* What to say when you're not drinking

What about:

being on antibiotics
designated driver
don't like that particular drink
i'm letting my hubby drink tonight
gotta get up early in the morn...

you could pretend to drink if you're that desperate to keep it a secret. Or you could say "don't get excited, I'm not pregnant" (thinks: "yet...") and then people won't question further unless they are really nosy

put a lemon in some water and tell people its gin and tonic! Everyone hates that drink so no one will try and taste it! :cryinglaugh:

Designated driver
not feeling too good

PMSL :cryinglaugh:

That's FANTASTIC Danni!!!

Celsie. xoxox

I don't really have to use an excuse because I hardly drink anyway, but I would use the 'designated driver' or 'letting DH drink tonight' excuse :)

Unfortunately i was soooooo sick from the beginning...so our close group of friends put two and two together as i was throwing up and off alcohol, but our little secret remained for a little longer with our family as they just thought i was ill :)

Yeah Rae i fell for that one... naughty.... next time round i may be a little more cluey, you would think.... as i have now been there done that and seen how you were with elle.
:)

LOL Rae yep unfortunately there was no hiding the signs for you :D

My SIL had a bit of trouble because she always drank wine at family dinners (well....MIL is a big drinker so used to fill up our glasses) but she announced that she was going on a health kick and only drank water

Hey all,

I am going to have REAL trouble with this one as my In Laws always have a bottle opened so when the time comes and there is a gathering of some sort I am in for a bit of trouble. We will only tell the parents so no brothers/sisters will know......the only thing I can use is the antibiotics thing. If I was driving, I would usually have 2 glasses of wine anyway......so basically I am screwed LOL

Bella it looks like antibiotics will have to work for you :D Maybe if the parents know they will make sure you already have another drink in front of you so it doesn't look so obvious.

My inlaws would probably fall off their chairs if I WAS drinking (what can I say...I don't like their cask wine LMAO)

I just used to say that drinking too much is bad for the waist line and that I need to lose a few kilos. It was only mainly when his family was around because they love the drink. But other than that, no one really asked.

SuzL - I might have trouble with MIL as she will be acting strangely and may make a big deal of my not drinking. I will have trouble with pretty much everyone we know as I have been known to be a bit of a p*ss head hehehe - love my wine I.E my avatar...red wine. Love the wineries, there is a winery trip being planned within the family for Nov...so hoping I am pg by then as Spring Carnival time is going to be very BIG!!!

Another good excuse i've used it to pretend that you had a big one the night before and are feeling abit seedy - you just couldn't handle even the smell of alcohol!

I'm a big wine drinker and have found it hard not to have a glass or two every night. It's also not easy since our wine rack is close to full!

So far I've been lucky. We've been out a few times already in the past week or two, but luckily I've had my foot in an immobilisation boot, so I've used anti-inflamitories (sp?) as an excuse. It's believable since it's prescription meds.

My bro's wedding is on in seven weeks (just when we want to tell people, but we don't want to steal their thunder) so I'll be on anti-biotics that night. Me not drinking at a wedding will be a first so I'm hoping everybody will buy it!

Oh SuzL and Fletch will be able to tell u that i'm a massive P***head!!!!!!!! I've just had to go cold turkey this time around cause 1 glass can too easily lead to a 3rd or 4th. Unfortunately for me this time around with TTC #2 everyone already has an idea cause i'm now drinking water :(

It was hard for us.. coz we had not long been trying to become wine experts and drinking a lot with friends LOL. We had been trying all different wines to work out the differences and which ones we liked. Our problem was I made DH go off alcohol & caffeine too.. so we both needed an excuse! We basically said that we'd had so much wine we were sick of it and were having a break. A few raised their eyebrows and asked if I was pregnant.. and I could honestly say no.. coz we went off it 4 months before even TTCing. But the fact that DH stopped too got them stumped ;) hehe. People seem to think you only stop drinking once you ARE pregnant, so when they ask.. just say you're not pg!

I've found the easiest way to keep a secret.. is not to tell my mum.. coz she's the worst liar ever! LOL. She's not finding out ANYTHING until the 12 week mark with #2. She couldn't keep her trap shut about my pregnancy.

Easy this time around.. coz I'm still b/f'ing. Have to find an excuse for DH tho.. coz he loves his coffee & beer! LOL. Don't think he's looking forward to that aspect of TTC again. hehehe.

hhhmmm yeah that will be a tough one to explain why DH isn't drinking when we're TTC (he drinks way too much as it is). Luckily he's a fitness fanatic so hopefully he'll just say he's on a health kick :)

I dont drink that cheap stuff your offering! LOL
Medication is a good one, tooth ache medication you cant drink with, no one will know if you have a tooth ache or not! and they reoccuring tooth ache might just keep coming back and back at function times.
Going on a health kick- no bad stuff.

