If/When I do get prego, I don't want to be telling anyone until I'm at least 12 weeks. What are your keys to hiding your pregnancy until you were ready to shout it out? A girl here at work always wore scarves, but I could tell pretty early on as she said she was doing boot camp but it wasn't making any difference (and it would - she was tiny to begin with).
I have some weight on me to begin with, so hopefully being a curvy girl will throw people off a little bit in the beginning, at least.
blogger / clementine / 985 posts
I think the toughest thing for me is going to be outright denying it to people who ask (because for some reason, everyone is asking me ALREADY). Every time I turn down a drink now it's "Oh, are you pregnant?" and I don't know how I'm going to flat-out lie!
I plan to do the fake-drinking thing a bit, because if we TTC when we're hoping it'll be prime summer/beach time. And wearing flowy tops, because I won't be able to wear giant sweaters. 
pomegranate / 3105 posts
Luckily for me I'm not a big drinker, so that won't phase people at all. All of my friends and co-workers know I'm also on medication that I'm not supposed to drink with in the first place - I didn't have anything at our work xmas party and no one was surprised.
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
It was pretty easy . . . and I was small pre-pg. Although I did have some initial bloating, I didn't have a small bump until about 24ish weeks, and my belly didn't *pop* until almost 30 weeks. What really makes it tough is your paranoia about people noticing or being able to tell . . . you will think they notice more than they do.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
I don't think a lot of people start showing that much before 12 weeks. My problem was more that I wanted to puke when we went out to eat..... so I just declined invites to go out which wasn't a big deal for me because I get migraines so people easily believed that I had a migraine. Also like others said about the drinking, I don't drink anyway so that wasn't a big deal for me either.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
I definitely changed the types of clothes I wore, but when I told everyone at 14/15 weeks, the women were like, "we were kind of guessing". Probably because I don't normally wear such blousy stuff and suddenly, all my clothing was flowy.
I totally fake drank. One night, we had a trivia function with my SIL, and the bartender kept making me dirty shirleys without the vodka. I asked him to make it look real and told him I was pregnant; I think he got a kick out of making me those drinks! I was in early pregnancy July-October, which luckily didn't coincide with any big holidays!
And when we did go to a bbq and I opted for water over beer, I said I had gone to the gym that morning and was really dehydrated. Another time, we let everyone know that it was my turn to DD and DH made sure to have a few extra beers and I just took a sip of his. That one sip threw everyone off....b/c i totally had people going, "but i saw you drinking at that party!" and I had to say, "no, you saw me take one teeny sip". One person was like, "i can't believe you drank while pregnant". lol a sip is not 'drinking'.
Oh, another time we didn't go to a family function/dinner-DH said I had homework.
grapefruit / 4862 posts
I'm PG now, and it's nice and easy to tell anyone who asks that I gave up alcohol for lent 
I'll be 12 weeks the week after Easter so it works out well! Though I work from home and am new to the area, so I have only had one person try to get me to go out (World of Beer, my fave... wahhh!)
pomegranate / 3275 posts
I agree with everyone, your body probably won't give away that you are pregnant, but your actions are. I went out to eat with some girlfriends and didn't order a cocktail, with the waiter still at the table my friend mouthed to me "are you pregnant?" hahaha So the no booze and the wanting to be sick all the time, that might expose your secret more than a tiny tummy haha
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Definitely flowy shirts and stuff will help hide any bloat you have going on, but if you normally have wine at dinner and now you're declining, it's hard to keep it a secret! I ended up ordering a glass of wine and just sipping it when I was early enough (and then Hubs drank the rest at the end of the night), but it was before 6 weeks, so I felt comfortable having it. I didn't have any later in the pregnancy and people definitely suspected!
pomelo / 5326 posts
I just wore a little looser clothes and didn't start showing til 14-15 weeks. However when I told people around 12 weeks they all said they already knew. Likely because of my lack of wine drinking.
coconut / 8861 posts
I actually wore tight sweaters when I was first pregnant. By 13 weeks or so, I told my boss. He already suspected it because I puked at my desk. A little after 13 weeks, one of our lawyers asked him if I was pregnant and he said I was. That was pretty much when everyone in the office knew.
pear / 1563 posts
Agree with the others that the hardest part will be hiding the not drinking, if you are normally a drinker, and hiding sickness if you have bad morning sickness.
I always have at least a glass of wine when I go out so I ended up just avoiding social functions and/or telling the person I was meeting before the 12 weeks. I didn't have any large functions with acquaintances to manage during that time, so I think I was lucky. Oh, one excuse I did use once was that I was doing a paleo challenge at my gym (true before I found out I was pregnant) and so I wasn't drinking - this worked - but then I had to make sure to eat 100% paleo at that event, hard in the first trimester.
papaya / 10473 posts
I told people I was on antibiotics when I didn't order a drink, or since I do MyFitnessPal I always said I was out of calories for the day No one had a CLUE I was pregnant!
watermelon / 14467 posts
I don't drink much, so that's not an issue, and my close friends know I'm pregnant. I haven't really changed my clothes because that would be a dead giveaway, so we'll see how long it lasts (I'm 7.5 weeks).
grapefruit / 4311 posts
Luckily the people I usually drink with all know already because they are our best friends and we can't keep the secret from them! otherwise, I've been a major hermit so I haven't had too lie too much about alcohol. My biggest give away is that I can't run bc of spotting, and I already had a running buddy straight up ask me if I was pregnant and I couldn't lie! I bought a few flowy shirts that I'm pairing with skinny jeans, with is sorta in style right now so that helps!
