Tag Archives: Smoking

Aug 5 2013

The Filthy Habit of an Otherwise Perfect Man

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Thankfully I stopped smoking a month ago using a blend of willpower, tv box sets, Diet Coke and rage. As I’m so desperate for baby 2, having read literally hundreds of Baby Bible books over the last few months, the message to quit couldn’t have been anymore clearer. I honestly don’t now why it took me so long. I have no problems quitting when actually pregnant, so I’m not sure why I needed a smiley face on a pregnancy test to give me a kick up the bum. Nevermind, it’s done. And with cigarettes now costing upwards of £7 a pack, I don’t need any convincing to make this a permanent thing.

Craigy however, still smokes. As a former smoker, I’m not offended by the smell at all but I would love for him to kick the habit - if not for his general wellbeing, then for the wellbeing of his Little General’s.

When I read all about nicoBLOC99 over on Always Be a Friend, I knew it might be a good solution for Craig. I’d tried electronic cigarettes, patches and inhalers when I was trying to quit, but had never come across a product that makes real cigarettes less harmful.

It’s a novel concept and one bound to be regarded with some skepticism. Afterall you are still actively taking in dangerous carbon monoxide. What impressed me however was that nicoBLOC99 have very responsible messaging on their website, and maintain they are a short-term solution (unlike their electronic cousins) and should be used as part of a gradual reduction program to phase out the cancer sticks altogether.

So what is it?

nicoBLOC99 is an easy-to-use dropper of food grade ingredients that you simply apply to a normal cigarette filter that can trap up to 99% of tar and nicotine when you inhale. You simply make an indent in the cigarette filter with the nozzle of the bottle, squeeze up to 3 drops into the hole, then light up as normal.

The idea is to help you give up nicotine (the core addictive ingredient within cigarettes) before you give up smoking altogether. They state it should not dramatically change the taste of a cigarette and one bottle (priced at £19.99) should last a typical 20-a-day smoker about two weeks.

So how did Craigy get on?

Well he insists his cigarettes do taste different (as though he were smoking a lighter brand) but he is able to take a sufficient drag to ease his craving (unlike with lighter brands with filter holes). Despite the very slight change in taste, he has stuck with it and is now 1 week into a self-imposed 6 week program.

He’s not asking me to pause the telly quite so often to sneak off for a fix, and the plants aren’t being watered quite so often! He tells me he’s down to around 10 per day, but most of these are purely habitual and he could drop more cigarettes if he finds a little extra motivation.

I’m optimistic that if he continues with nicoBLOC99, he could eventually become smoke-free. I’ll have to think of ways of giving him that motivation he needs - as somehow I don’t think Diet Coke and daily helpings of Downton Abbey will work on my Craig.

In all, I’m impressed with nicoBLOC99. Anything that helps us keep our filthy habits away from Dexter gets a thumbs up from me. It’s the only product Craig feels has made a difference for him - and you can’t get a higher recommendation than that!

You can find out more on the website: www.nicobloc.co.uk

DISCLAIMER: I was sent approx 6 weeks worth of nicoBLOC99 to help Craig quit smoking. All thoughts and opinions are Craig’s - the words are my own.

 

May 2 2013

A poorly baby & ovaries that have seen better days…

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It’s been a difficult week here at Chez Mills.

I’ve long since suspected that Dexter was suffering with an ear infection. He was clutching at his ears last week and cocking his head unusually to one side. Google helpfully told us to look out for fever, discharge, and changes in mood - but despite hovering over him with the Veratemp, they never came.

In fact, what actually did emerge from my cherubic child was far more traumatic.

On Tuesday night I went out and Craig put little man to bed. When I finally stumbled through the door at midnight (I maintain someone slipped vodka in my J20) I was surprised to discover Dexter was still awake in his cot whimpering. His nose and eyes were streaming and he had a pesky little cough. I stood on Kleenex sentry all night and his room smelt like a football changing room in the morning; an eyewatering concoction of sweat, eucalyptus, and stale alcohol. His little pillow was soaking wet with tears and other less attractive fluids.

Yesterday was spent continually pinning him down and attempting to suck the snot from his nose (with the scariest contraption known to man). The screams were unbearable and I waited nervously for social services to turn up and inform me that the entire street had reported me. Kleenex failed us and had the effect of smearing the snot across his cheeks. I bathed him 3 times in the hope the steam would help clear out his sinuses and wash off the layers of caked phlegm.

This is only Dexter’s second cold and there’s no doubt we’re still prone to the odd over-reaction; yesterday Craig got minute by minute updates on Dex’s condition via text, and in the evening we exchanged worried looks and jumped on Google to look for advice. Needless to say Dexter found it quite amusing and clapped in delight that he was never more than 2ft away from his mummy or daddy. We might aswell have fed him grapes and fanned him like an egyptian prince!

Did I mention I have a snot phobia? No? Well I do. The whole saga has been truly painful.

Despite the fact that Craig and I seem to have evaded this cold thus far, we’ve had our own troubles this week too. On Monday I had an ultrasound to check for PCOS and was told my ovaries resembled a map of the underground; puckered with scars and cysts. As Dexter came to the appointment with us, Craig was left holding the baby in the waiting room. This meant I heard the news alone. On relaying the grisly verdict to Craig he asked a thousand questions I couldn’t answer so we sat in the car in the hospital car park battering our iPhone’s trying to find an explanation that didn’t require a medical degree.