I stopped drinking before TTC as i had some pretty bad hangovers and drinking occassions and it was just a choice i made, and most close friends know we would like a baby soon. Im getting too old, my body cant cope works well with how we used to party. I swapped vodka for water at some parties and no one never knew.
Yet summer is going to be hard as nothing like a good beer or two or more with a BBQ.

Before we told people, for a meal out I asked DH if he wanted to share a bottle with me, he said he couldn't because he was driving, so we both ordered fruit drinks.

At home, I'd pour myself a glass then just sip it, if you re-fill before everyone gets empty then no-one notices you've not been touching the stuff.

I had one night where I had about 4 glasses post-O put pre-implantation (Eurovision), and another night where I had 2 glasses post-implantation, but you are allowed a small glass a day! So you can just nurse the one glass all night.

Also DH and I swap glasses, so people just see me, the drunkard, with an empty glass. If you can act a bit tipsy it helps the illusion!

Saturdays you can be nursing a hangover from the Friday so can't face alcohol, and I know I also used the medication one on DH's family before we told them. Of course SiL guessed the second I asked for decaff and said I'd rather not have the wine, but didn't say that she knew until we told them! No-one else realised and they'd all seen me drinking something different to them a few times.

Gee u've got some great excuses Ryn!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Ryn I love the one about swapping glasses with DH! Now if only I can get my DH to start drinking wine....don't think I'd be believable if I was holding an empty beer bottle :D

So just me with the empty pint glasses as being normal then? La la la...

This was a huge issue for me when I fell pregnant as I never go without a drink at family/social do's (I drank throughout TTC as I didn't/don't think a few drinks is a problem when TTC). I have now resorted to taking drinks that are offered and sititng on the one drink all night (then tipping it down the sink/toilet at any chance). Making an excuse can work once or twice but when it happens multiple times it's a bit sus if you usually alway drink! As for the wedding, I would take one drink but not drink it - no one notices once you actually have a drink in your hand. Also, one glass of wine over 5 hours with food won't hurt IMO.

Another option is to just have one and literally nurse it all night. Whenever somebody is waving around a refill just raise your glass and turn away to talk to somebody else. I did this at an awards dinner last Saturday night and it worked really well.

Lisa

great thread this one! My DP plays football and we are constantly at functions where I usually drink (DP doesn't drink so I have to do us proud and be the big drinker), but this year i haven't wanted to as we are TTC. So I've told the people at the club that DP has banned me from drinking as I flirt too much when i drink and he doesn't like it. Funny thing is, no one has actually questioned me about this! DP has had a lot of fun with this as well. :)

Hi, I believe the best strategy is to BLUFF-

Accept a half a glass of something then continue to nurse it (the same glass) all evening while DP/DH secretly supplies you with softies. If you talk loudly and act giddy, then everyone will think you've drunk several glasses...!

This is crucial in my family as we ALWAYS have champagne at EVERY family gathering...!

Marydean

We went to a family wedding when I was about 9 weeks pg, we hadn't told anybody. We were seated on a table with the in-laws but as it was a Sunday wedding I just kept up that I had to work in the morning and didn't want a hangover and one of us had to be able to drive home safely. It worked, no one questioned me or suspected a thing.:)

I had a friend who was sus that i was preg, so she invited me around for a bbq, and offered me a glass of wine...She never normally does this. I was so Peed off inside!! As i know she did this to see if i was preg; she knew i wouldnt touch alcohol if i was. I told her that i was on medications.

Ally, I'd have taken it and surrepstitiously(?sp) fed it to her plants just to pee her off in return! But then I'm mean like that. I forgot to mention feeding the plants is quite a good trick, better than exchanging glasses with DH because then you go from full to a bit gone to halfway down... so it does look like you are drinking. You can only really do that outside or in a pot-plant lover's house. Or if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen near the sink. I know it's a waste, but it's a good trick!

I am not a wine drinker at all, I like the mudslide/hot sex type choc and milk liqeurs, so just walking around all night drinking choc topping in milk is totally foolproof!!, not to mention that all that milk (skim of course) can only be good for a bubba who is just starting to develope bones :)
Apart from that, I would go to woolworths, and buy some of that non-alcoholic wine (called mason i think??), it is with all the mineral water and cordials etc.
A glass of that not only looks identical to alcoholic wine, but tastes much the same too.
And I can nearly guraentee that non of your wine drinking friends will tell the difference, and if anyone does guess and asks why you are drinking the non-alcoholic version,,,,,,Tell them "gees, I never noticed that,,,,no wonder why i am tipsy yet!!

