Hiding Pregnancy Over Thanksgiving?!? (aka fake drinking?)

lolonvive · November 2015

I am waiting until after my first trimester to announce to my extended family, all of whom will be at thanksgiving! There is already suspicion floating around and I don't want that awkward moment when a cousin just blurts out and asks me if I'm pregnant. Since my mom, who knows, already informed me that my grandma and sister already have their eyes on me from last family gathering, i need some suggestions for 'fake drinking'. Thanksgiving is a wine and beer heavy holiday, with loud card games and football.

Any suggestions? The only thing I can come up with is dumping a bottle of beer and filling with ginger ale. Saying I'm not feeling well or have a cold will not fly. My family (whom I love) are absolutely ruthless.

Help!!

mrsschmity · November 2015

If it were me I'd go with fake mixed drinks. That way you can mix your own or have your husband do it for you and have it still look like a drink. Maybe cranberry juice and sprite ot something along those lines

lm45678 · November 2015

Mixed drinks, Fre wine or champagne or emptying a beer bottle are all good ideas

Linsbins · November 2015

Rum and Coke minus the rum, hard cider replaced with apple juice.

jmohio · November 2015

My family does wine, and a lot of it. Find a new way to drink it like a spritzer and tell them your husband makes the best ones. Just be prepared when they ask your husband to make one for them. Then he can make theirs with wine and yours with juice and sprite.

Thankfully my family knows I am not a huge drinker and rarely have a glass so I can pull off the "not really in the mood for it".

arteduc8 · November 2015

I did the beer bottle thing early on on my pregnancy around my family and it worked. I'm a micro brew snob, so if iI had anything else in my hand my family would catch on. I did byo prefilled with soda water and kept my stash in my cooler so I could get a refill whenever I wanted. Use a dark bottle and maybe even a koozie to hide it. Although koozies don't scream classy Thanksgiving, it worked at my pool party!

meggyme · November 2015

You could bring soda and beer in the same dark bottles and peel the labels. Root beer, cream soda and ginger beer all tend to come in bottles similar to beer. My go to has also been club soda and lime which looks remarkably like a gin and tonic.

crdo · November 2015

Fake mixed drinks or refilling a beer bottle with juice sound like the easiest options to me.

We are hosting thanksgiving, and plan to announce shortly after everyone arrives. So, I plan to "fake it" for only a little while by carrying around a glass of wine with lipstick stains on it as if I've been sipping, and I'll empty the glass a little every so often in the bathroom. I'm just hoping that fools my MIL long enough to announce before what little filter she seems to have dissipates due to a cocktail or two and she asks me if I'm pregnant in front of everyone. Sigh.

lolonvive · November 2015

Thanks ladies! I think I'm going to go with the beer bottle!

@arteduc8 Same! Luckily most of the good beers come in dark bottles because otherwise they'd be just as suspicious. I love IPAs and really only my husband drinks them otherwise, so if I make a couple 'mine' and pre-fill them I think I might be able to pull this off :-)

jsl82 · November 2015

I've been dreading this too-was actually debating not going anywhere for Thanksgiving this year just to keep the secret! I am usually nice and drunk on wine every year- so my lack of drinking will be very noticeable this year. Luckily we recently moved closer to my family- so I can drive home after dinner vs staying with my parents. I'm planning on using the hour long drive as my excuse. I was also thinking of faking being sick- which is still a possibility depending on how my stomach is doing Thursday.

CourtJack · November 2015

Hold a half glass of wine. Nobody will question you and requires very minimal planning.

scotten · November 2015

I co-hosted a couples baby shower for a friend a few weeks ago (planned long before I found out I was expecting), and the theme was "A Baby is Brewing." As in, we had a craft beer themed shower. Pretty much the worst possible theme when you're hiding a pregnancy!

Also, I'm known amongst our friends for always having a drink in my hand. Not drinking was not an option.

I had my husband drink a beer before the party, and I refilled the bottle with NA beer. That way if anyone was "on" to me, at least it smelled like beer. I totally got away with it! No one knew!

redheadbride15 · November 2015

I worked out an elaborate strategy with my husband where he would drink half a beer and give me the half-empty bottle, which I "nursed" for a long time. I'd always fetch him another beer when he was ready, so it looked like was going into the fridge for more.

That worked at a big party we were at when I was only 5 weeks, but we'll have a smaller gathering for Thanksgiving and sitting down at a table, which is a totally different thing. I've basically accepted that I'm going to have to tell everyone. I'll be almost 12 weeks, so I guess that's okay. I'm just really hoping I have genetic test results back by then (I did cell free fetal DNA testing last week).

Knottie86418473 · November 2015

Glad I'm not the only one with his problem.

We'll be at in-laws and they typically only have wine. We hang out with my SIL enough for her to know it would be out of the ordinary for me to not be drinking and lately everyone's been asking if we're pregnant since we just got married in July. I'm going to accept a glass of wine and pretend to sip on it then pour it out or into DH's glass when no one is looking and refill with water. I really don't think anyone will notice. Now I'm just praying my blump is under control that day and that I can find something to wear in case it decides to pop out.

