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cindernar, that's the kind of stuff i need to hear actually. my stepdad said his mom smoked and drank hardcore with all 5 of her kids, then gave me 2 cigarettes! haha. that's the crap i dont want to hear, it gives me reasons to justify things in my head.

I don't know how much she smoked, but I'm pretty sure that she didn't even bother trying to quit. She'll be 85 in January (obviously she's one of the exceptions to the rule!), and she's still in denial that smoking is even bad for you. So, for her to even cut down would be like admitting that smoking does harm. Needless to say, my dad, who is now 54, has never touched a cigarette. I guess I'm lucky that the smell turns me off. But, I'm was never an everyday smoker; I smoked when I drank. And since I'm not drinking.....

babymakes5, I just replied to that post you should go read it, people that ignorant make me so angry. I was going to stay out of the post after I answered what the question asked but when i saw a full blown argument going on I knew I had a calling. I think I am smoking a little more lately myself, I am not really counting but it is around the 10 a day. I should slow down after the weekend and blow out of proportion again Boxing Day to New years and then I will make the effort to quit again. Anyway I am off for the weekend, hopefully my wireless works while I am in Melbs, I hate to not have net access. Hopefully I can check in, otherwise I will be back in a few days. Have a great weekend!

Hi everyone...after reading my response on another thread, Sarebare asked that I post my story here, so here goes. I am currenty 18w pregnant with my second child and I smoke. I also smoked during my entire pregnancy with my son. I was overdue with him and had to be induced (Dr. had to break my water) He was born a very healthy 7lbs 4oz. He has never had an ear infection and only 1 time has he been sick enough that I had to take him into urgent care. By the way he is now 10 years old. He is highly intelligent, scored a perfect 600 on his standardized tests last year and is now being studied for the gifted program at school, where he makes straight A's with little effort. Now I don't remember exactly how much I smoked with him, but I know it was under a pack a day. What I do remember is that I did not have to work while pregnant with him, so I was able to get lots of rest & relaxation. I had a completely normal pregnancy, so much so that at one appt. my Dr. told me I was boring! As far as what he had to say about the smoking...he told me that because I was smoking when I became pregnant, that it probably would be better if I did not completely quit, because my body going through withdrawal would cause stress on the baby. So he was much less worried about the effects of a few cigarettes a day as opposed to stress from withdrawal. I am trying to watch how much I'm smoking this time, because at one point (before I became pregnant) I had gotten to where I was smoking about a pack & a half a day, and that is way too much (pregnant or not) so I try to make sure that I don't go over 13 a day. Most days, that works out..but on occasion I do have a few more. Those of you who are down to 4or 5 a day, all I can say is WOW!! And as for everyone else, do your best but don't stress over it!!! The stress is much worse on you than a few cigarettes! Oh almost forgot, my mom smoked with both me & my sister, my grandmother smoked with my mom & my aunt, my sister smoked with both her girls, my MIL smoked with all 7 (yes thats right 7) of her kids, and we are all fine!!

I'm glad your child came out OK. I worry, though, that some people might take your post as an excuse to puff away as much as they want. I think some people are looking for that one thing that lets them justify what is considered harmful. I don't know. I guess maybe I figured since I can quit, everybody should be able to. I guess I'm wrong.

cinder - No, I think we all know better. I didn't realize with your post saying you quit, that you only smoked when you drank. We're actually addicted daily smokers and it's a lot harder than you would think. If I only ever smoked when I drank, I wouldn't have to even think twice about it. But anyway, I doubt any of us are going to read her post and think it's completely okay. It's just hope for us and I appreciate her posting her story here.

I did ask elcsdc to post her story in this post because for us full time smokers it would hopefully make us feel less guilty about not being able to quit right away not as an excuse for us not to quit or give us a reason to validate our smoking, just to maybe re-assure us that we may not be doing all that much damage especially since we have made a great effort to cut down. So thank you elcsdc for posting your story here. Now my update, my boyfriend said that since we are buying our house we need to quit smoking since it is too expensive Argggg I better start reading allen carr, I will try and find the ebook and I will figure out how to make it that it can be downloaded from my website so we all can have it. Anyone know what I need to do in order to make something downloadable? I am still under 10 a day. Oh and I remember reading somewhere that when a woman smokes the baby curls up into the fetal postion as if they are protecting themselves, my baby kicks the shit out of me while I am smoking so it must not mind. I wonder if they are just trying to instill fear in us with these ideas eh?

I am 36 weeks pregnant as of Friday and I smoke 1 to 2 ciggs a day. In the beginning I smoked a full pack. Now I cry everytime I smoke because after I do it never fails that she kicks in there. Also she gets little hiccoughs and that really kills me. The thing about my situation though is I tried to stop by suckers and candy and stuff like that. My doctor told me to lay off because I went from 130 pounds to 186 pounds. I have to take these herbalife meal replacement shakes everyday and replace two meals with the shakes. Breakfast I have a shake and dinner I have a shake. So not only am I having problems not smoking but I feel like food is my only option to quit but I don't even enjoy food like all my friends do because now my doctor is always on my tail for my weight so I feel fatter that normal. What should I do?

