While I was working, the subject of smoking came up a couple weeks ago. I'm quite sure EVERYONE at my place of employment smokes cigarettes, and most of them smoke weed. Well, I'm the only exception.

Anyway, we were talking about how stressful our jobs were, and how the others used smoking as a coping mechanism. One of our pregnant coworkers chimed and stated that she loved relaxing with a cigarette at the end of the shift.

I couldn't help but say, "When you're not pregnant, right?" She told me, "Oh, I still smoke, but it's only one cigarette like once a while or something." I was incredibly bewildered by her statement, because I thought it was common sense that smoking while pregnant seriously risked the health of the baby.

My friend talked to another one of our coworkers about what our aforementioned coworker said, and she brushed it off. Apparently, for her first two pregnancies, she continued to smoke. However, for her last two pregnancies, she didn't smoke because it made her incredibly sick.

So my question for you Edenites is this: did you or your partner smoke, drink or consume illegal drugs while she was pregnant? If so, why?

All opinions are welcome. less

I quit smoking cigarettes when I got pregnant. The very day the test came back positive, in fact.

My other vote is for this: I have mental health issues that require loads of medication. I had to come off of this medication when I was pregnant. As a result, I was very unstable. My stress levels were high which is very bad for baby. In the last month of my pregnancy I was flying off the handle. I was told to take my anxiety pills but also told my son would likely experience withdrawal from the medication when he was born. I told them to go to hell and that I wasn't putting him through medication withdrawal. My husband suggested I smoke weed when I was having a panic attack one night as opposed to my narcotic doctor approved medication as this would not cause withdrawals for our son. I had done research that suggested that in many countries smoking weed while pregnant is a regular practice and there is little harm done to the baby by doing so, especially in comparison to the harm from my meds. So to calm a panic attack, I smoked twice while pregnant. I felt awful after anyhow and decided I would rather just have the panic attacks after those two times despite my researching. I didn't want any foreign substance in my son's system. I dreaded taking a baby safe cold medicine even. So that's my little story. less