Much to our delight, my partner and I found out we were pregnant with our little pickle three days before our wedding date. There were happy tears, cuddles, and an immediate feeling of “we need to go celebrate!” Usually for us this means cracking open a bottle of bubbles or a few beers… and in just three days we’d have five cases of wine, a dozen cases of beer, and six bottles of rum that people were going to expect us to celebrate with. So how was I going to get out of drinking on this special day without dropping this huge bombshell?
Not to mention if we wanted to keep our pregnancy a secret till the recommended 12 week mark, that meant not drinking on an overseas trip to visit friends, office holiday parties, barbecues, birthdays, and New Year’s Eve! Yikes! We needed some tactics. Here’s what worked well for us:
Think up good excuses
If you can work in a legit excuse to stave off drinking, this will at least buy you some time. “I don’t want to drink before the wedding — nerves!” or while overseas “I’m so tired from jetlag, a glass of wine will put me to sleep!” Whether you’re the designated driver, fighting off a cold, or taking it easy after last night’s bender, just make sure you don’t over-do it within the same group of friends or they may catch on.
Invent a few mocktails
How I’ve grown to appreciate a well-made concoction of deceptive fruit juices. The trick to this one is arriving at the bar first, or getting your partner or trusted friend to discretely order or mix you up a non-boozie bevvie. You can even joke “Ooh, I can barely taste the alcohol in this — this could be dangerous” and wink to yourself. This one only works if you’re the type to order pink fruity cocktails.
Just fake it
There are a few ways to go about this. Empty a beer bottle (into your partner’s mouth if you’re worried about wasteful beer crimes!) and re-fill it with water. Grab a beer, wine, or cocktail and take fake sips — sneak it to your partner to take big gulps to help you finish it off. This tends to work better later in the night after people have had a few. Just carrying around a glass or bottle with you can stave off the people who want to buy you a round, even if you never sip.
Have a posse of people who know
Besides fetching you mocktails and gulping your Chardonnay, your partner or a friend who’s in on the secret can help you keep up the illusion. I told a close friend when overseas and as a big group up of us were leaving the bar he proceeded to yell at me for not finishing my cocktail and demanded that I chug it. Later on the Subway I reminded him that was just a $2 Sprite and he said “I know, but it would be out of character for me to let anyone leave a bar without finishing a drink.” That’s what friends are for.
How to stave off questions about drinking while pregnant
I was at a party. I was pregnant. Someone handed me a half glass of wine, and I drank it. And there it was --... Read more
Of course if you’re not much of a drinker these things may be non-issues or you can abstain in a much less elaborate manner. But my group of friends has a dreaded combo of heavy partiers and excellent baby-dar. So these tactics, well-combined helped (mostly) keep my secret safe.
I could have used this post in November! We found out we were pregnant TWO days before flying to Maui for a close friend’s intimate wedding. Even the excuse that I was DD home from the rehearsal dinner didn’t work. I tried mocktails, took small sips of wine during dinner (then switched with my partner), and those bastards still figured it out. On their wedding day. I kept thinking, “Am I that much of a drunk?” Oh well.
We found out I was pregnant right before the holidays and there were a lot of parties and celebrations. My friends tend to be beer or wine drinkers, so virgin cocktails weren’t really an option.
For red wine, I brought a small bottle of cranberry grape juice in my purse (it’s exactly the same color!) and snuck off to the kitchen or bathroom to make the switch when nobody was looking.
For beer, I poured ginger ale in an empty beer bottle.
This was easier for me than “fake sips” or handing off my glass to my husband because my friends are pretty tuned into “if you’re not drinking, you’re pregnant.” It took us 2 years to get pregnant so I was always feeling like I was being particularly watched for signs.
After one party, someone even commented to my best friend “Well, I guess she isn’t pregnant yet, the way she was sucking down that wine.” It felt really good to have been able to trick everyone and keep our secret!
I was discreetly busted by my old neighbor at a family party, I was seen discreetly pouring a non-alcholic beer into a red solo cup. Same party my grandma, who is apparently psychic, was tipsy and started babbling about my hubs and I naming ‘that baby’ after her lol. My husband hissed I thought you were going to wait to tell her till we told her together. Lol we told her that night, I was the designated driver after all. Yeah it got out pretty damn fast I was pregnant, damn my penchant for scotch, margaritas, wine and other liquor of the gods (shaking fist at the heavens) I can’t wait for my first drink after this babe comes out….waddle waddle
Club soda (with a lemon or lime in it) has never failed me when I want to look like I’m partaking.
I recently was confronted with a similar situation: having just moved into our house we decided it was time to visit and introduce ourselves to the neighbours. I was barely 1 month pregnant and was a paranoid stickler for the no-alcohol while pregnant rule. As soon as we walked in a schooner sized glass of wine was thrust under my nose. “Its home made vino” the neighbour said I retorted “Oh thank-you I better not”. He replied “I made it myself and am so proud you must tell me what you think”. My partner added “oh i’ll drink hers she doesn’t like wine.” “But its the best you will ever have” He insisted. The neighbour started to take offense and my reluctance was coming off as rude, but I made an excuse “Oh I left the oven on and the house is burning down…got to go..” and ran out of his house. I don’t however regret it and I’m sure we will all have a laugh in 2 months time when I can tell the world.