Despicable!

This morning, I saw the most despicable thing. A heavily pregnant woman SMOKING. While it would've been equally screwed up if she was only slightly showing, it seemed worse somehow because it was almost as if she was saying, "So what, world? Yeah, I'm pregnant and smoking. What's the big deal?" Uh, you're a dipshit.

This type of thing really, REALLY pisses me off. Yeah, yeah, I've made some DUMB decisions in my life. I'm not trying to be all holier-than-thou and pretend I've lived a life of sainthood. I can, however, say with certainty that those bad decisions had consequences that I alone paid for.

I could go on and on and ON about what a terrible, awful, horrible decision this was on her part, and for a minute, I shall. Despite the obvious (you wouldn't give a baby a cigarette, would you?!), there are so many long-standing consequences of a decision SO stupid:

First off, that little, innocent, unborn baby you're carrying around and 'claiming' to love more than anything (except for cigarettes, of course!)? She/he's now predisposed to picking up that filthy habit later in life. You know how some people say they have 'addictive personalities' where they pick up bad habits easily? A lot of that, especially with nicotine addictions, is due to prenatal exposure. Way to go, mom. What a nice first thing to do for your child.

Second, your rate of miscarriage is at least four times as high as a non-smoking pregnant woman. YOU HAVE A FOUR TIMES HIGHER RISK OF YOUR BABY DYING IN UTERO. Do you know what it would do to me if we lost this baby now? I can't even bear to think of it.

Third, your baby is more likely to born premature and/or low birth weight. Do you know how many health problems are associated with preemies? If that doesn't get through to you, how about in these terms: Do you know what it cost to keep a preemie in the NICU PER DAY?! Your smoking habit for a year, at least. Toke on that.

And back to square one - would you give your baby a cigarette? Shotgun smoke into their little baby lungs? Then kick the habit, will you?