I think that the antibiotics excuse is a dead give-a-way that you are pregnant. No one ever really stops drinking when they are on antibiotics (at least no one I know does) it's a huge red flag that you're pregnant.

The best two options are to either pretend you aren't feeling well (ie: you have a really bad headache or an upset stomach that you don't want to make worse with alcohol, or even better you over-indulged the night before and can't stomach the thought of another sip of alochol) or you pretend to drink.

I have been on two stagettes where someone was pregnant (at one it was the bride at the other it was a bridesmaid) and didn't want anyone to know. We successfuly convinced everyone they were drinking.

The bridesmaid was easy, she just drank "rum and cokes" without the rum all night. Then at the wedding she held a half glass of wine that her husband took occasionaly sips out of to slightly change the volume. No one suspected.

The bride was a bit harder because people wanted to buy her drinks and shots. We made sure we kept them coming so no one had a chacne to buy her real ones. We had different fruit juice shots and chocolate milk shots with whipped cream. We filled an empty vodka bottle with cranberry juice and people thought she was drinking cranberry and vodka.

The non-alcoholic wine or ciders would be a great idea.

I stopped drinking a year ago with the excuse that I was trying to lose weight (which I was and i did) and at first everyone was convinced I was pregnant. They soon realized I was not and now no one expects me to drink anymore.

Hi gals
One of my friends, used to just hold onto a glass of wine or champs for a little while, and get her dh to take a sip or two, and then she would just 'leave' the glass somewhere and pick it up later to make it look like she was having another glass. All this was because she too was the known 'wine head' in our circle!

ok instead of anti biotics make it pain killers or anti depressants! Or just say you are on prescription medecine which has bad effects with grog ;)

Twin sister, having actually only once drunk on antibiotics, I can tell you right now the reason people don't! It's a killer! I've not needed to take them for years, but I'd steer clear of them now because I couldn't drink on them. Wow, most people would just steer clear of the alcohol for a few weeks, but we've just started 9 gallons of wine brewing that should be ready about the same time as the baby, so that should let you know how much of an alcoholic I am! (And DH is.) Also, you can easily tell the lo/no alc wines and beers. But I do drink quite a bit, so it might just be the people who like wine who can tell that.

Hi Gals,

I need an excuse!! I am in the 2ww at the moment and we are seeing friends of DH's on the weekend and I don't want to drink but she will no something is up. She knows I went off the pill and I just keep saying we aren't trying, its just preperation, but she keeps asking!! What I have she wants (if that makes sense). So I need an excuse for why I am on antibiotics!?!?!?!?!

Bladder infection?!?

Or, better yet... make up a mysterious illness and all it's symptoms!!! PMSL :cryinglaugh:

Celsie. xoxox

I just hear "I can't drink because I'm on antibiotics" and it translates to " I may be pregnant". It's just too obvious cuz it's so overused.

I actually have had a few glasses of wine while on antibiotics with no side effects. I would never want to overindulge while on them or anything but they wouldn't stop mne from having one glass of wine.

If you were a bit more specific though like "oh I can't I have a bladder infection I really shouldn't have any alcohol" it sounds a LOT more believable.

I used "I'm the designated driver". Makes you sound responsible and is totally valid. We would't want anyone drinking and driving! Of course, the fact that DH barely drinks has made the ocassional "awake" person ask why we need one. Noone else blinks at it though!

I can't use the designated driver as I would always have 1-2 glasses over 3-4 hours if I am the driver.

I like the bladder infection cause I have to pee HEAPS when drinking and, well, we all know how much we DON't want to pee when having a bladder infection PMSL :)

:hello: Bella,
Why don't you only have one drink. Given you are in your 2WW , even if you end up falling pregnant this cycle, a single drink is really not going to make any difference. In fact, I found that having a drink on occasion during my TWW's took the pressure away from worrying if I was pregnant or not, and made me relax. I personally wouldn't drink during pregnancy (or only very occasionally) but the TWW should be fine if you don't overdo it. Of course, that is my opinion anyway. Don't stress and enjoy yourself while you still can!!!
By the way, my OB (who is very experienced and reputable) tells me an alcohlic drink on occasion during pregnancy is absolutely fine.