smoking and pregnancy

My first baby had many difficulties due to pre eclampsia. I didn't smoke but the effect is similar- the umbilical cord calcifies and this makes it so much harder for your baby to get enough oxygen and nutrients as it's harder for the blood to flow through the cord. It directly impacts your child every single time.
I felt so much guilt, worry and concern for my baby and there was nothing I could've done to prevent it. If I'd smoked and had these effects I don't think I could've lived with myself knowing there was something I could've done to make things easier on my unborn baby. They are entirely reliant on you for everything at the moment, so why add smoke and health issues onto them when it can be avoided.
Not meant judgy, genuinely couldn't put a baby through that.

Honestly, I'm not telling you to smoke, but I know quite a few people who smoked a little while pregnant.
For my first pregnancy, I didn't even know I was pregnant, yet I was smoking and drinking, especially on weekends. Once I found out I was pregnant a second time, I just stopped smoking as it is what's best for you and baby.
Maybe try nicotine patches, try and distract yourself too. You can try fidget spinners or other handheld things or chewing gum or toothpicks, but be careful.
You'll do what's best because pregnancy is stressful enough, you don't also want to be stressing about whether your smoking is hurting baby.

Agree with trying Alan Carr's book. It's really clever as you have to smoke all the way through it, and by the end you're psychologically ready to quit x

www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/im-pregnant/smoking-and-pregnancy/what-happens-when-pregnant-woman-smokes
There's a video here you could watch every time

OP I'm sorry to say my DH has long term breathing issues probably cause by his mum smoking in pregnancy.

Make sure you and DP if relevant have none in the house. Then watch a video about the effects on your baby every time you crave one.

Try Alan Carr's book, The Easy Way. While you have your smoke, consciously really think about it, I bet you won't want more than a couple of puffs, if any.

I found sucking on lollipops helped. I gave up just over 12 years ago. I was a few weeks pregnant. I am so glad I gave up. I am happy and healthy. We have more cash.
You can do this.

Imagine that your baby has an issue that could have been caused by you smoking. You will never know for sure if you could have prevented it.
I know it's hard, I am also an ex smoker as is my husband. We both quit so we could have a family together. It is worth it.

I used nicotine gum for the first 3 weeks after finding out I was pregnant, now I don't use anything at all. Vaping is much better for you than smoking, it's a good tool to help you step down. But if you talk to your midwife, they are able to support you with smoking cessation advice.

The thing with smoking is that it's so interwoven with every aspect of life, so it's hard not to be reminded of it - every place, emotion, activity could have an association with smoking. So it's really hard to quit!

I've heard good things about hypnotherapy, but would recommend seeing your gp or speaking to the midwife about options.

Congratulations on your pregnancy and best of luck quitting the cigarettes for good.

I quit smoking when I found out I was pregnant. I really struggled but you have to think of the baby - being a parent is about accepting it's not only your own needs/wants to take into consideration, it's your child's. You need to ask your midwife/gp for help, they will be pleased that you are engaging with them and want to quit. It's really tough but you can do it. And I've never looked back, my daughter is 5 now and I would never go back to being a smoker.

I'm not sure if you can use nicotine patches when pregnant but you can get them free from the pharmacy and also support to stop.

A family member gave up smoking using these after 40 years of smoking and has now been a non smoker for years. They found it fairly easy and didn't seem like they were desperate for a cigarette all the time x

It takes very few days of not smoking to stop the craving OP. Those few days could have a significant impact on the rest of your child's life. You are a mum to be now. It's not all about you.

You can fight it. It's a craving, not a demand.

When my cravings were bad, I'd ask myself what would change if I had a cigarette. The answer is nothing, nothing changes. I don't magically feel better and the craving doesn't go away, because I'd be immediately craving the next one. It was this mindset that allowed me to stop.

I quit vaping before we started ttc and it was really tough, particularly as I wfh and could sit and vape all day, there were a lot of nicotine cravings! Every time I had a craving, I ate a fruit mentos sweetie to keep my mouth busy. I pretty much ate them constantly for a week or 2 and put weight on but it distracted me enough until the cravings were manageable. I'm 5 months down the line, 3 months pregnant and so happy that I quit!

so far levels are doubling and line progression looking good

All this means is you are looking at very basic information about one of the risks, miscarriage. Which impacts you. You're the one who would have to live with a miscarriage.

The other risks, heart, brain and lung damage, low birth weight, cleft palate, affect the baby more than you. The baby will have to live with these effects for life.

I know how hard it is, I gave up. Get some support to do it, work out what your triggers to smoke are, work out how to cut down every day, spend as much time as possible in places you can't smoke. Talk to your HCP about it.

Perhaps talk to your midway about the side effects of smoking on an unborn baby.

Perhaps imagine every time you have a cigarette, smoke is being blown in your baby’s face and in her mouth. Or imagine her chewing on a cigarette butt- every time you smoke.

Best of luck