2nd Trimester

I cant believe what Im hearing!!

I just got done having a conversation with my Mom about all the steps ive been taking to ensure I have a healthy baby. i.e. limting caffiene, eating healthy etc. So she goes on to say how back when she was pregnant with me they never took prenatals, she drank her 2 cups a day. AND THEN.. She tells me she smoked the entire time she was pregnant with me!! I cant believe it! Ive never been a smoker so its hard to understand but can you believe it was once acceptable?? 
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Re: I cant believe what Im hearing!!

  • My MIL told me the same thing that she smoke and drank with both of her kids. She doesn't understand why I dont want to be around them when her and FIL smoke. UGH. Her daughter has two kids and she smoke and drank also. MIL said look they are normal. One is 6 and still doesn't talk thats not normal!

    I told her its my baby my life my rules. I am here to do what I feel is right thats what matters most. 

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  • It's shocking huh?  My mom smoked the entire time with me too...there is a great picture of her taking a drag at her baby shower lol.  But she drank too from time to time.  I'm sure neither were encouraged, but not frowned on either.
  • My mom smoked her entire pregnancy with me, as well. I was like "Wow, its crazy to think how people didn't worry about that stuff back then" (24 years ago) and she said "Oh NO! I knew I wasn't supposed to be smoking, but I never craved cigarettes more in my life. I was so ashamed I would hide them in the bathroom and smoke while your dad was at work. I was so scared you were going to come out the size of a Barbie doll"

    I was like "Oh, gee thanks mom" And this was coming from a lady who has not smoked now in 15 years, does NOT drink, and is very healthy. But alas, I came out fine. 

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  • My mom smoked and drank during both of her pregnancies.  She told me there were even ashtrays in her hospital room.

    Times were different then- it was the norm. This is why I don't buy in to all the Avoid Everything hype surrounding pregnancy.  I don't smoke anyway, and was never really a drinker, so those just aren't issues for me, but I still drink coffee, diet Coke, and eat lunch meat.   Yes, we're better informed now, and yes, there are risks, but I think we blow a lot of things out of proportion.

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  • Yep ... they just didn't have the research that supported that it's not such a good thing to do when you're pregnant ... my mom smoked too throughout her pregnancy with me ... scary ...
  • imagesapgirl76:

    My mom smoked and drank during both of her pregnancies.  She told me there were even ashtrays in her hospital room.

    Times were different then- it was the norm. This is why I don't buy in to all the Avoid Everything hype surrounding pregnancy.  I don't smoke anyway, and was never really a drinker, so those just aren't issues for me, but I still drink coffee, diet Coke, and eat lunch meat.   Yes, we're better informed now, and yes, there are risks, but I think we blow a lot of things out of proportion.

    This.  I remember there being ashtrays in all of the hospital rooms.  I forgot to mention that yes my mom smoked while she was pregnant with me, but I was also born 6 weeks early at 5lbs.  That's not early or small by today's standards, but in the 80's she had to be life-flighted into Houston.  They thought I was going to be under 3lbs.  But other than that I think I'm pretty normal...maybe I can blame her for my inability to completely grasp calculus ;)

  • that was more socially acceptable in our parents' generation. my grandmother told me that when she breastfed my aunt, she had to make sure she didn't drop ashes from her cigarette on her head. with all of the precautions we take these days, it seems a little extreme. but we all turned out ok, right?
  • imageTXTwisterBabe:
    But other than that I think I'm pretty normal...maybe I can blame her for my inability to completely grasp calculus ;)

    Hahaha!! I told my mom the same thing "I'm pretty much fine, but whatever downfalls I do have, I can blame on you smoking with me"

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  • Our kids will be saying the same thing about us 30 years from now about something.
  • This is why i'm not going to flip out if i eat deli meat, paint toenails, drink some coffee and eat a little sushi every now and then.  Our parents did waayyy worse things and we all turned out fine.  Stick out tongue
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  • Yeah, I think I was out of a carseat and using old phone books as a 'booster seat' by age 2.
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  • And my mom was reminicing about the crap she got from my grandma about breastfeeding me. My grandma showed up 3 days after I was born with her glass bottle sterilizer and her recipe for formula- made out of evaporated milk and Karo syrup. Surprise  My mom and uncle were raised on that formula and came out ok, but it just goes to show, different times.

    My mom was the 'weird hippie' for breastfeeding me until I was 15 months old.

