Tips to Help Quit Smoking when Pregnant

Just about any time is a good time to quit smoking, but if you have just found out you are pregnant now is the time to quite smoking for sure. Since it is never easy to quit smoking you need to prepare yourself for withdrawals and cravings. These happen whenever a person quits smoking. It is also a wise idea to discuss your plans to quit smoking with your family doctor or obgyn. Discuss a plan that you think will work for you. I am going to share some tips that worked for me when I quit smoking when I found out I was pregnant with my son.

I was almost twenty years old when the pregnancy test came back positive and I was elated! We had been trying for about 8 months without luck and this was just the news I was hoping to get. I had been a smoker since I was thirteen and smoked a pack a day. I had been able to cut back to about 15 cigarettes daily since we started trying to make a baby but it still wasn't enough to make me put the cigarettes down for good. Holding the plus sign in my hand and knowing there was a baby inside me and it was for real was enough to make me quit smoking for the sake of my child!

The very first thing I did to try and quit smoking was some serious research on the effects smoking can have on an unborn child. Through my research I learned smoking can cause low-birth weight. If my child was born with low birth weight, I would have to live with the fact it would have most likely been my fault. I wanted my child to have the best start of all. Just knowing this information was great incentive to put the cigarettes down for good.

The next thing I did was visit the grocery store. I had heard stories of people gaining a lot of weight when they quit smoking and the last thing I wanted to do was get any bigger. It was bad enough my belly was going to look like I swallowed a water melon in a few months I didn't need the rest of me to get any larger. I purchased a variety of fruits including apples, oranges, grapes, bananas, kiwi and melon. I wanted to make sure if I started craving food that everything I had in the house was healthy. If I needed a quick smack it was going to be a piece of fruit. (If you would rather have veggies, you can get broccoli, celery, cauliflower, ect. I am just not a big veggie person.)

I decided that having something in my mouth to replace cigarettes may also help me quit smoking. I purchased several packs of Wriggleys gum and every time I felt the urge for a cigarette I would chew a piece of gum for a few minutes. I did not chew the gum long, just long enough for the urge to pass.

I increased my exercise time too. On my lunch break, rather than spending fifteen minutes eating and fifteen minutes enjoying a cigarette, I started to walk around the outside of the office a few times. This kept my mind busy and my body as well. There was less time to think about wanting a cigarette and more time to think about names for the baby.

I tried listening to music while I was working and driving rather that dwelling on the fact I wanted I cigarette. I wore headphones so I could really hear and listen to the music and the words. I found myself singing more and thinking less and less about cigarettes.

Each week for the first month I went without smoking a cigarette I would treat myself to a new outfit. I would model the outfit to my family and friends and explain to them I had more money for cloths since I was no longer smoking. I actually spent less money on a new outfit than I did on cigarettes. The reward system works!

Before I knew it I was thinking about cigarettes less and less. I managed to quit smoking in less than a week and did not pick up a cigarette the remainder of my pregnancy. I hope these tips help you achieve your goal as well. The health of you baby depends on your ability to quit smoking!