I feel a need to respond to this. Through my own shame about smoking around young kids. While I literally couldn't smoke while pregant, due to being in the hospital on bedrest for MONTHS! (Boy did that wreak havoc on my nerves!), I ALWAYS lit up on walking out the door after ny babys birth. As soon as that baby came out I'd wheel myself outside and puff away. (gestational diabetes and all)
Anyway, just to run home for any lurkers just thinking about quitting right now, but maybe they're not ready, I'm going to confess to you and to myself, my childrens problems due to my smoking. (Like in the car with the windows down, thinking that will be plenty of ventilation!)
My oldest is 14, with mild asthma, but when she was born, I wasn't even a smoker yet, but it should have given me a clue, that it was in the gene pool! I have smoked for 12 years. He asthama developed at 3 years. Do the math.
My 7 year old has moderate to severe asthma.
My 2 year old has been close to losing his life on several occassions. He's Severe. They actaully thought Cystic Fibrosis. The fluid in his lungs would not go away. It built up for year. He had a sweat test, but when that was negative, they did a test to check the DNA for any CF markers. That was neg. Let me tell about his life and mine. We wake up every morning to a pill (not supposed to put names of meds on here I think), then a tsp of liquid, followed by a mask connected to a nebulizer, two, one a steroid (that takes 15 minutes), the other a bronchial dialater (another 15 minutes). He does those treatments every for hours, 24/7. If I skip, there are days when his fingertips, tint a bluish color. Last year, he contracted RSV (a virus that severly effects babies lungs and can be fatal). The night he went into the hospital, he didn't even have the strength to open his eyes. When they flew him to Cleveland, they rushed to connect him to all this equipment. We had to sign a form saying we gave permission for intubation if it became neccessary. There was big bed, no cribs. The nurse said that the toddlers in this ward didn't need cribs, because they were all so ill, they couldn't roll off the bed. They couldn't move! At around 10:30 pm I asked the nurse why my son was making that horrible grunting cry and that maybe he was hurting. She said he wasn't hurting, he was gasping for air. My beautiful Thomas couldn't breath. Alot of people came into the room. They were giving him so many drugs and then more drugs to counteract the side effects of the drugs they had just given him.
Our lowest point...and I'll never forget this (heck, I'm crying now, just remembering), "Mike and Debbie, we've reached the point were your son is not progressing and we may need to start thinking about what might make him more comfortable at this point."
Of course stupid me "I don't know what you mean, what are saying"
My husbands in the corner of the room, balled up and sobbing.
At that point I asked the doctor to please leave the room, I couldn't talk right now. Please leave me alone with my son.
We held Thomas all through the night. He was hugging my chest. I prayed like I have NEVER prayed in my life. I bargained and begged. A couple hours later, all of those miracle drugs finally started to do their job.
Don't for a minute pity or tell me this wasn't my fault. I KNOW more then I know anything in this world, that my smoking and my husbands smoking contibuted to the illness that my son will live with for the rest of his life.
With every thing those small creatures do, through every smile and tear, with every breath they take....EVERYTHING we do effects THEM!
I am BEGGING anyone who is thinking about quitting and wants to know if their smoking REALLY effects their child, please know, YES it DOES!
Thomas is ok now. Never perfect...the treatments and weekly doctor visits, the weekened immune system from all of the steroids, smaller height due to a stunted growth from lack of oxygen and sooooooo many different meds. It will be years before I know all of the effects that so many drugs have done to him. Learning disabilities, behavior problems etc. For almost a full year, the highest his pulse ox got on his BEST day, was 93. It often dropped into the low 80's and during his RSV and his critical days last year once it got into the 78's, the nurse turned the bleeping box thing away from us. To give you an idea, if you're in the low 80's, you're usually showing purplish or bluish coloration in your lips. (For those who don't know, your pulse ox is the amount of oxygen in your blood stream, normal folks are usually 99~100.) I very much dread the day, when he asks me why he is like this.
Some people think what I thought. Asthma is no big deal....just carry around an inhaler and take a puff as needed. They're wrong. Kids still die from asthma. And two big factors are genetics and smoking.