I'm sticking this in the debate forum because I DON'T know how it will turn out, but it CAN be moved.

If you guys quit smoking while you were pregnant, for nine months, why start smoking again IF you don't like smoking?

I just heard on the news that smoking is a HARD, if not the HARDEST habbit to break. SO, if that's true, how come so many women have the power to quit while pregnant, but then start smoking again right after their baby's born?!

Im going to be honest.. When I was pregnant I didn't quit. I did cut way down. I was only 19 and I didn't know then what I know now. I would definitely quit if I decided to have another baby.

I didn't and I'm sooooo glad I didn't! I LOVED smoking when I was a smoker, but I felt like I was seriously held back in life b/c of it (having to constantly go outside, wash hands, spray perfume, it's all I could think about when I couldn't have one, etc) so I am so glad to be free from that! My kids were the best motivation to stop and I guess I just figured there was no point in starting against since the addiction was obviously gone.

Im going to be honest.. When I was pregnant I didn't quit. I did cut way down. I was only 19 and I didn't know then what I know now. I would definitely quit if I decided to have another baby.

Thanks for being honest. Do you think A LOT of mom's say they quit, but really just slack off?!

I started back up after Anya because I was young and stupid.
Started back up after Schyular was born because I spent almost every waking moment in the court room and was stressed beyond words.
Started back up after Timmy because I was in a shitty marriage, stressed, alone, it was my only avenue of letting stress out.

I really wish I had the will power though to quit for good after having Anya though.

I didn't and I'm sooooo glad I didn't! I LOVED smoking when I was a smoker, but I felt like I was seriously held back in life b/c of it (having to constantly go outside, wash hands, spray perfume, it's all I could think about when I couldn't have one, etc) so I am so glad to be free from that! My kids were the best motivation to stop and I guess I just figured there was no point in starting against since the addiction was obviously gone.


That's what I was thinking too Brandi. If you quit for nine months, the addiction SHOULD be gone, so why start again?

I didn't and I'm sooooo glad I didn't! I LOVED smoking when I was a smoker, but I felt like I was seriously held back in life b/c of it (having to constantly go outside, wash hands, spray perfume, it's all I could think about when I couldn't have one, etc) so I am so glad to be free from that! My kids were the best motivation to stop and I guess I just figured there was no point in starting against since the addiction was obviously gone.

You nailed it. It takes sooo much time to just have a smoke when you have kids.

I'm so glad to be smoke free for 3 years now.

I started back up after Anya because I was young and stupid.
Started back up after Schyular was born because I spent almost every waking moment in the court room and was stressed beyond words.
Started back up after Timmy because I was in a shitty marriage, stressed, alone, it was my only avenue of letting stress out.

I really wish I had the will power though to quit for good after having Anya though.

WOW. I'm sorry but I'm ignorant to smoking because I've bever smoked, but does smoking really relieve that much stress? Is it kind of like having a beer, or a glass of wine?

You nailed it. It takes sooo much time to just have a smoke when you have kids.

I'm so glad to be smoke free for 3 years now.

WOW, so what made you finally decide to quit after three years, if you don't mind me asking? That's AMAZING!

Thanks for being honest. Do you think A LOT of mom's say they quit, but really just slack off?!
Well, i'll be honest again.. :teehee I didn't let ANYONE know I smoked still. I only smoked when I was home, and I never did it when I had company. I did in the beginning, but people looked at me like I was slugging whiskey and snorting lines. So, I decided to cut down, and *try* to quit. It was a very stressful time of my life, and my situation wasn't perfect. (We lived with my in-laws, who were totally nutts :screwy) I actually wheeled myself out of the delivery room right after the epi wore off so I could smoke. :oops

I hate the fact that I smoked when I was pregnant. I regret it, and I wouldn't do it again, I know that.

I do wanna say my daughter was born in PERFECT health with a perfect apgar score, and no complications, AT ALL!

