Shhh - share your leeeeetle white lies during pregnancy with PG tips Decaf and you could win £250 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

You may know know the advice is to cut down on caffeine during pregnancy.

Inspired by threads like this the team at PG tips Decaff want you to share your best little white lies told in early pregnancy. Maybe the ones about why you're not drinking or why your usual has changed that you told your friends or work colleagues in those precious few weeks between P-ingOAS and getting a positive and feeling confident enough to be able to announce the pregnancy. Or you may have a top tip on explaining why you're not on the strong(er) stuff all of a sudden.

The team at PG tips Decaff say "With PG tips decaf, you can still enjoy the splendid luxury and taste of a nice cuppa, without having to think about the caffeine as it contains less than 10mg per cup - available in packs of 40, 80 or 160"

So share your tips, lies told and examples of when you had to think on your feet on this thread: everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £250 voucher for the store of their choice.

thanks and good luck

MNHQ

[Carlat86]

I found out I was pregnant in early December, just before Xmas party season. Our office is quite tight knit and we've all worked together for years so Xmas party tends to be the time to let your hair down. Being the youngest in our office it usually falls to me to lead revellers in much merriment. Knowing that I would face questions if I wasn't my normal self a few days before I faked a sore throat and told everyone I was on antibiotics so couldn't drink, or eat the shellfish starter, or have my steak medium, or have any blue cheese with crackers at the end... I think I was rumbled by about 7:31 that evening.

[Purplehonesty]

I found out the night of my long looked forward to works Christmas do at a castle. Free booze, posh meal etc.
I thankfully had a horrible cold and had already decided to drive but I literally sat at the table with this expression all night as I was so shocked.
I told everyone I was so ill that I had to go home at 9pm and they all thought I was pissed off about something.
Nobody guessed I was pg tho - I guess I do angry face when I'm shocked!

[HerGraciousMajTheBeardedPotato]

I went to someone's very special celebration at about 6m of with dc1. I nursed one glass of champagne throughout the afternoon, all the toasts, speeches, etc. Many well-meaning busy-bodies, constantly seeing me with a glass of wine and obviously not realising that it was always the same glass of wine, kept going on at me - did I really think I ought to be drinking while pregnant? Eventually I got fed up of telling them, especially as some seemed to forget or disbelieve me, so I changed tack. I told them that pregnancy was the best time to drink alcohol, as I now had two livers! That shut them up.

[GiraffesAndButterflies]

I had to lie on DH's behalf. When I told him I was pregnant he was completely as although we were trying and it was planned, we'd expected it to take longer. He's an insomniac by nature and while I went to bed and slept soundly, he lay awake the entire night worrying about everything baby related. The next day he fell asleep while we were at friends' and I had to let everyone think he'd drunk too much. Felt really bad about that and was relieved when I could later put them straight, as everyone else was pretty sober so it must've looked bad! So telling everyone went like 'GuesswhatI'mpregnant- now, remember that party? Well DH wasn't drunk...'

[Bubbles85]

I cut down to one cup of tea a day. I only used to have 2 anyway so nobody really noticed! I did lie about not drinking alcohol due to being on medication though.

[kateandme]

tummy bug.trying to go healthy with no drink and more fruit and veg.
always be the one to volunteer to drive

[KiwiBanana]

I found out on the morning of a massive party we had organised, had to do some quick thinking!

I got a small bottle of vodka and emptied it in to the punch bowl, then filled it up with water and put it in a cupboard that I knew no one would go in.
When party time rolled round I kept pouring myself plenty of generous 'vodka' and cokes!

It didn't work anyway as when I announced a few weeks later everyone said they had guessed at the party. Bit gutted I went to all that trouble and it fooled no one!

[starlight36]

My DH and I both like red wine so he had a few merry nights out where we 'shared' a bottle of wine which involved him drinking the best part of the bottle.

[Cuckoo82]

I decided to cut out caffeine when we started TTC but didn't want to give the game away at work so swapped all the 'real' teabags in the office for decaff ones without telling any of my colleagues. I felt bad at first but nobody seemed to notice! (Although there were a few more yawns in the afternoon!). Unfortunately when I became pregnant I went off tea completely which was a bit of a giveaway! I've still not admitted my deception (although I have changed them back again now!)