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  • imagedulcinea03:
    Yeah, I think I was out of a carseat and using old phone books as a 'booster seat' by age 2.

    you mean you actually got to sit in the cab?!  LOL  I remember all the kids riding everywhere in the bed of my family's truck under the camper top!  Could you imagine the major freak out we would get today if we tried these things with our kids?

  • Well, yea. Doctors endorsed certain brands of cigarettes.  My mom was tipsy when she went to the hospital in labor since, as she was contracting, the on call nurse kept telling her to have "another glass of wine" since it "wasn't time yet."

    It was a different time.  I'm ALL for being cautious, but what our moms tell us reveal just how overly cautious we have become.  A glass of wine, some soft cheese - not a biggie!!

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  • My MIL told me she smoke and drank while pregnant with all three of her kids because her doctor told her she was already doing it and addicted or something weird like that so it was fine.  I can understand a small glass of red wine on occasion but not as much as she drinks every night.
  • People still smoke today while pregnant.  I was born in the early 70's and my mom didn't smoke during her pregnancy, but most of the restrictions we have in place today concerning food intake did not exist.  Also, PNV's were not suggested, among many other things that today are a given.  Different times for sure - but most of us all came out happy and healthy anyway :)

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  • I'm 28. People knew not to smoke during pregnancy at that time (research about cancer had also come out) but they still did it at a higher rate than today.

     

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  • My mom smoked 2 packs a day and drank a beer each night (swears dr. told her to. yeah right) and wonders why I weighed 2 pounds 12 ounces and stayed in the NICU for 5 weeks.
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  • My mother also smoked the entire time she was pregnant with me...and in all of our home movies, there I am, an infant in her arms, and she's holding a cigarette with one hand.  I got exposed to SO MUCH secondhand smoke it's appalling.  Maybe that's why I hate smoking so much now!  My father used to also drive us around in the bed of his truck lol...
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  • Well, cigarettes today are also different than they were when my mom was pregnant.  They have a lot more nasty additives - tobacco is the least of the things to avoid in them.  Not that I'm condoning anyone smoking during pregnancy, in any time period, but this is not exactly an apples to apples comparison.
  • Not shocking at all really, everyone did it then. Although, with what we know now, if I saw chick on the street rocking a bump and a cigarette I'd want to punch her!
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  • imagegoldenleaves:
    My mom smoked 2 packs a day and drank a beer each night (swears dr. told her to. yeah right) and wonders why I weighed 2 pounds 12 ounces and stayed in the NICU for 5 weeks.

    When I declined a glass of wine at my brother's impromptu engagement party, my aunt scoffed and told me that her doctor INSISTED that she drink a glass of beer every day b/c it would help her milk come in and she needed to gain more weight.  My aunt lived on Fresca and green beans with that pg and was PROUD of the fact that she only gained like 5 lbs.  She's a bit of a nut anyway.  I just smiled and nodded and said that MY OB told me that no amount of alcohol has been proven to be safe, so that's what I was going with.  'Cuz there's obviously NOTHING else one can do to gain weight... and the milk/beer thing was a definite belief back then (I think it's been debunked), but that wouldn't apply DURING pg... yeah, crackpot...

  • My mom has always been a bit of a health nut, and when she got pg with my older sister made my dad quit smoking. He made some comment to me the other day like "Are you drinking your gallon of milk a day?" He was dead serious. I was like um, no...

    Apparently mom mom ate nothing packaged, premade etc. She had her own veggie garden and drank 1-2 gallons of milk a day with each pg. Ummm, I feel like the crappy mom in the family.  

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  • My grandma (in her 80s) told me that when she had all 5 of her kids she was encouraged to smoke to help keep the weight off. :)

     She was supposed to gain only 10lbs per pregnancy (and she was yelled at when she gained about 12lbs.)

    She was also supposed to fill up a milk jug every morning and not allowed to drink any more water than that per day so she wouldn't swell.

    And cocktails were encouraged to help a pregnant woman stay relaxed.

    Can you imagine what will change by the time we're great grandparents?

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  • imageoctwed07:
    This is why i'm not going to flip out if i eat deli meat, paint toenails, drink some coffee and eat a little sushi every now and then.  Our parents did waayyy worse things and we all turned out fine.  Stick out tongue

     Exactly, me too! We need to remember babies have been born since the beginning of time and a cup of coffee here and there and a sandwich is not really going to hurt anything-moderation(besides smoking and drinking)!!  My mother also smoked and I believe she was "encouraged" to because it would relieve stress. 

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