I quit before i had my second daughter. I was never the type to get addicted to anything for a long time. The main reason that its so easy for me to quit and not look back to smoking (its been 4 years) is because Dh is not a smoker. He told me one time that i smelled like an ashtray, that stick to me like a knife till this day. Now when I smell some it really irratate me.

My mom is a smoker and the ones who quit when she is pregnant and goes back to smoking after preganancy. Its because my stepdad also smokes and it makes it that much harder for her to quit.

WOW. I'm sorry but I'm ignorant to smoking because I've bever smoked, but does smoking really relieve that much stress? Is it kind of like having a beer, or a glass of wine?
It does for me. Im in the process of quitting though :wink Sooner the better!

That is a good question and I am a prime example...I think it is more will power. I quit smoking cold turkey each time I got prego. I couldn't stand the thought of somehow harming my baby in any way. But everyday was VERY hard. There wasnt a day that I didn't have cravings. To make it worse, my DH smokes. After my 3rd child, born in Nov 2007, I was going to try and stay quit. But for me that was easier said than done. With my husband being gone for so long and not here when I had the baby and I only have a couple of people that I know where I live that can help me sometimes...it was just hard. I know it sounds like an excuse to many and maybe it is, but the stress can get the best of you and smoking is what helps me feel like I have a little sanity. I admit, I enjoy smoking. I do not smoke around my children and after I smoke I ALWAYS wash my hands. I know that it gets in your clothes but especially in the winter I have a sweater or jacket on and always take it off before doing anything with them so it is not like I am holding them up against a fresh smoke smelling shirt. Needless to say, some women can stay quit and others cannot.

That is a good question and I am a prime example...I think it is more will power. I quit smoking cold turkey each time I got prego. I couldn't stand the thought of somehow harming my baby in any way. But everyday was VERY hard. There wasnt a day that I didn't have cravings. To make it worse, my DH smokes. After my 3rd child, born in Nov 2007, I was going to try and stay quit. But for me that was easier said than done. With my husband being gone for so long and not here when I had the baby and I only have a couple of people that I know where I live that can help me sometimes...it was just hard. I know it sounds like an excuse to many and maybe it is, but the stress can get the best of you and smoking is what helps me feel like I have a little sanity. I admit, I enjoy smoking. I do not smoke around my children and after I smoke I ALWAYS wash my hands. I know that it gets in your clothes but especially in the winter I have a sweater or jacket on and always take it off before doing anything with them so it is not like I am holding them up against a fresh smoke smelling shirt. Needless to say, some women can stay quit and others cannot.

I totally understand that. It's like you CAN do it when you're pregnant because you HAVE to, or you WANT to because you have a reason to fight off the urges and that pain, but once you're not pregnant and you CAN smoke again especially when you are in the environment(your DH), it's so much easier to give in to the temptations and urges!

I didn't quit either...I wish I had at times because honestly I felt like crap. Even now I smoke and I feel like crap. I hate everything about it. Sounds funny but I just haven't quit. Over again, I would try everything in me to quit.

I totally understand that. It's like you CAN do it when you're pregnant because you HAVE to, or you WANT to because you have a reason to fight off the urges and that pain, but once you're not pregnant and you CAN smoke again especially when you are in the environment(your DH), it's so much easier to give in to the temptations and urges!
You nailed it! I am going to try and get my DH to try and quit with me once he his home...after all of the readjustment. I am really hoping that one day I will wake up and just not want it! lol - but since that I am sure will not happen, it is always better to have a partner when kicking the nasty habit.

I didn't quit either...I wish I had at times because honestly I felt like crap. Even now I smoke and I feel like crap. I hate everything about it. Sounds funny but I just haven't quit. Over again, I would try everything in me to quit.

That doesn't sound funny at all, believe me, I think most people who smoke actually hate the addiction. My mom is still a smoker and CONSTANTLY wants to quit... she truly hates it. She just hasn't been able to muster up enough motivation and self control to do it yet. It sucks to be addicted to anything!