I will try and get that allen carr book easy way to quit smoking uploaded on to my website as soon as i get access to the site that has it and you can download it from there for free and the book is really meant to work but if i can get it for free i will buy it and post it up when i do. Just keep us bookmarked.

Ok Ladies! That Allen Carr book is available for free at my site cherry-pie.com.au/Smoking.html there is one dash between the cherry and pie delete any others that may appear. You need Adobe Reader but then you click on my link on the page and it will open in your browser and just select save a copy. God that took me all day to do. Oh yeah and my web hosts are lame and if it comes up as page cannot be found then try again later because I have been having trouble with them. I would find another host but I have a website for no reason other than to own one and have my own personal email hehe. Happy reading and let me know how you go. You are meant to smoke the whole time you read the book and once you quit you don't gain weight by eating to compensate for cravings because you will have no cravings. I will read my copy again with success as soon as boxing day is done with woohoo!!!

the s in smoking needs to be capitalized too so make sure you copy and paste.

I realize that I can't quite relate because I'm not an everyday smoker. I'm sorry that you guys have had trouble quitting.

Sarebare--thank you, thank you. You're help is much appreciated for all of us! With Xmas and this move ahead, I have all kinds of excuses for not quitting yet. But keep telling myself when I move on the 30th, I have to be done. elcdc--thank you for your story. And I agree with Alicia, it's not that your story gives us a reason to quit smoking. That's the thing--we all want to quit-thus, being The Pregnant and Trying to Quit Smoking Club! The key being Trying to Quit...but it does present a lot of guilt when we smoke, which adds stress, which adds the desire to smoke again...it's a vicious cycle. And pb1982, it's awful that you feel so bad for only having 1-2 cigs a day and cry. That can't be good for baby! Did your Dr say anything about the stress all this is causing by trying to quit. I think going down to 2 a day is a wonderful accomplishment and you should feel the same! And I gained a ton of weight with my first pg and lost it again afterwards, don't feel bad about that either. It's very common...I can't believe it's healthy just to have a shake for breakfast and dinner? Are you sure you're taking in enough for baby? I guess your dr must know what they're talking about, but that just seems a little exteme to me. I would think cutting back on some high fat, carbs would be enough? Best of luck to you and I'm glad you're on board, we're here to help each other, not make each other feel bad and as you've read in above posts, other women have smoked and they're babies have turned out fine, don't let the guilt consume you. Thanks Sarebare again for posting the book, I think it'll be a big help for everyone. Let's keep staying in touch to see how everyone's doing. Hugs!!

oops -- I meant, not that you're story gives us a reason to Not quit smoking...he he

Ok Cindernar, please allow me to clarify. IN NOW WAY AM I STATING THAT IT IS OK TO SMOKE LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN EVERYDAY OF YOUR PREGNANCY AND EXPECT THAT YOU WILL HAVE NO COMPLICATIONS!!! There, how's that? The point I was trying to make is that, if you are smoking around a half a pack a day or less, you are probably not going to have any complications from it, and it is better than stressing over it or sending your body into withdrawals. The problem I have with statistics is, they can be tailored to suit a specific outcome. As far as smoking statistics, all that is ever mentioned in studies that you read are that this number of women smoked while pregnant & this number didn't. The never tell you how much they were smoking, were they also drinking, how about street drugs, were they taking them as well, did they have good prenatal care, did they eat healthy foods, did they take their prenatal vitamins? Did they have any health problems? Without answering all of these questions, how do we know in fact that smoking & smoking alone caused complications in someones pregnancy. My experience has been quite the opposite. I have known many women who smoked while pregnant, and not one child has been born early or with problems. They people I know are not chain smokers however...I'm talking around a half a pack or so a day. So for the rest of the ladies on here..as I said before, if you can quit without the stress then good for you, you have my utmost respect, but if you cannot completely quit and you do your best to be reasonable about it, don't stress yourself out over a FEW cigs a day..the stress will cause more damage than the smoking!! Keep your head up ladies, you're doing fine!

Whoa, hold on there! I'm not attacking anyone. Let me explain a little more. I had two babies with fatal birth defects before I had my son. Then I went on to have a healthy child, and I have another healthy child on the way. Speaking as someone who has actually had something wrong with my child, I can tell you that IF, GOD FORBID, anything were to happen to the children of any of the ladies on this thread, they would most likely beat themselves up. I know I did. I questioned whether it was the beer or cigs I had before I knew I was pregnant. I questioned whether it was my morning cup of coffee. I questioned whether it was my face soap, my bath temperature, my job stress -- everything. I know how it feels to be that 1 out of 1,000, and it's not fun. I'm not judging anyone. I'm just saying that fortunately you and your family have been the ones in the majority -- the ones who've come out healthy despite everything. My babies were on the other side. And please, let me clarify, I am in no way saying that it was definitely cigarettes that caused my sons' problems. However, when something like that happens, you do tend to question everything you did "wrong." That's all I'm saying.