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

[sleepyhead]

I usually avoided going out where people would be drinking in the early weeks of pg (not hard if you were feeling grotty anyway), but if it was unavoidable my excuse was always dental infection and antibiotics - the ones that make you vom if combined with alcohol.

For some reason everyone always sympathises with that one. Anything else and it's gwan, gwan, gwan, gwan, just the one

[WowOoo]

I had to make excuses for my martial arts class for weeks.
They were very high impact and I'd been kicked in the stomach once before.
I kept saying I had a cold/ wasn't 100%/ had sprained my ankle. I had a stroppy call from the teacher who was annoyed I was missing classes as I'd miss my next belt test. I think he knew something was up so I confessed.

[telsa]

For one, my early days coincided with Christmas and all the food bingeing. I just said that I had been too greedy over the festive period and was rueing it as I was really expanding. People had already seen me packing it away at the office Christmas party.

[ShatnersBassoon]

I simply offered to drive places so nobody thought it unusual that I wasn't drinking.

I did used to lie to DH about being too exhausted to do things I just couldn't be bothered with. And I lied to work about intending to come back after maternity leave

[StupidMistakes]

My excuse for not drinking til I was showing too much to avoid telling the truth was that they had changed the epilepsy medication I was on so couldnt drink on my new tablets.

[SweetPeaPods]

I didn't go horse riding for the first 12 weeks as at risk of miscarriage. Tbh I didn't go horse riding at all while pregnant, but in the first trimester before I told my friend I told many excuses. I had a sore back, heavy cold, a hangover, meeting friend in town etc etc. When I told her at around 12 weeks she said she had guessed
I also played on the tiredness/sickness a little with family!

[AGnu]

With DS1 I was a terrible liar & when asked by a friend if we were thinking about starting a family soon I just muttered something about not planning to wait much longer while staring at my shoes! Same friend had driven DH to pick me up from a course when I'd passed out around the time of implantation though so I suspect he already had an idea. He went from questioning me every few weeks to not mentioning it again until we announced & then gave me a knowing smile!

DS2 was a different matter. I was terribly ill so had 'flu' for a very long time but was also organising DS1's 1st birthday. That was a fun day to get through with all our nearest & dearest expecting us to make speeches & be hospitable while I could barely eat/drink/stand up! Thankfully DH, DM & DMIL did a good job of entertaining everyone so I don't think anyone noticed. DSIL said she did after we announced but she's always got 'feelings' about things that she keeps to herself & only reveals after they've happened!
I do remember Dad offering me some wine when I was 5 weeks pg the night before DBro's wedding. I just said I didn't fancy any. I'm not a big drinker anyway so it wasn't unusual for me! It turned out to be a good thing in the end because my cousin needed picking up unexpectedly! That did involve me driving in the dark/rain along fast, unfamiliar roads. I was terrified I was going to crash & lose the baby but I was absolutely not going to announce my pregnancy on the eve of my brothers wedding!

I didn't need to make anything up about drinking caffeine though. I used to drink nothing but tea & coke & gave them both up while attempting to recover from depression. Now I have 1 cup of caffeinated tea a day & drink decaf or fennel tea the rest of the time. No one batted an eyelid at me wanting decaf anything!

[daisydaisy11]

I got pregnant in early january so passed everything off (healthy eating, no caffeine, alcohol) as a New Years Resolution!

[Solo]

Well in my old job, I didn't have the luxury and fun of having 'The Big Secret' as it was policy to tell straight away as soon as you knew, due to the dangers of being involved in fights or the possibility of being taken hostage etc...so everyone on staff knew almost as soon as I did :(

Can I still play please?

Have to say that I only drink decaff tea, but haven't yet tried PGTips. I generally use either Tetley or supermarket own brand.

[StillNoFuckingEyeDeer]

In the beginning I was blaming everything on a dodgy meal/food poisoning, until my mum convinced me to POAS.
I never really needed to lie to anyone about being pregnant to cover it up, but I did have a few very awkward conversions about families where I guess I lied by omission.

[HamletsSister]

I had to pretend to get pissed (on soda water with ice and a slice) at a staff do (our company so had to go). All fine, no problems but try singing along to Abba, full volume, arms around everyone while SOBER. I tell you, quite put me off pregnancy.

[Solo]

Classic HamletsSister!!

[billybear]

usually say am dieting too many calories in booze so will just have a diet coke

[CMOTDibbler]

I'd had 3 mcs before I was pg with ds, so hadn't been drinking alcohol or caffeine for 2 years. DH and I didn't tell anyone at all till I was 12 weeks pg, and more generally till 20.

But the urge to throw up on everyone was strong, and I had to sit very still in my office first thing in the morning, so I found emails every morning that 'really needed some thought'

[BikeRunSki]

At 7 weeks I was bed bound with sickness and told my boss I had a tummy bug. A week later I was hospitalised with hyperemisis, so I had to fess up. Second time around u tried seeing acupuncturist when the sickness began. I took some annual leave, but told my colleagues I was using some spa vouchers I'd got. Not sure they quite believed that I went three times in a week!

[Theimpossiblegirl]

I was hiding my second pregnancy quite well I thought, until I heard my toddler loudly mimicking my morning sickness at playgroup. Hard to explain that one so I came clean.
:)

[missorinoco]

Offer to drive. If it is your second pregnancy, say you have to be up early with he little one and can't fancy being groggy.
Or a health drive.

[CheeseTMouse]

I was so poorly with a really bad cold at the beginning of pregnancy that not drinking was fair enough given how rubbish I was looking. I was supposed to go to a big meeting several hundred miles away, so had to confess to my boss - but a general illness was how I explained it to colleagues.

More obvious was the lack of caffeine I was consuming - but decaf is now my usual drink (as sleep is so precious I don't want to disrupt what little I get) so I won't need to pretend again!

[IncaAztec]

I told everyone I was suffering with migraines and had been advised to cut down on caffeine. For some reason, no-one questions migraine!

[sealight123]

Truthfully, I didn't have to do anything...I didn't find out I was pregnant until very late in my pregnancy! I had already gone on a health kick for around a year, then found out I was 6 months pregnant!! (yes I know, so many will be saying HOW? HOW?...but I am being serious)

So when I find out I just told everyone hahaha

[CrewElla]

I just said I had a tummy bug and was a) drinking water to stay hydrated & b) avoiding alcohol as it was making my tummy worse.

[AndHarry]

I had a horrible manager when pg with DC2 and wanted to leave it to the last possible moment to tell her I was expecting so had an awful lot of 'appointments' to check up on unrelated surgery I'd had the year before as cover for midwife checks.

[AGoodPirate]

Oh gosh I found out just before we went to a wedding so I carried one drink around with me for hours!

[MakeTeaNotWar]

I also discovered my pregnancy in January so was able to pass avoiding off avoiding caffeine and alcohol as a detox. Now I drink decaff tea all the time so I wouldn't have to lie *next time (ahem!)