The long and short of it seems to be that despite my haggard ovaries, I don’t have any other symptoms. I still ovulate (in fact I’ve been pregnant this year already), I don’t have a beard or gorilla arms, and I’ve probably had 5 spots in my life. Okay, although excessive hair growth and acne are only indicators of an underlying problem, it has helped cushion the blow somewhat.

The next step is a blood test to test my levels of testosterone and LH. I’ve submitted to so many blood tests this year already that I’m surprised that the lab at the Royal Berkshire Hospital hasn’t opened a new wing in my honour. I’d be very surprised if there’s anything untoward in my blood. I suspect I’ve already had this very test ten times already in 2013 and I never had serious phone call from my doctor that begins with “You might want to sit down Ms Chamberlain”.

Still - given we’ve been consumed by trying for another baby this year - it’s not great news. Craig’s little soldiers are going to have to mount a Lord of the Rings style attack in order to reach the Holy Grail. I’m considering slipping him zinc tablets in his morning orange juice and hiding the coffee. If you think this is harsh, that’s nothing compared to what I’m going to have to give up.

Quitting smoking is now a must (I’m actually attending a clinic this evening), there’ll be no more dirty J20s, and I’m going to have to lose some weight. The exercise bike will be dragged out of our shed, spiders evacuated, and I’ll be forced to get on the bloody thing and hump it into submission. Knowing me, I’ll probably go too far and end up looking like Jodie Marsh. Not only that, but given my mild OCD, I’ll be bankrupting us with homeopathic remedies, trawling Pinterest for low GI recipes, and distracting Craig from the task at hand with my incessant woe-is-me pillow talk.

Well there go - it’s definitely a week I’m excited to see the back of.

 

Apr 24 2013

Review: Giving up smoking with SMOKO

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Yep - My name is Gemma, and I am a smoker.

I’m that girl who stands out the front of the building where you work and blows smoke all over your suit. I’m that girl who gets up in the middle of a meal in a restaurant and huddles outside in the rain with the other reprobates. I’m the idiot that is voluntarily herded into those 3ft squared special pens earmarked for the dirty smokers at the airport. I’m that mother who distracts her child with a teddy and leaves him in his pushchair at the bus stop as she stands 15ft away getting her fix…

Until now, I genuinely enjoyed smoking. It was my little crutch, my little guilty pleasure - but now, after 16 years (on and off) I’ve had enough. Given we’re trying for a baby and (it goes without saying) I won’t be smoking whilst pregnant - now is the right time to pack it in once and for all. Not only that, the price of cigarettes is getting ridiculous. I need a second income just to fund the habit, and when I pop to the shops I rarely come home with just cigarettes.

SMOKO savings calculator

I don’t want to wait until those two pink lines before throwing my packet away. If I do, I’m associating not smoking with the baby, and I should be doing it for me.

So as I type I’m wearing a Nicotine patch. I’ve experimented with these before with varying degrees of success. The thing is, they ache. Yes a millimetre thick bit of plastic makes my entire arm, leg, spine… bum (or wherever else I place it) ache. They also give me some hugely trippy dreams. So I did a shout-out on Twitter and was contacted by the SMOKO team to trial their electronic cigarette.

I really like it! This little bad boy has definitely made life easier. It’s so nice being able to smoke from the comfort of the sofa and not having to stand outside watching my family through the window. I no longer need to pause a film halfway through to ‘get some air’. SMOKO is just water vapour so it’s perfectly safe and Dexie won’t be exposed to any of the nasties that would ordinarily linger on my clothes.

It looks and feels like a real cigarette and I really like the fact you breathe out the same quantity of water vapour as you would usually omit through a drag. I trialled the Original flavour and the taste is very similar to Benson and Hedges - SMOKO also do menthol, apple, and Virginia rolling tobacco flavours too.

It’s easy to work. You simply screw the battery (the white section) to the cartridges (the butt), and away you go. When the blue light starts to flash you need to recharge the battery (handily you can do this via the USB port on your laptop). The website is sophisticated and easy to navigate too - It’s not lecturing or patronising and a welcome departure from other cartoon-like or stark Quit Smoking sites out there (although I’m not opposed to the idea - scare tactics just haven’t worked on me).

There’s no harmful chemicals or tar but I’m still getting the hit I’m craving. Normal traditional cigarettes contain over 4,000 added chemicals - SMOKO Electronic Cigarettes contain only 4 ingredients that are all pharmaceutical & consumption grade. Between this and the patches I managed to make a pack of ten real ciggies last me 3 days! I’ve also signed up to a Quit Smoking clinic at my local doctors surgery so hopefully I’ll have the conversational support I need too.

Wish me luck guys - I really need to do this. For my pocket, for my health, and for my babies.

I’m not advocating smoking in any way at all. It’s a disgusting habit and I sincerely hope that my children don’t ever fall into its clutches. This is a parenting website and I’m taking on this challenge for the sake of my family. I don’t think any form of smoking is cool - even e-cigarettes. I’m using SMOKO with the goal of becoming totally smoke-free.

DISCLAIMER: I was sent a Standard Starter Pack worth £25 for this review. All words and opinions are my own.

 

 

pixel Review: Giving up smoking with SMOKO