was in. I pictured the baby clouded in smoke sand inhaling it all and that turned me right off.

Also you could be ones of the lucky ones that go completely off smoking while pregnant. I've seen that happen

Mink

Orion wrote: »

It won't matter. He'll give up when he's ready - not to make the boys swim faster. There's forest loads of documentation about how it causes cancer and other illnesses but that doesn't make people quit either. Take it from a former 40/day smoker.

Yeah I'm not even going to say it to him to be honest, there's no point, people give up when they want to and I never wanted to until now, never even crossed my mind.

Hannibal Smith wrote: »

Also you could be ones of the lucky ones that go completely off smoking while pregnant. I've seen that happen

I've seen this too, I hope it happens to me but hope to be off them by then. Have looked at the giving up smoking forum as well and there are handy tips. I'm such a creature of habit, it's really hard to imagine what I would do without them and why other people who don't smoke don't crave them, which is crazy

galah

there's no better reason that giving up before you're pregnant! You're doing it to give your baby (and yourself) the best start possible - what better motivation?

I gave up when we started TTC (used to smoke 20 a day easily) - just keeping a baby in mind, and my general health, made me stick with it, and it wasn't that difficult at all! I just set a date, smoke my last fag, and that was it.
Was a bit of a cranky cow for a while, but it gets easier day by day! Just remember that cigarettes are actually not all that nice, really expensive, and you can manage all social occasions and even stress much better without them! Plus when I fell prgenant, the smell of cigarette smoke would actually send me retching, I don;t think I actually could have continued smoking even if I wanted to.

5 months pregnant now, and definitely don't regret giving up, more money in my pocket, and in much better health!

Good luck, you'll be grand!

foxy06

Well done on getting down to 4 a day but I found when I was giving up that cutting back was just prolonging the torture. Cold turkey really is the way to go.

I also found it easier to look at other smokers with pity, as in thinking 'look at that poor smoker that hasn't managed to give up yet, not like ME!' Rather than looking at the smoker thinking 'I'd sell my Granny for a drag of that ciggie!'.

I'd really recommend the Allen Carr book too.

Hobbitfeet

When I found out I stopped smoking over the next 2 days I had really strong cravings for a cig and had a puff or 2 on my OH cig but I felt sooo guilty it turned me right off. No cravings at all now don't miss them one bit
My OH is still smoking and I have been on and on at him to stop no use though I think he will make his own mind up so have stopped nagging him most of the time

MintyDoris

Well done OP, I admire your decision.

Neyite wrote: »

I quit for the reasons you did, and I was a desperate smoker, but I did a hypnosis mp3 on the ipod and it was great. Still off them 4 years on. I will see if I can find it.

Neyite, if you do find this I would really appreciate a link too

Ayla

OP, good for you for cutting back. I've smoked a bit off & on over the last 10 years or so & can appreciate how hard it can be to quit.

A bit of a (true) story to hopefully motivate you to help you give it up altogether before getting preg:

A friend of my sister-in-laws went into labour & was hooked up to the monitors to make sure all was well. The labour was slow & so she was taken off the monitors & allowed to roam the ward for awhile. After a bit she thought she'd go outside & have a smoke. When she returned they decided to hook her up again. As soon as the monitors were turned on she panicked b/c her baby's heartrate was sky high.

She didn't know what was going on, but then the nurse said, "sure, you're just after a cigarette, right? Every smoke you've had for the last 9 months has done this to your baby."

Just something to keep in mind...I personally can't think I would need anything enough to cause my baby such distress.

Also, as per your other half, it's not just the sperm that will be affected. What about after the baby's born? Will he (or you) smoke? Smoking has been linked as a possible cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), not to mention all sorts of other child illnesses. I would be seriously questioning his committment to yours and your potential child's health if he would put greater priority to a cigarette. You're right, though, you can't make the decision for him, he has to want it himself. But I know I would lose respect for my husband if he decided he cared more about cigs than my child's health.

Mink

Thanks everyone for the replies. I figured someone was going to say that giving up cold turkey is the way to go. I fear this is correct! I did it with the caffeine so gotta do it with the nicotine!

I'm not surprised re the story above about the baby's heart rate going high. That's why I want to do the whole pregnancy thing properly, cut out smoking, caffeine, booze and eat healthy, no aspartame in non-sugar stuff etc.

I'm also not surprised as part of the reason for kicking the caffeine and nicotine is that I recently had a 24 hr heart monitor fitted as I was having palpitations and what came up was instances of atrial tachycardia - where the uppermost chambers of your heart sometimes beat two fast, which makes it heard for your heart to pump blood fast enough, leading to dizziness etc. I'm waiting on an apt at Connolly to get further tests but in researching myself I found that what can trigger it is the cigs & coffee. So want to get my heart in better condition especially if I'm pumping blood for two!

