[danielle123]

I know some of you will look down on me for this but I did smoke before I found out I was pregnant. When I found out I had stopped. From about 5-17 weeks i didn't smoke but i am around 2nd hand smoke since EVERYONE i know smokes. I did have a couple puffs of maybe 10 smokes in the last week.. I'm just wondering if that'll cause anything to the baby. It's so hard to stop since everyones doing it, and everyone smokes around me. I'm not going to have another puff the rest of the pregnancy, (so hard lol) but how do i make EVERYONE quit smoking around me. I'm so scared of my baby being a stillborn or having a higher risk of SIDS. What are your opinions? Does anyone think the couple of puffs will majorly harm my baby?

[geogeek]

It is honestly a case by case thing. Some women it is just fine and others it might cause harm. There is no studies saying how much is too much just like alcohol. I know I wouldn't enter that study if there was one. I say if you quit now, you are not causing harm. You can't change the past so don't beat yourself up about it. Just know what you will do in the future to try and keep that goal of no more smoking the rest of the pregnancy.

[JessP]

I don't really think there is a way to "make" those around you stop. You can ask them to please not smoke around you. I agree don't beat yourself up about the past just decide what you want to do for the future and go with that. Good luck.

[shen7]

I don't judge you, I know how hard it is to quit 100% when everyone around you smokes. (Luckily for me when I quit years ago, it was easy to just fall into a new group of friends - I was in college.) The less you smoke, and the less secondhand smoke you are around, the better...

[ItsFinallyOct]

My last lost...I never completely stopped.....I went from 1 pack a day to 2-4 per day and was slowly working on stopping.

This time. I cut down to 2-4 per day for about 2 weeks after finding out and haven't had a puff for 2+ months.

I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND. I decided IF I lost THIS baby, I wanted to 100% know that it had nothing to do with cigarettes. It took me about 1 week to stop WANTING THEM...and now when I smell them, I want to throw up. I HATE how smokers smell and I sure hope I don't start again after baby comes!

As far as others around you.....if YOU can quit, they'll respect it more. If you are puffing away..they won't care. The farther along you are, I'm sure they'll start to not do it around you so much. If they light up...go outside if you can or away if they won't. AND when baby comes YOU make the rule...no smoking around my kid. PERIOD.....people should respect that!

[OwensMommy25]

Smoking can cause a low birth weight baby needing time in the NICU. You can't control those around you, but you can control yourself. I don't judge you, but if it was me.. I wouldn't be actively smoking.

[missy123]

Here is my history: Back when I had my boys (15-20 years ago) no one really said much about smoking while pregnant or how bad it was. You would hear rumors like smoking is bad and can cause low birthweight but not really much at all. I smoked through all of my pregnancies. I smoked out in public and no one ever said anything. I got lucky, my boys were fine.

Let's fastfoward to now... Smoking is really bad. I will not lecture or judge you at all as I smoked for 25 years and quit 6 months ago but please stop as much as possible. Get away from those people that are smoking around you. Do not allow people to smoke in your house. They can go outside. If you were able to quit this much you can do this. Be strong for your baby.

[danielle123]

Thanks ladies No more smoking! yay lol, It'll be tough but what's 4 months for a healthy baby!

[momof6lopez]

I would rather see you smoke than to be around second hand smoke (IMO, NOT A DOCTOR), but that second hand smoke is really bad for anyone, pregnant or not.

Like Missy, 20yrs ago, it was bad, but not frowned upon. I smoked with all three boys. With my last two (last decade of babies) I cut down. Im embarrased and ashamed to admit it, but it is what it is. Good luck to you sweetie, it is really hard and I give you big props for TRYING!!

[avocado.eggrolls]

I honestly do think it will cause harm. I'm not trying to judge you or make you feel badly. My last pregnancy was my first and a surprise. I was a smoker but I quit the second I had an inkling that my period might not show.

I think you should quit with a vengence. My sister in law's mother smoked (1975) and my SIL was born with only one ovary & one fallopian tube and had heaps of trouble conceiving my nephew.

You get a mere 9 months to give this baby a chance at healthy development. I chose my baby over the nicotine addiction and you can too.

[missy123]

Originally Posted by momof5lopez

Like Missy, 20yrs ago, it was bad, but not frowned upon. I smoked with all three boys. With my last two (last decade of babies) I cut down. Im embarrased and ashamed to admit it, but it is what it is. Good luck to you sweetie, it is really hard and I give you big props for TRYING!!

Exactly! Kudos for cutting down!!! Smoking is a physical addiction and do not let anyone tell you that "it is just a habit". I went through horrible physical withdrawals like any drug addict. Quitting smoking was the hardest thing I have done.

So... Don't let others make you feel bad about yourself. Do what you can. No one is perfect, everyone has those skeletons.

Totally agree with Missy. I smoked with my daughter. I cut down dramatically, but still. Then in September, I decided I wanted another baby and refused to smoke again while pregnant. So, after 17.5 years, I quit. I used the Patch and it was the HARDEST most painful thing I had to go through. I haven't smoked since. Found out I was pregnant in January. My proudest accomplishment, other than my daughter, is that I quit smoking.

You do what you can, and that's all you can do. Good luck! It's a terrible thing to quit. SO hartd. (But I have never felt better in my LIFE!!) Good luck hon!!

[AZsnowflake]

I smoked for 8 years, but knew that I wanted to quit smoking before getting pregnant. I quit Feb 1st 08, and got pregnant with my son on Feb 14th 08. I had one cigarette in those first two weeks but nothing after that. I didn't smoke while I was BF'ding either, but slowly began to smoke while out and about and it became habit again. We wanted to have another baby but I decided I wouldn't quit til I found out I was pregnant. At that point I was really only smoking 2 cigarettes a week. But I quit when I got that second line on the test. For me, I'm lucky because when I'm pregnant it is super super easy for me to not smoke, I don't even want it. Well, that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage and even though I know the smoking didn't make a difference, I always have that doubt in my mind. After the miscarriage I had one puff but never another one...I didn't want it anymore. I'm hoping that once this baby is born I will never go back to it again.

Cutting down is better then nothing, staying away from the second hand smoke as much as possible is best. You already listed the concerns from smoking, so keep repeating those to yourself! For me, I just never wanted my kids to grow up with a mommy that smoked, so that is a big motivation for me. Like I said, I'm hoping to to be done for good now! Good luck

Honestly, it's quite easy to not be around smokers. I'm with you in that just about everyone that I am around smokes. Everyone knows that there is NO smoking in my house so that takes care of that, I do not ride in cars with people that I think will have a cigarette while I am in the car, nor will I go in someones house if I think that they will be smoking in there while I am there. Most public places are smoke-free so I don't have to worry about that. I'm not judging anyone else but I know that for me personally I will not take the risk, so I find it easy to avoid it.