I just hope when we tell DH's family they don't speculate over why I was 'drinking' on Thanksgiving.

lolonvive · November 2015

Knottie86418473 said:

I just hope when we tell DH's family they don't speculate over why I was 'drinking' on Thanksgiving.

lol You'll just be able to say, 'gotcha!'

HeartLikeMine3 · November 2015

I'm planning on pouring fre wine into a wine bottle and pouring from there

lolonvive · November 2015

HeartLikeMine3 and anyone else planning on using Fre wine, I had never heard of it before but just looked it up -- it is de-alcoholized wine but there is still teeny bits of alcohol in there -- like 1%--but thought you might want to know :-)

bio-oesch · November 2015

I'm going to try and use fre wine, but idk because it would be weird to bring a pre-opened bottle of wine and also we all kind of share the wine so someone else would accidentally use it ykwim?

I had thought of hiding the fre wine in another room or the bathroom and dumping out my wine, then filling with fre? idk though it seems like a lot of work, but I don't have a lot of options I guess, lol.

lolonvive · November 2015

@bio-oesch when you're not around the table you could have your husband be the one to 'bring you a refill' and stash it somewhere discreet like a bedroom or under the bathroom sink, so that he disappears with your glass and comes back with a full one, and then at actual dinner just make sure you sit down to the meal with a full glass and sip it so you don't need a refill.

But I did just mention in my last post that Fre wine does have a teensy bit of alcohol in it, so I wouldn't go crazy and drink the whole bottle.

bio-oesch · November 2015

lshamah said:

@bio-oesch when you're not around the table you could have your husband be the one to 'bring you a refill' and stash it somewhere discreet like a bedroom or under the bathroom sink, so that he disappears with your glass and comes back with a full one, and then at actual dinner just make sure you sit down to the meal with a full glass and sip it so you don't need a refill.
But I did just mention in my last post that Fre wine does have a teensy bit of alcohol in it, so I wouldn't go crazy and drink the whole bottle.

Yea that sounds like a plan! I know (about the 1%) I'm just going to carry it around for the most part, but want to have something I can actually sip on in case I feel a glare, lol.

I feel like my sister and cousin are already on alert because I made the mistake of saying that we were ttc. Even though I fake drank with them a few weeks ago.

My sister knows I like to announce after first tri and not just tell them a soon as I poas. She told me I better not make her wait until then so she's not going to be happy with me when we do announce, I just feel better waiting.

jaqualls · November 2015

You could always go with the you're trying and don't want to have alcohol in case you conceive

lynnernon · November 2015

Yeah, but it's fine to have a few drinks while TTC (not more than a few of course) and until you have a positive test. So if a family member knows that it might not help.

lolonvive · November 2015

I'm ready for the holiday! Angry Orchard and Martinelli's sparking cider.
My siblings don't know but the guy in the liquor store now knows my whole life story!

Bear14+ · November 2015

lshamah said:
I'm ready for the holiday! Angry Orchard and Martinelli's sparking cider.
My siblings don't know but the guy in the liquor store now knows my whole life story!

Angry Orchard comes alcohol free?!

lynnernon · November 2015

Bear14+ said:

lshamah said:
I'm ready for the holiday! Angry Orchard and Martinelli's sparking cider.
My siblings don't know but the guy in the liquor store now knows my whole life story!
Angry Orchard comes alcohol free?!

Maybe she's using the sparkling cider to fill the Angry Orchard bottle? @Bear14+ I had the same thought at first but it looks like we're seeing both sides of the secret plan! Good luck @Ishamah!

HeartLikeMine3 · November 2015

lshamah said:
HeartLikeMine3 and anyone else planning on using Fre wine, I had never heard of it before but just looked it up -- it is de-alcoholized wine but there is still teeny bits of alcohol in there -- like 1%--but thought you might want to know :-)

I didn't know this thanks for the heads up!!! Hope everyone's plans work out tomorrow

lolonvive · November 2015

Yep! Filling angry orchard bottles with sparkling cider. :-) @lynnernon @Bear14+

lolonvive · November 2015

Just wanted to share with y'all that my sneaky plan was a huge success! I filled an angry orchard bottle with sparkling cider and put it back in the six pack, and peeled a little of the label so I would know which one was mine. my sister has been bugging my mom (who knows) for weeks and she pulled my mom aside and FREAKED OUT. They are going to be so surprised when we tell them!

catherinekate · November 2015

Thanks great news @lshamah! Surprises are hard to pull off.

AmyEO · November 2015

I've had to fake it at a couple weddings recently around friends so what I did was poured myself a glass of wine and would pretend go drink from it every so often (tip it up to my lips, but don't drink any) and then my husband would drink from my glass when no one was looking of paying attention. I think it worked.

bio-oesch · November 2015

It was a success!!! I dumped out my wine and filled up with a hidden bottle of fre wine! I think I'm good on the fake drinking, finger crossed, for the rest of the pregnancy!! Wooo hoo!!!

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