Tips for hiding a pregnancy

[DoudousDoor]

I'm just over 5 weeks pregnant with DC2.

With DC1 I was really sick from 6 weeks and had to tell work at 8 weeks because I was so bad. Can't really remember when I started showing but I was proud of my bump so made no attempt to hide it!

I do know that I had a very small bump up until the day I gave birth - I think due to strong stomach muscles as I was very sporty.

Those stomach muscles have since completely disappeared so I'm afraid that I'll start showing much earlier.

My problem is that I want to hide my pregnancy at work until about 5 months (I want a promotion and I know they would make excuses not to give it to me yet if I was pregnant). For the sickness that will be tricky but I'm most worried about the bump.

Apart from strategically placed scarves I have no idea!

Any tips?

Say you're taking up knitting and go for chunky knitwear.

Always have food out so people think you're just eating and putting on weight.

Don't give up coffee and don't turn green if you make someone else a coffee

I got to twenty ish weeks with my first even though I was having a sausage butty every day and throwing up bile in the toilets. I think they were all too busy to notice me.

With my second, I nearly fainted at four weeks on a trip to Tesco with the office manager, so it was less easy!

Congratulations btw!

What do you tend to wear in work? Start to tweak it now! As soon as I found out I made sure I wore skirts and looser tops, dresses and cardigans or suit/blazer jacket (single button, reasonably loose fit). God that sounds terrible I looked OK honest! Only in my early 30's.

It meant people where very used to me in those clothes (I told anyone interested that I had invested in a more feminine working wardrobe) and at the time I was not at all pregnant looking so the dresses skimmed a clearly flat tummy when I walked. It meant that as I grew people didn't notice.

I also wore hold me in pants/tights for the early bloating stage (so not holding int he bump just the blub!). I was size 8-10 by the way. I didn't get commented on until about 20 weeks, and there were a few people who did a double take at 30 weeks when I had a very obvious bump then and they simply hadn't noticed it turn up. I was then made redundant at 38 weeks anyway! All that effort [grump]

oh and congratulations

congrats! i didn't tell work until i was 25/26 weeks and no one guessed!

i had swing dresses (asos) long scarves, looser clothing. to be fair i hardly had a bump but it was really easy to distract people and they were honestly gobsmacked when i revealed it.

good luck.

Some of my colleagues guessed before I even took a pregnancy test!

The rest guessed when I was about 6 weeks because I felt and looked like sh*t every day!!

I'm now 11 weeks and am currently on my 8th consecutive day off work due to how ill I feel....

Good luck trying to hide it!!! x

And congratulations!!!!

Thanks for the congratulations. I'm really excited about it but it just doesn't seem real yet somehow.

I've put a few kilos on in the last couple of months so I'm hoping I'll just lose those (if and when I get sick) so it won't be too obvious.

Think looser tops is the way to go. I tend to prefer loose clothes anyway, but I might have to go shopping to buy the next size up I hate shopping

Sorry you feel so shit writer I can well remember that. If I feel so bad again I think I'll have "food poisoning" and "migraines" (migraines I get anyway so no-one will blink at that one!).

I am just hoping it won't be as bad as last time with my 9 month of throwing up

Try saying you've a bad back and have had to stop exercising for the time being.

Shift dresses and leggings / black trousers - can't tell whether it's weight or baby.

Long 'boyfriend' style cardigans. Primark have them for only about £8 at the moment.

My personal favourite - holding a piece of paper / envelope when I walk around the office - in front of bump. :)

Good luck and congrats.

Loose autumn/winter wardrobe, eat (or pretend to eat) lots of cake and sausage butties.

I thought I was obviously pg before the end of school term (26w) but a few people I speak to very often did major double takes last week when DS1 went back so I must have hidden it better than I thought.

People will suspect though, particularly around Christmas party planning, work nights out, etc, especially if your DC1 is two or three (standard child spacing).

It's much easier to wear baggy clothes in winter! having said that, I've been trying to hide mine (20 weeks) for various reasons and am completely out of baggy clothes now - there comes to a point when it gets quite difficult. No-one's said anything, but I'm keeping a low profile until after the next scan (just a few more days) as I'm pretty sure it's obvious now!

Dont dramtically change your style, try to get clothes in bigger size or maternity version of what you would normaly wear. If you would normally wear skinny jeans dont suddenly start wearin baggy boyfriend style ones.

And nothing empire line, it makes even the skinniest of people look pregnant.

loose, dark coloured tops with bold statement necklaces to draw the eye upwards. Lots of my colleagues were constantly commenting on my lovely jewellery choices but nobody seemed to catch on I was expanding at the waist!

Agree with Cravingcake re: empire line. Be warned, the empire line is NOT your friend right now...

I got to 17 weeks without telling anyone with dd2 - and I had no abs to start with! I had a couple of awful "hangovers" in the early weeks, and then 'hurt my back' so couldn't help with some physical tasks. I wore leggings and tunics a lot anyway, so went with more of those, some from white stuff saw me right through pg. Some of it is attitude, I was in complete denial froma a work perspective so gave nothing away!

Like the piece of paper idea

Unfortunately I definitely enter into the 2-3 year gap thing. Already some colleagues have been joking with me about "when I have a 2nd one". Fortunately a couple of colleagues we know are pregnant with their 2nds and will have an exactly 2 year gap. DS is 2 at the end of September and I always comment that I don't know how anyone could do it and I do not fancy being pregnant again yet etc.

Hopefully promotions will be announced by our Christmas party

I also work with a load of very slim women (am in Paris) so I'm used to being the "heavy one" (I'm size 10/12) so I doubt they spend too much time looking at my stomch...I hope!

I agree that autumn/winter clothing will be my friends. Much better than being pregnant over the summer like last time!

Oh and thank you for all the good suggestions -they have been noted!

Lucky it will be cold and winter so chunky jumpers water fall cardigans make me look bigger so start were them before you show then no one will see the different :)

When I told my co-workers first time round (office full of men..) I think I was 16-18 weeks? One of them helpfully said that they just assumed I'd been putting on weight from all the crap they'd seen me eating so it is quite a good tactic for hiding things I guess!

It's lucky it's winter and not summer - much easier to hide a bump in winter clothes.

I'm planning on concealing mine as long as possible for pretty boring reasons - it's our last at #4, which we struggled to TTC over 13 months, surgery, tests, the lot and I can't be arsed with all the "clever" comments from acquaintances about "do I know what causes it" in case I snap and overshare..