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1st Trimester
grr_aargh
member
re: smokers (too important to get lost in the post)
grr_aargh
member
I began smoking at 17 and have smoked off and on for much of the past 15 years. I tell you this as a former smoker. I have two healthy children, with whom I quit smoking the day I discovered I was pregnant and was blessed to have uneventful pregnancies. In the past 18 months, I have had four miscarriages and am now pregnant a fifth time. I have no doubt in my mind that my smoking habits contributed to the early demise of those pregnancies - either because of genetic damage to the eggs or increased aging from smoking or clotting factors from smoking. I did not pick up smoking again between my fourth loss and this pregnancy and am hopeful that it, finally, made a difference.
I tell you all of that because I have been where you are. I know how hard it is to quit, but you just.plain.quit.
Someone gave you the suggestion to write on your cigarette package to encourage yourself to stop. I would further suggest you print out one of the following images and put THAT in your cigarette pack:
Here's a particularly compelling image
This one's important
This discussion has been closed.
Re: re: smokers (too important to get lost in the post)
It's not nice. But it's not meant to be.
I realize that it's hard to quit smoking. It's darned hard. But it's just the first of a bunch of hard things you have to do as a parent. And among the best, IMO.
If your own body isn't enough to get you to quit. . . or TTCing. . . then your fetus should be.
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I think once you decide to have a child, it shouldn't be about "you" anymore. Everything you do/eat/drink should always have that little baby on the back of your mind (whether PG or TTC.)
Very very true. I have pics of DS in the NICU I could show, but I never have smoked.
There were twins in the room next to him that were about 2lbs with breathing machines and tubes galore. Mom was a smoking 17yr old.
Sure, I agree.
But smoking addiction is real and it's very hard to overcome. I think that is absolutely true. Physical, tangible reminders of what you are doing when you smoke can be helpful to prevent you from lighting the next one. If this woman's intent is to cut down gradually while she tries to quit, why not pack along a reminder of what each of these cigarettes is doing to her.
We know all sorts of things in our brain - it's retraining our bodies that is important. Nasty images attached to cigarette packs are behavioral therapy at its finest.
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Maybe I've naive or take science way too seriously, but with all of the research out there, it blows my mind as to why anyone under the age of 50 even still smokes.
Not to mention it is nasty and it makes you stink.
I am very, very anti-smoking. Pregnant or not.
And as I said in the other post, when someone is addicted to anything, all concept of right and wrong goes out the window.
This world is full of people that should stop smoking, drinking, doing drugs for the benefit of their families. It is not as easy as "just stopping" for some people -- addictions are often out of your control.
https://www.dailysciencedose.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/fetus-smoking-baby.jpg
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7PhUmXW8mOo/SsmVMqplpyI/AAAAAAAAAoU/Xu1Wi0y7OR8/s320/smoking_pregnancy_baby_nhs_poster-300x300.gif
https://www.ida.org.in/Information/newimages/cleft%20lip%20palate.jpg
This last one should be proof enough WARNING IT'S GRAPHIC. Smoking is linked to cleft pallet in babies.
I really don't think anyone was arguing that we needed more proof not to smoke.
I understand going cold turkey is absolute hell, and so is cutting back. But being able to make an attempt for the sake of your child is a win in my book. Some people don't even "try" to quit...
And whats your point? I wanted to show a picture of what can actually happen to a baby. No need to be snarky...
My point is that this is spinoff from a post where the OP knew exactly what could happen to her baby, and is struggling with an addiction. It's not like she said, "So, smoking isn't all that bad, is it?"
We all agree smoking is unhealthy for baby
Who else is craving frozen yogurt?!
I think the point is that graphic images can do more to hit home during the difficult process of quitting than knowing statistics.
I, for example, KNOW it's idiotic to smoke. I did it anyway. Why? Because I was an addict.
But the images of my stepfather rotting away in a hospital bed, his body filling with fluids it couldn't process while he couldn't talk, his eyes yellowed beyond what seemed humanly possible -- that did more to get me to quit smoking than ANY brochure from the cancer society could have.
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I would be really curious to know if people are not eating fro yo. My otherwise extremely moderate OB put the full smack down on that and soft serve ice cream. An I am dying.
And MY POINT is that graphic images printed out and taped to her cigarette packs can help her fight addiction.
I'm trying to be helpful, not judgmental.
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I put a picture up. That is all. I never said anything about OP's habit. Just put my opinion up. It's a picture, no one has to look at it if they don't want too.
Very well said!
Very well said!
Very well said!
Very well said!
Very well said!
Very well said!
Very well said!
... I live right next to a DQ. I can't NOT have soft serve ice cream. Especially in the summertime! That's like asking a cat to bark!
Ugh sorry it posted so many times..i have no idea how that happened...
oh and PS I HATE my screen name..damn me for signing up for this site years ago before i even had a boyfriend!!!
Very well said!
Lol, it says you joined on 6/17/2009.
That's not even one year!
I have no problem saying this and frankly do not care who is offended or who isn't...
I was a smoker and I stopped. Three of my girlfriends were smokers, they stopped. We all did this between our 2ww and our BFP. Those who are pregnant and are still "trying to quit" are taking the "I'm addicted" route. Look, we were all addicted, as that's what smoking is - an addiction. It sucks, you want a cigarette, I know. But for Chr!st's sake, you have a child growing inside you. Get over yourself and stop smoking. I know I say it and it sounds simple...but really if you stop thinking about your own mental anguish from lack of cigarettes and think about those digustingly sad picures which have been posted, you may actually stop smoking.
Besides, you do know people look at you and just think you are trash when you smoke and are pregnant, right?
Yea this site i signed up for the knot..so i just kept the names the same without thinking i would actually use this site...or post lol
Yea this site i signed up for the knot a long time ago..so i just kept the names the same without thinking i would actually use this site...or post lol
I second that! I love cake batter with crushed graham cracker crust!
Lol you guys are killin me! I have cookie dough ice cream in the freezer and DH has a stash of Oreo's in the cupboard...
I'm thinking I should pirate some cookies and have myself a treat!!
OP here.
I would like to thank everyone who weighed in today -- both the harsh and the kind.
I would like to say that I did not post this topic to justify the fact that I cut down. I really was looking for techniques to help me stop completely. There were some great ideas on the original post, and some inspiration here, too. Some things really hit home -- especially the photo of the cleft palate.
I just pray that I haven't already done any damage.
I'm ashamed. I'm going to try harder.
not to beat a dead horse, but you should be and the harder you "try", the more successful you will be in stopping. BTW, I also find if you think about it in terms of stopping and not quitting, it isn't as mentally taxing. Good luck sweetie!
What's that Yoda quote? "There is no try. There is only do and not do."
I value your frankness in posting the OP and that you are listening. I really DO encourage you to print out some photos and tape them to your cigarette pack. I'm not beating you up or punishing you, I'm simply stating that an image goes a long way toward extracting a stronger physical reaction from you than simply facts and numbers might. It might be just the thing you need to get you to set that pack back down.
Good luck and I hope you are able to quit soon and for good. The hardest thing for me has been STAYING AWAY after pregnancy (as evidenced by the off-and-on nature of my smoking). I hope that this is the last time I quit - and that I never smoke again.
I hope the same for you.
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