I didn't entirely quit when I was pregnant either time. With my son 5 months were smoke free b/c even air made me hurl. With my daughter I got down to 2 cigarettes at most a day. I still smoke, 2 cigarettes a day. The why... I like it. It's calming to me. And I've smoked for so long it's just 'me'. The two I have a day are with dh after the kids are in bed, sitting outside chatting. Could we just go outside to sit and chat, probably, but it's our 'thing'. I guess. But honestly, I like smoking.

I had quit like 3 mths before finding out I was pregnant with Jerron and started back soon after he was born(no heavy) because 1) my ex smoked and it was always around me and 2) I was so stressed at him leaving all the time, a newborn baby and then the seperation... it was my stress reliever. I would smoke and feel human again. I smoked pretty much straight on from then till last year. I quit once last Jan and started back after I misscarried because I was depressed and then I quit last September and have no desire to start again. My DH is trying to quit right now and its really hard on him but he is trying hard. I got very sick and couldn't stomach thinking about a ciggarete and didn't want to smoke again.

WOW, so what made you finally decide to quit after three years, if you don't mind me asking? That's AMAZING!

I was given an ultimatium. My husband, boyfriend at the time was threatening to move out if I didn't. I didn't want us to end and I knew it was time to quit. And no I didn't quit after 3 years, I quit after smoking for over 12 years of smoking 3 packs a day.

WOW. I'm sorry but I'm ignorant to smoking because I've bever smoked, but does smoking really relieve that much stress? Is it kind of like having a beer, or a glass of wine?

For me it was a stress reliever. Even now when I get super stressed like I did last year the first thing that comes to mind is to go buy a pack of smokes. I have horrible coping skills and always used my smoking as my way of "coping".

Well..... I quit with Zach and did NOT smoke again until after Ashlee. I'll be honest it was stress. Ash was 3 months old when matt left Zach was 2 1/2 Matt went to Korea for a year. We had never been apart longer then a month and NEVER with kids. I was so incredibly overwhelmed. My friend was smoking and I was like fuck it can I have one. I thought it would just be an occasional thing NOPE once I had that one I was hooked again. I quit again awhile back then Matt and I seperated and I started smoking again. I was back into the club/bar scene and everyone smoked it was just very easy to start again.

I had postpartum depression and I honestly was terrified at the prospect of being a mom. On top of that I don't smoke all the time. I don't smoke around my child, it would be the last thing I did after the family was in bed, go sneak outside and talk on the phone and have "grown-up time" -- its honestly the only time I got FOR ME back then where I could do whatever I wanted. I enjoyed it and I still do. It wasn't as much the addiction as much as the concept.

I think it's because with most women, the smell or taste of cigarette smoke makes them sick...therefore it's easy to quit then....your body (due to the lovely mechanisms of pregnancy) makes the cravings tolerable.

but after the baby is born, stress, the fact that it doesn't make you sick anymore....or if your spouse smokes, etc.

People who quit smoking actually MISS the habit....it's an oral fixation (nothing dirty guys :naughty) as much as it is an addiction.

I'll be honest...I don't know if I'll start again after my baby's born. :(
I quit for 7 months once before and then started back up again right when DF went to Iraq...
Then I quit for 2 more months while in boot camp, and my first purchase on the way home was a pack.
Then I quit the day I found out I was preggers...and I'm not sure what will happen. :(
It is really hard. I don't know. Lol.

I have never had a cigarette in my life and right now am biting my tongue as much as I can to keep from harassing DB to much about quiting. That being said his mother ticks me off no end because I have actually seen her hold her granddaughter in one arm and a cigarette in the other hand :duh. I commend all of you have, even though you are smoking again, at least kept it away from your children. Because of what I have seen I will not let my children (when I eventually have them :lol) visit her without me.

