I don't know if it was 2 ml or 4 ml, probably the former, but I would often chew two pieces at once, and certainly didn't pay much attention to the whole "time" idea. I also had plenty to do with my hands, as I knitted.
I was tobacco free the whole time I was pregnant and nursing, and I wanted to smoke all the time. The desire did not go away, although it was just over 18 months. Either I overfocused, or was just very very addicted, even then. I don't have the kind of brain that rebounds from cravings very well, apparently. I don't know if snus would be a viable option, but I have used traditional NRT during lengthy times I couldn't vape, as I do tend to run into the "intense desire" to vape, and it worked okay. Of course, I knew it was time limited.
Now the patch? LOL, I hated the patch. Not high enough and a fixed, constant dose, exactly the OPPOSITE of how nicotine from smoking ever behaves in the human body, and I don't know how ANYONE uses that stuff to quit. I have to believe in "the power of placebo" as people who use the patch tend to quit if they were going to, and actually use the patches as advised. If anything, though, I guess it could be a step-down to "just" nicotine while detoxing off everything else in cigs, and then the nic part is easy, comparatively. Or something. It's all a big mystery to me...
Anna