Hold on the Wine

Saturday 26th February

It's Saturday night and Merry has invited us for a dinner party round at hers. My first non-drinking-when-I-would-normally-be-drinking social. I try and get out of this one like I have the others over the past few weeks but your Dad is adamant.

I mull over different outfits in the mirror but my expanding waist line and blooming bosoms have already negated most of my usual going out clothes. I huff and puff that it's not normal to be showing so soon and am not convinced my new tubby tummy is all baby as I can definitely pinch an inch and more. I have been eating for the most part an incredibly healthy diet primarily consisting of low fat protein like cottage cheese, whole grain carbs, lots and lots of veg and a moderate amount of fruit. As well I have been going to the gym four or five times a week so it feels unfair to be looking portly rather than pregnant. Eventually I flop onto the bed. Your Dad points out that there are two of you and with it double the hormones and that the usual rules of a singleton pregnancy don't apply.

It's a new experience for me going to dinner and not slugging back two glasses of wine before the entrées have even arrived. Thankfully I have picked a moderate drinking bunch to try this experiment out. It surprises me but I immediately feel at ease and comfortable with the situation. I expect to feel inhibited especially as the other loosen up as their conversation is well lubricated by generously flowing red wine. But I am not and I find myself chattering and laughing as much as any of them. It's a lovely evening and I feel closer than ever to your Dad and, dare I say it, quite grown up and civilised.

On the way home your Dad is gushing with how lovely it was to see me flowing in dinner party conversation without the assistance of alcohol. Up until this moment I have firmly believed alcohol was the lynch pin of my social life. It is surprising and even alarming given how much I have clung to it over the years to be discovering that perhaps it is nothing more than a placebo.