My horrible disgusting habit....

For those of you who have known me for years will know about my filthy habit...one that I have tried to shake over the years..with no luck..until now maybe?

Nail Biting

I know it's gross. BUT I CANNOT STOP.

Flashbacks to my many many issues related to nail biting....here are only a few.

When I was young I would bite them down so far they would bleed. My mom would put that awful tasting nail polish on them in hopes of putting an end to the terrible chomping sound she had to endure. Guess what? That stuff, although it tasted awful, was no match against the urge to bite....

Years passed of constant hand smacking from my parents every time a nail would go into my mouth. In private or public, they tried to shame me into quitting....stubborn teenager that I was could care less... smack away, I will just bite them while you are asleep!!!

Fast forward to my twenties. We move to Calgary, I transfer to a new office. Stress and endless hours sitting at my computer lead to fingers hitting my mouth mindlessly at all hours. The result? A trip at 10:30pm to my dentist friend to deal with an infection related to some bacteria I must have picked up on my fingers and then shoved into my mouth.

Gross...I know...

Jump ahead another few years and I am 7 months pregnant with Cole. In my crazy pregnancy mind I decided to get some gel nails put on (not the first time...) but this time I was determined to KEEP them on. Gel nails would last all of one week with me and then I would chomp them down too....It's as though I would pay $100 for the thrill of the bite...sick, I know!

Gels were too much work - I couldn't do up my buttons fast enough, they were IN THE WAY OF LIFE.

One night I am putting away the laundry (in a rush as usual..) and I shoved my clothes into the dresser and caught my nail on the little edge inside the drawer. The result? The gel nail tore right back with my own nail...I pushed it down, got a bandaid and headed out for dinner with my folks. 3 hours later my arm was red and tingling....I was in a panic and off we went to emergency at 11pm. 5 hours later I was on antibiotics and a week later I was at the nail salon getting the poor girl to drill away the gel nail ever so carefully.

So today, as I am doing some squats at the gym, I notice my pinky nail.....there is some growth to the nail, an actual white nail emerging...trying to say "give me a bloody chance!". I started to think....I have been so busy these days with packing and moving that my hands have been nowhere near my mouth....could this be a turnaround point in breaking my habit after all these years?

I would love to have little nails, get a manicure now and then and finally ditch the site of me gnawing on a part of the body that lately we are sanitizing by the hour!!

Tools ladies...have you broken the nail biting habit or any other bad habit? How? What works, what doesn't? By the time these babies come, maybe I could have some nicely manicured hands to admire during labor!