I think if I give up altogether, I won't start again after the pregnancy, I don't have any intentions of starting again anyway. When I used to look after my sister's baby (she was living with me) it used to be hugely awkward to try and fit a smoke in while caring for him, so I don't even want the hassle. My other sister who breastfed had to time her cigs according to how long it would take to get out of her system between feeds. Again, I don't want that hassle & risk to the baby, just want to concentrate on them when they arrive.

At the moment the OH & I never smoke in the house (I hate smoking indoors since the ban in 2002 or whenever it was). So if he is still smoking when we have the wee one, he'll be smoking outdoors and under strict instructions to wash his hands, get it off his breath etc afterward.

Twinkleboots

Ayla wrote: »

OP, good for you for cutting back. I've smoked a bit off & on over the last 10 years or so & can appreciate how hard it can be to quit.

A bit of a (true) story to hopefully motivate you to help you give it up altogether before getting preg:

A friend of my sister-in-laws went into labour & was hooked up to the monitors to make sure all was well. The labour was slow & so she was taken off the monitors & allowed to roam the ward for awhile. After a bit she thought she'd go outside & have a smoke. When she returned they decided to hook her up again. As soon as the monitors were turned on she panicked b/c her baby's heartrate was sky high.

She didn't know what was going on, but then the nurse said, "sure, you're just after a cigarette, right? Every smoke you've had for the last 9 months has done this to your baby."

Just something to keep in mind...I personally can't think I would need anything enough to cause my baby such distress.

.

Totally agree with you Alya, I am just out of hospital ( am 36 weeks was just in due to SPD) and was so shocked at the amount of pregnant women that smoke. It really upset me. Like the story you've mentioned above the lady in the bed next to me had problems with her baby's heart rate after each cigarette. When the nurse said that it was because she had just smoked she replied that she had "just claimed the stairs" in total denial I guess. I'd say the midwives are sick to the teeth of trying to get these women to stop. After lecturing another woman who had a threatened miscarriage over smoking I heard one nurse remark "what's the point in having all these babies if ye're not around to rear them?"...harsh maybe but I agree tbh.

Fair play to you Mink I really admire you for trying to give up. Good luck with TTC!!!!

Mink

I'm always shocked going past the Rotunda and there's so many women standing outside in their dressing gowns smoking! Even if I had smoked throughout the pregnancy, I wouldn't have the gall to stand out doing that.

Headaches from caffeine withdrawals have subsided so that's good. Getting easier and easier to manage on 4 smokes, going to keep cutting down (I'm really dragging it out).

Stopped taking pill on Sunday . OH reckons I'll get pregnant immediately but I keep telling him will probably take ages, especially if been on pill a long time - have to regulate etc.

two wheels good

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Maybe try the Alan Carr book, it can really help ....

I recommend Alan Carr's "Easy way to Stop Smoking" too, though I had been psyching myself for a while before reading it. It also helped many friends and family I passed it on to.

I still remember one of his comments - You're not 'giving up' something, you're freeing yourself from the chains of dependency.

It's great being an non-smoker. Give it your best shot

Toots

I gave up at the start of November. I figured it was easier to just go cold turkey rather than drag the whole thing out, and signed up to www.givingupsmoking.ie and I found it good, it sends you a little email to keep your motivation up. An interesting fact I found in my day 2 email was that in 48 hours from your last smoke all the nicotine is gone and if you're craving one it's purely a mental as opposed to physical craving. That really helped me resist wanting one because I knew I didn't 'need' one, I only wanted one.

I gave up with the intention of starting ttc in about a year, but it turned out I concieved about 3 weeks later lol!! Once I was pregnant I found it easier to stay off them because I didn't want to harm the baby.

I think the main thing is to remember that you CAN do it, if you've gotten down to 4 a day, you can absolutely get down to none a day, and just think about how much more energy and money you'll have when you've stopped! Good luck!!

Cat Melodeon

Mink wrote: »

I think if I give up altogether, I won't start again after the pregnancy, I don't have any intentions of starting again anyway. When I used to look after my sister's baby (she was living with me) it used to be hugely awkward to try and fit a smoke in while caring for him, so I don't even want the hassle. My other sister who breastfed had to time her cigs according to how long it would take to get out of her system between feeds. Again, I don't want that hassle & risk to the baby, just want to concentrate on them when they arrive.

At the moment the OH & I never smoke in the house (I hate smoking indoors since the ban in 2002 or whenever it was). So if he is still smoking when we have the wee one, he'll be smoking outdoors and under strict instructions to wash his hands, get it off his breath etc afterward.

