Sure you've all been here before, but a boozy night out dilemma.

[Puddingclub]

Big night out to celebrate a lovely friend's birthday tomorrow night. It was, I thought dinner and drinks, with a group of her female friends some of whom are also my friends, others just acquaintances. We've all been looking forward to it.

I am, however, 11 weeks up the duff with DC3, and not ready to go public just yet, although all the tell-tale signs are there, for those looking closely. And the night out suddenly is just drinks, no dinner - starting in a cocktail bar.

I must go, my friend's had a crap year which is just showing signs of improvement, and I really want to celebrate with her. How do I get away with not drinking without giving the game away?

If I say I'm on antibiotics I might as well just come clean, huh?

When it happened to me, I just lied and said that I'd been caning it a bit too much recently and so I'd decided to go teetotal until christmas to give my liver a chance to recover.

can you buy a drink every now and then, have a sip or two then leave it?
or buy G&T with no gin?
expensive option though!

Agree with Stealth. Can you buy drinks that look alcoholic - lime and soda, tonic etc when it's your round. Drink very slowly, so you miss some rounds. When it's others rounds, take the drink but find a flower pot to pour it in / pretend to drink it / pour down sink in toilets etc.

Or, can you tell 1 friend, but ask them to share drinks with you / i.e. drink your drinks?

I manged to get through another good friend's weddng like that - but then there is a lot of opportunity at weddings to put glasses down and wander off - and also sneakily hand to DH to swill down.

The only person I'd consider telling is also pregnant, but 20+weeks now - and she announced her pregnancy pretty much as soon as she foudn out, so may not get it.

I'll have to go with the taking tiny sips and "losing" drinks won't I? And hope my boobs still fit in my night out wear....

Alcohol-free beer in a glass?

Or say you've got cystitis- maybe ramp it up a bit in the day with text messages "not sure if I'll be able to drag myself out tonight, feel like I'm getting cystitis..."
Bit mean, perhaps, but it would throw people off the scent...

Be warned though- I used the cystitis line for weeks, friends were really sympathetic, I felt terrible about it... then I got FOUR UTIs in a row!! Karma?

I think we are all going to be sitting around in a booth thing, very SATC, being brought cocktails by waiters. There will be no undetected virgin marys possible.

Maybe I'll just confess to the birthday girl. She'll be dead chuffed for me.

yeah confess before
or it'll be a bit difficult

and congratulations

I told my cousin I was on antibiotics when refusing a glass of wine and he immediately said 'are you pregnant?'

I would confess, I think, at 11 weeks. At 7 weeks I had to cancel my own birthday party with a mystery illness, as I knew that no amount of UTIs/antibiotics would get me off the hook...

i wld confess they will all guess anyway lol
congrats too! im pg with dc3

Yeah this will be dc3 too. Just don't want to tempt fate. I suppose I just wouldn't necessarily choose to tell most of these people early on.

when would you say norm? i don't tend to wait with close friends and family tbh
if its norm 12 weeks you're only a week off

First time I'd told everyone by now. Second time I had my first scan at 10 weeks, so told everyone at 12. This time, knocking on a bit and worrying more. Was going ot wait till we had a scan confirming all well fingers crossed. But the first appt I could get due to cockups at our drs surgery is in a fortnight.