I quit when I was pregnant...but after DD was born and DH went back to work and my mom went back home across the country...I had no one....THEN I found out about something, that I don't want to really go into detail...lets just say I found stuff out that almost ended my marriage a week after DD was born...Yea...I know I'm the only one to blame for picking it back up... But still, I was young and the stress that I was dealing w/ all at once overwhelmed me. I'm a smoker now...and I plan on quitting when we move (5-6 months) I know it might seem silly to wait even that long, but in all honesty, I dont have the drive to quit right now. I know I should for my health...but at the same time- it is so nice to sit w/ my girlfriends have a smoke and some coffee and just talk....It's hard to explain... I will def. be smoke free when I move though....

i haven't had kids yet, but i have quit smoking for long enough periods of time for the nicotine addiction to technically be gone, but whenever i slip up, it's because either a. dh slipped up too or b. we're around people that are smoking. i am perfectly fine not smoking when i'm on my own. but as soon as i get around anybody else smoking, there goes my will power.

and god, some days i just feel like everybody in the whole damn army smokes.

I didnt smoke when i was preg...Its a habit i just recently picked up

Because I could essentially. And because it was a stress reliever. I wuit cold turkey when I got pregnant with Ethan. I started back up smoking after I stopped breastfeeding. I started because it was the ONLY stress reliever I had and because I could. I would go outside, smoke, come inm change clothes, wash my hands, brush my teeth, gargle with mouthwash EVERY single time before I even touched my son. I stopped smoking again when I got pregnant with Ashley and that was it.

They say it is very common for women to quit smoking while pregnant and start back up after they have the baby. For whatever the reason. Some people enjoy smoking. I guess it just varies.

Same with drinking. Many people dont drink while pregnant but will drink after the baby. Many people stop caffiene while pregnant and will drink it after the baby etc

I think it's because with most women, the smell or taste of cigarette smoke makes them sick...therefore it's easy to quit then....your body (due to the lovely mechanisms of pregnancy) makes the cravings tolerable.

but after the baby is born, stress, the fact that it doesn't make you sick anymore....or if your spouse smokes, etc.

People who quit smoking actually MISS the habit....it's an oral fixation (nothing dirty guys :naughty) as much as it is an addiction.
Thats about it!

Because I could essentially. And because it was a stress reliever. I wuit cold turkey when I got pregnant with Ethan. I started back up smoking after I stopped breastfeeding. I started because it was the ONLY stress reliever I had and because I could. I would go outside, smoke, come inm change clothes, wash my hands, brush my teeth, gargle with mouthwash EVERY single time before I even touched my son. I stopped smoking again when I got pregnant with Ashley and that was it.

They say it is very common for women to quit smoking while pregnant and start back up after they have the baby. For whatever the reason. Some people enjoy smoking. I guess it just varies.

Same with drinking. Many people dont drink while pregnant but will drink after the baby. Many people stop caffiene while pregnant and will drink it after the baby etc

:yes

I'm sticking this in the debate forum because I DON'T know how it will turn out, but it CAN be moved.

If you guys quit smoking while you were pregnant, for nine months, why start smoking again IF you don't like smoking?

I just heard on the news that smoking is a HARD, if not the HARDEST habbit to break. SO, if that's true, how come so many women have the power to quit while pregnant, but then start smoking again right after their baby's born?!

You know, I ask myself that same question all the time. I have no idea why it was so easy for me to quit with DD. But I do know that had I had more will power, I would have not started back up again.

In fact, this how it went when i started it again. I was at work, got stressed, left for lunch and bought a pack. I sat at a park in my car and just stared at the pack for an hour. Never even opened them. The next day went back to the park and opened it. Didn't smoke one but just stared at it again. The following day, I finally smoked one.

It wasn't that i was jonesing for one, but that it just seemed like the thing do cause i could again, kwim? :nuts I know....

Now Df and I have agreed that when he gets home, we are both quitting since DD is at the age where she tells me that I need to quit. She even tries to bargan with me at the age of four!

She said "Mommy, I will stop eating candy, if you stop smoking, K?"

:spitdrink I almost fell on the floor! She is only 4! :wowsers

OP

I wondered that, too...why did I start, stop, start, stop.