I'm also an ex-smoker. I managed to give up a few months before I conceived my first boy and have stayed off them since (after many years of about 20 a day and many failed attempts to quit). Even my husband has managed to quit now, and he wasn't just a lover of nicotine but a lover of all things smoking-related. The main thing that freaked him out was the association of SIDS to smoking - a baby's risk goes up with every smoker living in the house, regardless of whether they actually smoke in the house or not. I wouldn't let him hold the baby at all when he came home from work until he had showered and changed and he wasn't allowed to smoke at all in the evenings. It wasn't that I was that uptight about it, I just figured if I made as big a deal out of it as possible he would get sick of the hassle and just quit. He read the Alan Carr book and it helped for a few months. Eventually he went to one of the Alan Carr workshops in Dublin and that was it, he hasn't smoked since.


It's so lovely being smoke-free. Apart from the health benefits, it is so relaxing to be able to go places and not have every trip punctuated by him needing a fag and me & baby having to hang about waiting for him.

Mink

Toots* wrote: »

and signed up to www.givingupsmoking.ie and I found it good, it sends you a little email to keep your motivation up. An interesting fact I found in my day 2 email was that in 48 hours from your last smoke all the nicotine is gone and if you're craving one it's purely a mental as opposed to physical craving.

Have signed up to that, yeah it's interesting. Never read any anti-smoking stuff really as wasn't planning on quitting before

Cat Melodeon wrote: »

Even my husband has managed to quit now, and he wasn't just a lover of nicotine but a lover of all things smoking-related. The main thing that freaked him out was the association of SIDS to smoking - a baby's risk goes up with every smoker living in the house, regardless of whether they actually smoke in the house or not. I wouldn't let him hold the baby at all when he came home from work until he had showered and changed and he wasn't allowed to smoke at all in the evenings.

I think I need to look up more info on the SIDS & go through this with him. I have to look at the data & be convinced myself first though, then it's easier to be really emphatic about it.

Thanks all, it's mad to think that I'll soon be a non-smoker, never would have thought it. Helps to get in that frame of mind!

Cat Melodeon

There's a HSE booklet that all parents-to-be are given at their first antenatal appointment called "Safe Sleep For Your Baby" which very briefly lists some of the risks (page 3/4), You can download it here:
http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/Publications/topics/Safety/
It doesn't cite any sources or link to scientific evidence as it's aimed at the broadest audience possible, but it's a good place to start as it's the official Irish public health message.

staticdoor71

I only found out that I am pregnant yesterday and Quit straight away.
Im tried, cranky and emotional and my doc says I cant use patches or anything so Im going cold turkey. Its so so hard, but It will be worth it in the end :cool:

And thankfully my OH is now smoking less and outside so thats cut out the temptation too..

Even tho my mother smoked through all her 6 pregnancies, i just dont have the heart to do it

Fingers crossed for me :cool:

Mink

Fair play staticdoor.

Hopefully that will be me soon a) finding out I'm preggers and b) quitting cold turkey.

Surprisingly I'm totally used to being on the 4 or 5 a day now rather than 10. So didn't take long to get over that part.

qwertytlk

Contracts! Four a day is fantastic! I only found out i was pregnant at 24 weeks and had been smoking 20-30 per day so i did cut down to less than 10 after that but it was very hard. I did feel so bad though but if i had planned the pregnancy or known sooner i would have cut down more or stopped altogether. But your obviously dedicated if your only ttc and you have already cut to four. Keep going at this rate and when u fall pregnant u will stop altogether. Ops supposed to increase chances of conceiving too so its all good! Best of luck with everything and keep it up, ur doing great:)

Sligome

Just wanted to add to the thread, i am 22 weeks pregnant and i smoke, (less than 10 a day) i have tried everything to stop, throwing them away, telling shop owners not to sell to me, OH grabbing them off me and everything but i just cant do it, i have read alan carrs book and been to the smoking clinic, i know exactly what it is doing to my baby and i still cant give them up. i feel guilt every time i light up and i just dont know what to do now, im under a lot of stress after opening a new business and working 7 days a week about 12 hrs a day and i find that sometimes i just need a fag to calm me down or just take a breather.
has anyone got any advice??

Mink

I don't have advice on stopping altogether as I've not managed it yet (I'm TTC) but I cut my daily number of cigs in half and after about 2-3 wks I was used to it.

I just found I was having them at certain times purely out of habit (like a breaktime at work, walking from train station to work, after dinner etc. So I just decided on some other habit I would take up like making a cup of tea instead, doing the dishes. I'd soon forget about the cigarette I "missed".

I don't know if that's helpful in anyway. For me, and this is just personally, I would give up as soon as I found out I was pregnant but I know from my experience of cutting down drastically, that I would get used to it after 2-3 weeks and you just HAVE to persevere through it. My sis didn't give up when she was pregnant but she did feel guilty about it throughout.

Maybe if you just do it & get through those first few weeks you'll find it easier. I honestly don't miss those ones I cut out and I'm not just saying that. I've been smoking regularly since I was 14 & I've never tried to give up, so I have a bit of an idea of what you're going through.

One hour at a time, one day at a time