"Make mine a water"

As this is my first pregnancy, this will be my first Christmas season sober. I make myself sound like a bit of an alcoholic here, I assure you I'm not but I do enjoy a glass (or three) of red wine in an evening.

Up until now, I've been so concentrated on my pregnancy that the thought of alcohol has turned my stomach. I've not missed it all, in fact it's been really nice.

I suppose this is supported by the fact that we've just moved into our new house, so have been so busy that we've not really been out and about in the last few months as much as usual, and where we have it has been civilised lunches, teas and dinners rather than wild nights out in bars or clubs!

I've never been a fan of clubbing to be honest, and I've never been someone who enjoys getting 'wasted'. I'm far to much of a control freak to enjoy feeling out of control.

I do enjoy alcohol though, particularly a glass of red wine over dinner in the cold winter months.

This is not something I've thought about much at all recently, but as we fully enter the Christmas season it is hard to avoid.

Yesterday was my first work Christmas do, it was with clients, so was never going to get too out of control but a lot of booze was consumed.

It was quite strange being the pregnant lady on the end watching the afternoon unfold (we went for Christmas lunch at a place where you can play ping pong after eating)

Luckily for me, there was an activity after the meal that I could partake in. If anything, being sober helped as it made me look (and feel) like a professional ping pong player (I'm honestly terrible) versus everyone else who were a tad inebriated!

One thing I don't think people realise is quite how much they drink. I was watching and could see cocktail after cocktail and bottle after bottle being consumed at a rapid pace. Whilst it was all good fun, it is a little worrying...

For me, yesterday was fine. The meal was, if anything enhanced by my pregnancy. In order to not feel left out of the the festivities, I prepared a Christmas quiz (I love a good quiz) which went down very well and which became even more fun for me to host as people drunk more and more! Plus, ping pong is fun and the activity was during the day so I was home (with a bit of a sore back from picking up ping pong balls) at a reasonable hour.

The next thing I have to content with is my work Christmas do. The theme is The Great Gatsby, and I've got a new ASOS sparkly navy dress ready to wear.

I've already had a little bit of stress over the menu... Both the meat and veggie options have non pregnancy friendly ingredients included in them, and apparently the chef at the venue is refusing to make any changes (great!)

Whilst my outfit, and hopefully my dinner is now sorted... I'm fully aware (after years of experience) that this is the big one.

Everyone will be on top form and ready to drink and party the night away.

Instead of dreading it, I've decided to embrace it...

For one, I'll be the only sober person their so I'll see and hear everything that goes on... This could prove quite entertaining!!

Another thing I'm looking forward to is the cocktail bar... I'm planning to befriend the waiter and have him concoct a range of tasty (virgin) treats for me!!

And then there's dancing. Dancing is always fun and I do love a good boogie (I sound so old and uncool) so pregnant or not pregnant I'm rocking that dance floor (Baby J likes it when I dance and tends to get involved!)

The only thing working against me is tiredness...

Whilst I've not suffered a lot of the negative side effects of pregnancy, I have felt utterly exhausted for the past 6 and a bit months and there is very little I can do to fight it...

I'm worried that come 8pm I'll start to get tired and the daily dread of the commute back to the burbs will start to set in.

Not much I can do I suppose!!

The key for me is not to dread it... I've got my new 20s style outfit (complete with a feathered headband and faux fur bolero) and I'm going to do my best to enjoy it...

I just hope the true misbehaving doesn't start until I've left… Sometimes it's best not to see/know these things!!!