[museumworker]

One birthday I had arranged a pub visit - kept sending OH to the bar to buy 'G&T's (or just tonics with no gin). Every time someone offered to buy me a drink I'd ask for a soft one, saying I was pacing myself. As the birthday before I'd fallen off a table (!) and then blacked out everyone thought I was just being sensible... until OH said to a friend 'isn't she glowing?'. Luckily no-one else overheard, but that friend did suss it out!

[rmyerspharmacy]

The metronidazole antibiotic for a tooth infection is a good one- to avoid alcohol- but only works once or people just think you have terrible teeth! I used to get a tall glass of lemonade or soda and pretend it was gin and tonic if asked :)

For the change to decaf tea I just switched tea bags and no-one noticed the difference!

[Takora]

It was quite handy having PG tips decaf, because if I offered to make the tea, I could generally whip it out and slip it into my cup where it then looked the same as the regular tea bags! The rest of the time, I told people I was having a super detox and had put myself on a strict health regime of no alcohol, no caffeine, blah-de-blah. People actually believed me and I even convinced myself!

[pocopearl]

I changed to decaf tea when ttc and in my second trimester if I had a cup of caffinated tea when out it would make me sick. I have never looked back since and feel alot better for it. I do often buy the pg tips decaf tea. I think its one of the better decaf brands. Yet when I drank caffinated teas I always chose tetleys or twining s before pg

[mercibucket]

i dont think anyone paid much attention tbh. some of you must work with v nosy people
i uninventively claimed to have a dodgy tummy once. amusingly half the office apparently had the same bug

[teenagetantrums]

My first one, i just pretended to drink, both coffee and wine, no one at work would have believed me if i said i wasn't drinking for health reasons or antibiotics was may years ago in the banking industry and long boozy lunches were very much the done thing. I don;t think anyone guessed, with number two i didn't even bother trying to lie just told everyone i was pregnant when i found out.

[Jims]

I told my friends i was on antibiotics at a wedding. They didn't believe me one iota but politely changed the subject. Apart from one who kept asking really loudly 'you're not pregnant are you jims?'

[cheekylittledevil]

I told everyone I had a throat infection and was on antibiotics. That explained the not drinking or smoking fags, but I'm not sure they believed that a throat infection could go on so long.....

[micra]

I just tried to make sure I was the nominated driver, or said I'd had a heavy night the night before, or was feeling off-colour. Or just made sure I or my husband went to the bar so no-one would no that the rum and coke was just coke, etc. AFter 3 months I allowed myself the odd drink anyway.

[petalsandstars]

I looked knackered from being up with the older child in the night, , not morning sickness oh no.

[aristocat]

I did tell my friends that I was 'on the wagon' and trying to be healthier with DS, and I have decaf anyway but usually Twinings (never tried PG yet)

[Mim78]

Husband has used my pregnancy as an excuse not to drink when he doesn't want to - has told people at works do where there was pressure to drink that he was off it in sympathy with me. A complete lie as he has happily had a drink when he feels like it (read - with friends rather than with work!).

[Julie0903]

In the early stages all I wanted to do was eat. I was amazed nobody guessed at work, especially as I had been on extremely strict pre-wedding diet, returned from honeymoon & ate everything in sight!!!! Kept telling them all, "just relaxing diet until Christmas as worked so hard up until wedding" I was 12 weeks by the December so could come clean! They had all been fooled ;-)

[Lifeofatortoise]

I used the excuse of having to be up early the next morning for works do, everyone was really sympathetic and I felt guilty for lying.

[muser31]

one person told me i looked awful and did i have anaemia..which was true i did, so i used anaemia as an excuse for being too tired to go out and do anything!
and also i said id realised caffeine made me jittery so thats why i was cutting down.

[Santabroughtmethis]

I'm a midwife so often have women asking how to they hide it or keep Schtum, I always say the antibiotics line but know from experience that's getting old!

Myself, with each pregnancy I've made up the 'I'm on call' excuse when I've had nights out. It works a darn treat