Ready to quit now....again

[no-willpower-mamma]

You are all going to hate me, but I am actually 19 weeks pregnant today. I had my Ultrasound yesterday and actually saw the baby for the first time. Its a boy!!! I already have a 5 year old daughter, and I smoked through that pregnancy. It was basically the same situation as I am in now. I wanted to quit every day, and didnt.. I ended up just hiding from the world every time I had a cigarette, and hated myself for not being strong enough to just do it. I guess, Im not sure If I can be a non-smoker. I have been smoking for 14 years. Im 29 years old, so I dont need to say- that smoking is a big part of my life. I dont know if I can cope without a cigarette. Its too easy to go buy a pack, and its so hard to say no. All my friends smoke, and they are always around. I am a busy mom with sports, and playdates etc. so there is always an excuse to say, I will just quit tomorrow because todays not a good day for me. But I just want to do it... NOW. Im sick of smoking. I have 2 cigarettes left, and I want those to be my last. Any thing I can do? I can ususally last about 3-4 hours- Than I start to lose my mind. I cant take any medication either. Please help! I know you're all in the same situation, so I hope I can get some advise from someone...

[molly3]

I have been smoking for more than 30 years...I quit on Mother's day, so I'm heading to day 18 smokefree. I am not using anything-just quitting on my own. It has not been easy, I just keep reminding myself that I am now a non-smoker and come up with anything other than smoking to do in the moment. I too have a lot of smokers around and while I did keep to myself for the first couple of days I am around smokers a lot of the time. I did put up the ashtrays at my house, but don't expect anyone to hide it from me when we are out somewhere. Gum, jolly ranchers, tic tacs, straws, flipping pens around in my hand, taking walks, doing crunches, squats...anything to take your mind off of cigs! I have been eating too much to replace them so far-so now I will be focusing on the healthier options! Don't want to exchange a cig addiction with a food addiction! Best of luck to everyone...we can all do this !!! We are stronger than the drug!

[flowerchild2]

I don't know if this will help you at all, but I found out I was pregnant in mid January. I quit right there. I haven't had a puff since (like four months or something). I don't keep track of how many days and all of that because when I think about having a cigarette or what day I'm on it makes me crave one. I have found -for me atleast- I just try to live my life without thinking about it. It's hard because my family and coworkers all smoke. Being pregnant I have stayed away from places where people smoke. Which makes me pretty much a hermit now, but that's ok. The first few weeks were the worst. Every hour or so I thought I would lose my mind. The whole way through I just kept thinking about the baby, and how my bad life decisions were not my baby's choice. I don't want my baby to grow up and make the same mistake as me by starting smoking, so I surely don't want my baby to be a smoker before she is even born. Now that I'm in my 5th month I feel the baby moving. With the baby moving around all the time it is a lot easier for me to stay quit. What scares me is after I deliver in October then What? All my family and friends haven't been really supportive of my quitting because I quit for the baby not myself. You can't get down on yourself. The worse you feel about yourself the more you'll crave the cigarettes. I find that when I crave really bad (I used to smoke menthols) I put a piece of peppermint gum (the strongest I can get) in and chew but I take deep breaths and inhale the minty air for like 10 to 15mins. It helped when I first quit. I hope any of this helps you.

[lisa49]

I cut down to 1 cigarette a day when I was pregnant. My doctor also said to cut down rather than quit since quitting cold turkey is apparently worse for the baby, not only due to withdrawal but the stress is bad for the baby too. So if or when you slip up, don't make yourself feel too bad about it. Just pick back up, square your shoulders and try again. Try quitting in stages. I went from 10 cigs a day to one by eliminating each cigarette one out of time. First I started with the lunch cigarette, then the dinner cigarette, and so on and so forth until I was left with a choice of either my morning cigarette or my bedtime cigarette. That took me about 6 months. Unfortunately, as soon as my baby girl was born I fell back off the wagon pretty hard, so be careful of that too.