Before I was pregnant, I drank two cups of coffee in the am and two or three diet cokes before leaving work for the day. Once pregnant, I saved my soda for one diet caffeine free coke per day, and attempted to drink 64 ounces of water if I could conceivably think of a way to fit in the necessary bathroom breaks between every meeting.

Cutting out the caffeine was hard enough but then somewhat hiding it was even harder. Now, you may think I'm crazy and neurotic but just when I thought "no one is watching what I drink," one of my employees saw me drinking caffeine free diet coke, and said "How come you’re drinking that… I shouldn’t read into it, should I?” He then proceeded to tell me that evening that he was glad there was nothing to it since he saw me drinking alcohol later with the team. Little did he know that I was a great fake drinker…

I started buying caffeine free diet coke and then removing the labels. I used to get decaf coffee and hide that it was decaf. At one point, one of my employees went and bought me a 6-pack of diet coke as we entered an all day meeting. It was very nice, but I had to pretend to drink one every few hours and then throw it out in the bathroom when no one was looking. It’s great to focus on that throughout the day while also running a meeting and still remembering to keep up with the water.

The hardest was being in Europe and having many meetings at coffee shops or in the afternoon with coffee served. Requesting decaf is not very common and who wants to be the only American showing up for a meeting and sticking out by making abnormal requests. On top of that, eating at meetings where there is a table of cold cuts to choose from or where every sandwich has mayo, a soft cheese or something you haven't heard of on it is even better. There is that voice always saying, "Would eating this really hurt my baby… I don’t want to reveal this pregnancy yet."

I had one trip when I went to a meeting from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm and the meal consisted of soft cheeses with crackers and mini cold cut sandwiches heavy on mayo. I left the meeting so hungry that I ran to a cafe before my next meeting saying I had to call a customer and then inhaled two chocolate croissants in about three minutes. (Not the healthiest for those looking to eat “healthy calories” when pregnant, but it was the best I could do.)

Combine no caffeine and not eating what is served with the fact that I went to every meeting with four snacks because I was sure that I would either get hungry or nauseous or both. I tried to only do this at internal meetings of course where it is not as rude to pull out snacks because I am not sure customers would appreciate it. Regardless, it is very hard to not look suspicious. But good news, at least the snacks will keep you awake.

At the end of my annual kick off meeting, my team gave me the energy award saying I had more energy than anyone they knew. Little did they know, I had cut caffeine out of my diet almost three months earlier. So I guess I win an award for successfully hiding my pregnancy?

Based on not knowing what my body would need or want or what would be available or offered, along with trying to avoid being in the “spotlight,” I ended up drinking a little caffeine and carrying lots of snacks with me even if I had to eat in the bathroom. Even though there was always the guilt in my head about whether I was doing the right thing for my child, it seemed better than the alternative and definitely better than giving up my secret to my company before I was ready to.

Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flickr user MoneyBlogNewz.