Christmas Parties (Alcohol In Social Situations Early Pregnancy)

[Parenting92]

I'm 8 weeks pregnant and haven't shared the news yet (not until I have my first scan beyond 12 weeks) I'm anxious about the upcoming all-staff party, as my team tends to pressure me to drink. How can I navigate this without drawing too much attention? Also, for my department's Christmas party, which includes golf and cocktails, how can I avoid drinking without making it obvious that I'm pregnant? I'm considering saying I have a urine infection and am on antibiotics, but I don't want to lie. Any advice on handling this situation early in pregnancy?

I would either say I was coming down with a bad cold and didn’t want to drink or say you’re hungover as you drank a bit too much the night before! You could even say you’re saving money and don’t want to spend a fortune on drinking so have decided to drive instead

I wouldn't overthink it- even if you use the standard antibiotics excuse and people guess you're pregnant I'm sure they wouldn't be rude enough to say it to your face! It's fine if they speculate behind your back (unless you really hate the thought of that) you're just avoiding an actual announcement before 12 weeks (as obviously it would be awkward to then have to announce a miscarriage at work), so I don't think it matters if the excuse feels a bit flimsy.

We had a champagne party and I simply pretended to sip, meandered about a bit and swapped my full glass for an abandoned empty one that I then clung to as though it was newly finished all night.

I agree with not bothering with excuses. Just accept drinks and then leave them somewhere or buy a drink like tonic water / lemonade and pretend it's vodka and...

I don't think anyone noticed or cares as much as people imagine

With DC1 we had a team building day with alcohol involved. I found that nobody noticed whether I was drinking or not if I just accepted the drink and kept hold of it. I put my mouth to the glass every so often (but didn’t drink) and honestly nobody clocked a thing, I think that’s way easier than coming up with an excuse. I came up with an excuse for another occasion with DC1 and I could tell nobody around me believed it!!!

Just accept a drink and don’t drink it.

I had so many work events in the first three months of my pregnancy. I just took the car to the train station on the way to work (didn't fancy walking home in the cold and dark anyway) then said I was driving, which I was so it wasn't a lie. I did then act a little disappointed with "ah so annoying, completely forgot we had this event tonight" etc etc. Nobody questioned it.