GOLD / papaya / 10166 posts
I bloated so much that I couldn't hide it. Everyone at my office knew I always worked out, so when I started gaining weight, they noticed. When I finally did come out with it, one girl came to me and said "Oh, I thought you just stopped working out now that you're married" (I had a honeymoon baby).
So, I guess what I mean to say is, some people can hide it well, others blow up that first trimester, so it really depends on your body. But, wearing flowy shirts will help to an extent.
eggplant / 11716 posts
I did the scarf trick. I ended up telling my work at about 12 1/2 weeks, and word got around until basically everyone knew around 14 weeks. My students still haven't asked me (they must think I'm just getting verrrry chubby in the belly)-
I'm 19 weeks tomorrow.
I fake-drank twice, at our own house when we had people over--that was easy, because it was my DH making the drinks, and he would make me gingerale and cran and make my friends gingerale, cran, and vodka. The few times we went out and had a waiter (couldn't order from the bar, which makes it easier), I just told people in advance that my GERD was acting up again, so I was back off spicy foods, coffee, sodas, and alcohol.
I really do have GERD, and I *do* have to avoid those things when it gets bad, so it didn't phase anyone.
pear / 1846 posts
Fake drink, people only need to see you with one drink and they forget any ideas about pregnancy. I filled up a cider can with lemonade and summer bbqs etc and had either DH or my BFF (who I had told) with me who would get me non alcoholic drinks even though I had asked for alcohol. I wouldn't worry about bloat etc because others won't notice it as much as you think.
clementine / 849 posts
I can't lie. So any time any one asked when I was going to get pregnant, etc. My response was "We're working on it!"
bananas / 9973 posts
Fake drinks, flowy tops, dark bottoms, accessorize UP (earrings, necklaces, hair).
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I actually think flowy shirts are more obvious that you're trying to hide something, so i'd go with printed tops and layers, like a blazer on top.
cherry / 102 posts
fake drinking and even fake sipping away at a bottle of beer or swapping out your glass with SO. One of the hardest things to hide was the nausea. Life savers were literally life savers, and no one was any wiser to me trying to ward off not feeling well.
persimmon / 1386 posts
Unless you have really bad nausea, hiding a pregnancy until 12 weeks shouldn't be too hard since it is unlikely you will start looking pregnant until well into your second trimester.
bananas / 9229 posts
@NeekieRose: I'm concerned about the bloat or boobs being noticeable. I'm usually fairly flat-ish stomached.
pear / 1846 posts
@LindsayInNY: i only bloated if I stayed up late or ate the wrong type of things, it wasn't a constant thing.
pomegranate / 3105 posts
@LindsayInNY: I'm so excited that you bumped this lol I'm so stoked for you
apricot / 263 posts
Wish I had seen this thread earlier - I'm not doing a very good job so far! Just sick constantly and didn't think to dress in a loose shirt today, as I was in a rush, so I had a noticeable little bump. A coworker mentioned it and I'm a horrible liar... Oops!
bananas / 9229 posts
@Snowdrop: I'm noticing that it tends to be after larger meals but more so at the end of the day. Boobs are all day
@babycanuck: Aww thanks!! 
pear / 1846 posts
@LindsayInNY: ha I couldn't help but play the boobs up if I'm being honest 
bananas / 9229 posts
@Snowdrop: Oh, believe me, I'm trying!! DH is probably annoyed with me talking about them. When they were little-ish to begin with, I'll take what I can get!!
coconut / 8861 posts
Wow, just like last time (referencing my post above), I'm not really hiding it. I'm taking probiotics which I think is making the bloat more manageable than before. I definitely look big after a big meal or at night.
kiwi / 636 posts
@LindsayInNY: I'm 15 weeks & still hiding the bump at work, and it's definitely not an easy task. What's worked so far is the belly band over my suit pants, flowy top, suit jacket unbuttoned & a longer scarf which somewhat hides the protruding bump.
cantaloupe / 6869 posts
@LindsayInNY: Scarves! Seriously long scarves. That's how I hid my belly.
pear / 1812 posts
I couldn't hide it from my work because of safety concerns. I had to be put on light duty ASAP. (I work in a jail.) But TBH, I didn't even really pop at all until around 16 weeks. Are you showing already?
bananas / 9229 posts
@lazypanda: That's reassuring!! I think I need more flowy tops... Will hide the bigger boobs too, LOL!
@Mrs Hedgehog: Haha, no. Just showing in my head I like to be prepared though!
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