If I had the power to quit because I was pregnant - for the health of my kids - then why start back up?

AFter a while I realized that my smoking was my little and only time away from the kids...When I smoked I'd get them interested in toys or something like that, I'd step outside and have my cigarette.
It was actually just a desperate need for quiet time.

So - when I realized that I decided to just make that quiet time for myself without the cigarette.

I think a lot of people agree with that - a "smoke break" is really just a reason - excuse, really, to step away from things for a bit and relax. If people miss their smoke break then perhaps they should take that same time and dedicate it to a small, healthy snack or just some fresh air - away from the smokers.

Some people enjoy smoking.

I was just gonna say this...

WEll I did quit and I am one of those who started back, in fact I quit when I found out I was pregant with the first(1999) and did not start back until the second was 2 years old (2004) and it is stupid but I was fighting with my MIL and psycho neighbors and DH smokes so I gave in and I am trying hard to quit again. it does hold me back alot from enjoying life .

WOW. I'm sorry but I'm ignorant to smoking because I've bever smoked, but does smoking really relieve that much stress? Is it kind of like having a beer, or a glass of wine?

I just quit smoking recently, and a big part of what helped me was Allen Carr's book "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking." It's all about eliminating fears you have about quitting and dispelling illusions that smoking is actually enjoyable, before you actually quit. It really worked for me. But anyway, it does address you question. And I think before I read the book and understood all the myths that surround smoking and lies that smokers tell ourselves, I might have said yet. But it doesn't REALLY relieve stress. It feels like it does, but the problem is that it CREATED stress (i.e. nicotine withdrawal) in the first place. Yes, you feel better after you have a cigarette...but if you weren't addicted to nicotine, you wouldn't have to smoke to feel that way.

Allen Carr had some great analogies about it that really made it make sense to me. We tell ourselves we love smoking and that by quitting we would be depriving ourselves of a genuine pleasure. But you only "enjoy" smoking the way you enjoy the relief of scratching poison ivy. It feels amazing...but wouldn't it be better if you didn't have poison ivy in the first place? Or that it's like the relief of taking off tight shoes. It feels great to take them off, but the rest of the time, you're walking around wearing tight shoes!

i smoked before i got preggo with DD and had no problems stopping. However, after she was born i went back to work really fast, at a restraunt where everyone smokes. Honestly, the only time you get a break is if you smoke. So i was so upset with having to work so soon after giving birth, stressed/bored at work that eventually i started bumming them just to give me someway to relax.

When i first started i was like ok, I'm only going to do it at work. Then i started having one in my car on my way to and from work. Then i said i'd only smoke when i'd go out. I kept adding all these little things up until i couldn't add anymore. I NEVER smoke around DD though i go outside.

As of right now i don't smoke much maybe 3 a day. but the thing is i don't want to quit... for lots of reasons but also it's my way of trying to keep some weight off since i don't have a lot of time to work out. Because as soon as i quit smoking i replace it with food (i've tried gum..but i just don't like gum that much) It's that oral fixation. So as so as i quit BOOM the weight piles on even more. I know i will quit one day. But really at this point i'm not ready.

I also just wanted to say that it's actually kind of ironic that the nicotine and other chemicals in ciggs are a stimulant so they speed up the heart rate etc. etc. instead of slowing them down for a stress reliever as most people use them as.:whatever

edited to add: 3 ciggs a day not packs just to clarify

WOW. I'm sorry but I'm ignorant to smoking because I've bever smoked, but does smoking really relieve that much stress? Is it kind of like having a beer, or a glass of wine?

It's the BEST stress reliever. It's almost instaneous, it feels so good. I've been smoke free for 4 year as of October 10th, and some days I want a cigarette so bad, like it's only been a few hours since my last, not years.

But dh and I made a deal, he quit a while before I did, and was bugging me to quit too. I told him when he was ready to have a baby, then I'd be ready to quit. So I quit October 10th, and on October 23rd we conceived our dd. And she's worth more than all the cigarettes in the world.