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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

work trip at 9 weeks pregnant - help me!

18 replies

Marzipan23 · 29/12/2023 22:57

hello,
hope everyone had a lovely xmas.
I have a work trip coming up in the next few weeks and i'm conscious of how I will hide my pregnancy, I will only be 9 weeks pregnant during the trip so I really dont want anyone to know.
the trip involves a lot of people from work and is generally a bit of a piss up too, I planted the seed about doing dry january a few months ago so i'm hoping that has stuck (i'm usually known for liking a few drinks!) I am also suffering with nausea and sickness and all food except potato looks vile which i'm hoping will pass, its possibly the fatigue that i'm most worried about, i've heard week 9 and 10 can be a killer and i'm currently having 10 hours sleep a night with it being xmas!
Any tips for making it look like i'm functioning like a normal human/actually feeling like a normal human?
I do also work with the kind of tactless people that would ask outright if I was pregnant!

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MolkosTeenageAngst · 29/12/2023 23:01

How long is the trip? Dry January is a good idea and should be a good excuse for the alcohol. I would probably feign a vague illness as well, perhaps a cold type virus or migraines, to cover up the tiredness so you can take yourself to bed early.

Original poster

Marzipan23 · 29/12/2023 23:03

its 4 nights so not terribly long! the illness could work I hadnt thought of that, I hope I can get away with it, i'm such a bad actor!!

OP posts:

MooseBeTimeForSnow · 29/12/2023 23:50

Perhaps you’ve been prescribed those foul antibiotics that you can’t drink alcohol whilst you’re taking them?

MahShinyShoes · 29/12/2023 23:53

You're on antibiotics for an infected tooth:

can't drink
don't want to eat anything except soft potato type things
early nights because it's giving you a headache

👍

welshweasel · 29/12/2023 23:57

Why don't you just tell them you're pregnant?

Original poster

Marzipan23 · 30/12/2023 09:34

I did actually plan to do the antibiotics thing originally but my friends cousin just did this at christmas and everyone guessed she was pregnant!

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Original poster

Marzipan23 · 30/12/2023 09:35

welshweasel · 29/12/2023 23:57

Why don't you just tell them you're pregnant?

because its too early and i'm not ready, I havent even had my first midwive appt yet and I want to have my first scan and make sure everything is okay before I tell work.

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Belltentdreamer · 30/12/2023 09:41

Don’t worry about the tiredness - you’ll be fine. Just say dry January and don’t make more of a fuss of it than that - once you start saying antibiotics and such it just draws attention to you. Once everyone else has had a few drinks they won’t even notice what you are up to and you can head up to bed early.

heyheyheyy · 30/12/2023 09:48

Maybe just don’t go on the trip if you’re not able to eat much and feel sick ? what kind of work is it that you do? Logically, you’re supposed to be on this trip to work, however you’re making it sound more like a social outing and it seems a bit unprofessional if people would outright question if you’re pregnant. That could land some people in hot water, as it’s not really on from a HR perspective in a corporate environment. Just seems like you’re inviting drama into your life by trying to cover your pregnancy with mere colleagues. Colleagues would be the last thing on my mind during pregnancy and I have a successful career.

eurochick · 30/12/2023 10:04

Antibiotics is basically code for "I'm pregnant but not telling people yet". Don't bother with that.

Dry January would be a good excuse for not drinking. If you can't eat much a migraine or food poisoning would be a reasonable excuse.

I did a work trip to Israel at that point in my pregnancy. It was fine. I was given away by a stray cat though. He came round the restaurant terrace we were eating at. He was searching for scraps under the tables and ignoring the other customers. He came over, sniffed me, jumped up on my lap and curled up! A colleague who has kids and cats said he knew then but was good enough not to mention it.

WhatWillAPearDoAtNight · 30/12/2023 10:13

Say you've got Covid and don't go.
Failing that dry Jan and best acting face on!!

Katherina02837 · 30/12/2023 10:21

Do you want to go and also do you have to?
I probably won't enjoy it if everyone is getting drunk and having an amazing time. I was so tired and had terrible nausea around 9 weeks that this big socialising would have been a nightmare for me. I was also so bloated that none of my clothes fit me and had to wear maternity trousers and leggings.
If you don't have to go I would probably do what PP suggested and say have COVID.
If you have to go I would use the antibiotics excuse; dry January doesn't work especially if you are known for liking a drink and a good time.

sickbucket67 · 30/12/2023 10:24

Dry January is the best excuse

do not say antibiotics….it’s always advised on here but EVERYONE in real life knows that it means you are in early pregnancy

SquashPenguin · 30/12/2023 10:31

Another one here saying don’t use the antibiotics excuse- you might as well just say you’re pregnant.

I had to go on a work trip for a week at 9 months pregnant. I made a lot of excuses, I said I was going to see friends nearby that I hadn’t seen for ages a couple of times, I also had some phone calls I had to make about the refurb going on with my house, I had a banging headache one night, etc. It was all lies, and now the truth is out no one even cares about what I said, but all I wanted to do was curl up in my hotel room and not look at food!

Original poster

Marzipan23 · 30/12/2023 12:59

thanks everyone!
work trip has to be done so cant pull a sicky on it, its also in austria and has been booked for a while so it would be difficult to slip out of, I would also not want to fake covid and then tell them later i'm pregnant as I think it would be pretty clear what i'd done and understandably wouldnt go down well!
I think dry jan and keep my head down is going to be the best way and try sneak off early to bed, possibly with the excuse of "this isnt as much fun if you arent drinking" which I think will be accurate anyway!

OP posts:

CrapBucket · 30/12/2023 13:03

Agree with Dry January. What are the logistics? If you are staying where you are drinking and it’s a large crowd, you can easily just go to your room without saying goodnight to anyone and it won’t be noticed at all.

Also - congratulations, wishing you a happy healthy pregnancy x

DappledThings · 30/12/2023 15:06

Just go into it with the idea that some people will guess and there's nothing you can do about it. So you can relax and not stress about trying to hide it too much. If they are really the type to ask outright then there's really no point trying to divert attention. You'll probably just draw more attention.

And you need to know what you answer will be if you are asked. I always went with, "yes but it's early days so nothing's guaranteed". That shuts down the conversation mostly if you want it to.

Original poster

Marzipan23 · 12/01/2024 20:27

hello,

Just popping on to say I survived the work trip but it was hard work, I got home today!
I pretended to have a bug and thats why I wasn't drinking, because of my symptoms I was pretty run down anyway so I think everyone bought it, although I did still get a lot of people trying to force me to have a drink which was very annoying!
no one asked if I was pregnant, if they guessed they didnt say anything to me so i'm pretty happy.

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