Trying to Quit Smoking When Pregnant!

It is so hard, and being pregnant does not make it any easier! Try to switch to gum to start cutting the psychological need, and to begin to ween of the physical need.

How you quit depends on how much you smoke. If you are a heavy smoker, then quitting cold turkey can put a lot of stress on your body. If you're not a heavy smoker (1/2 a pack a day or less) then cold turkey might be the best option.
The first time I got pregnant I was a pack a day smoker. I quit gradually. I would smoke one less cigarette a day. After about 3 days I was able to go down to two less a day.
The second time I was only about a 5 cig a day smoker and it was easy just to quit.
I'll tell you what did it for me. My first OB's office had a bottle filled with old cigarette butts and ashes. They handed it to me and asked if I would feed that to my baby. Of course I said no, and they said that's what I was doing every time I took a hit. My sense of smell was really sensitive and the smell coming out of the that nasty bottle literally made me throw up.
Another visual..Imagine your tiny baby growing in your belly. Now imagine you putting your mouth full of smoke over that baby's nose and mouth. Image yourself exhaling the smoke directly into your tiny baby's lungs. Of course, you would NEVER EVER do that, but that's exactly what you're doing each and every time you take a drag off of a smoke.
I know the visuals are very vivid, but they worked for me. Every time I had a craving that's what I focused on. I knew that I didn't want my baby to have that nastiness in her lungs. **knock on wood** I haven't had a cigarette in over a year and a half. I do have cravings sometimes, but Trident gum usually helps me overcome them.
Good luck to you! Quitting is one of the best things you can do for your baby. The first week is the hardest! You can do this!

DO work with your doc on it.

My doc was FURIOUS with me for quitting cold turkey. I didn't find out until after 3 months along, and was pretty immediately put in high risk. I had a scheduled appointment on day 2 or 3 of quitting. 2 pack per day self-medicating-for-adhd smoker. My heartrate, BP, liver enzymes, blood sugar, cortisols... they were all through the ROOF. Not to mention the periodic contractions that I didn't even notice (because my entire body was wigging out). She gave me nicotine and a sedative right there in the office (and a book to read, because she kept me there for over 4 hours being monitored)... and then I tapered off slowly over the next several months. Parts of me were kind of ticked (I'd just spent 2 days crying and writhing)... but the stress on my body and my baby were a huge no-no in my situation.

Now is this most people? Lord only knows. I know I'd heard the whole "My doc said not to quit, because there's too much stress for the baby" from people before and had kind of blown it off. But being hooked up to monitors and dosed and thoroughly yelled at for being stupid... all I can say is my own experience. Aka...DO work with your doc. There may be no problem at all... or you may be instructed to taper. Regardless... listen to your doc and your body. I didn't listen to either in the beginning, and seriously learned to do the opposite.

FWIW--my parents both quit smoking (not at the same time).

My mom was not pregnant at the time; she went to a stop-smoking program put on by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and it helped her a lot.

My Dad did not even plan to quit. He had been to the doctor for a routine, work-required checkup. He "shaded the truth" about how much he smoked when the doc asked. The doc naturally said he should cut back or quit. Dad paid lip service to this idea without really intending to do anything about it. While in the car, getting ready to go home, he reached for the cigs in his pocket, then thought "Ahh, he's probably watching me out the office window...." and decided to wait til he got home. He never smoked after that.

He thought about it in increments, it was kind of like a game, e.g. "Can I make it until I get home?" "Can I make it until after supper?" "Until tomorrow?" "Until the weekend?" "Next week?" "Next month?" etc. You could try it that way, might work.

Maybe if you had a buddy who was trying to quit too, you could call each other rather than taking the nicotine fits out on your families. Just a thought.

Best of luck to you!

K. Z.

DO NOT go get the gum or patches!! Those are SOOOO much worse for baby!! My obgyn said even quitting cold turkey can put a lot of stress on baby. He said whatever you have left in that pack, that has to last your entire pregnancy. It's every cigarette you DON'T smoke that counts. You're very fortunate to have found out so early... some women don't know they're pregnant until much farther along and have done far worse things than smoke a few cigarettes. Buy regular old bubble gum to replace the oral fixation... and don't be too hard on yourself. Yes, quitting is something you absolutely MUST do for you baby, but stressing about it is going to make you want to smoke even more! Congrats and best wishes!

Yes, talk to your doctor.

No, do not use patches or gum or anything like that, not unless doc tells you to.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Give yourself time if you need to. You might end up feeling sick in a couple weeks and it won't even be an issue.

What I did was try cold turkey. I couldn't do it, so I went and bought one more pack. I only allowed myself 2 a day for a few days. And I made sure to NOT have them at my "usual" times. So not after eating, not on my drive to work. I was trying to break all those habits that are about the timing, without panicking that I couldn't have any more. So I was getting used to not smoking at all my usual times, but still allowing myself 2 a day and that made me feel better knowing I could have one. I knew if I hit a really rough patch that I could have one right then, and I also automatically started "saving" the allowed cigs so that if I was having a rough few minutes, I would still have one available. Then I dropped down to one a day. And when that pack was gone, I quit. It was much easier on me that way. And knowing that I absolutely didn't want to smoke with a baby inside me gave me the motivation I had never had before.

Good luck! Take deep breaths, and you will get through it. (((HUGS)))

I think it will eventually come to you. The cigarette use will eventually gag you, at least it did with all of my prenancies. Best advice for now, IF you are absolutely addicted, CUT BACK to no more than 5 a day and I only say that because it was actually in a manual sent home with me once from my OB's office after getting pregnant. That some women "can't" quit and 5 or less is considered to be "more safe" if that makes sense. To me, smoking is one of the worse things to do when pregnant but you need to seek some help from your OB if you have to. I think most women that are addicted to anything when they become pregnant, do eventually quit but I know it's hard. Hang in there and really at least try and cut back until you don't feel the craving anymore. GOOD LUCK!

If you've got a pack, go throw it away and don't smoke 1 more. Go out and get the gum or lozenges right now, and dedicate yourself to stopping! Today is a great start, it's the first day of a month! Don't do it for the embryo you're carrying, do it for you!

Hi J.,

A good absorbable prenatal should make it easier. Check with your doctor as to how well yours absorbs and how it absorbs. I can recommend one that is guaranteed . Get back to me if you're interested.

The cigarettes are more addictive today than they were years back because of the chemicals used on the tobacco in the farming process. Nicotine is bad but addiction to the chemicals is what doctors don't even understand. Avoid anything chemical to help. Daily exercise will help more. Exercise, like nutrition, will help your body detox so that you won't crave the bad stuff as much.

I'd love to help. Let me know.

M.