During promotion for the next season of Scandal, Kerry Washington’s cast mate Joe Morton explained that when the cast learned she was pregnant with new husband Nnamdi Asomugha‘s first baby, they all worked to make sure her secret stayed safe and not leaked to the public until Washington was ready to reveal.
“We sort of new, but she obviously wanted to keep it private, so we helped her do that,” Morton told HipHollywood at Essence Women in Music event. “So there was no kind of big celebration. ”
For women who work in offices, concealing a pregnancy may take some work too. For professional and personal reasons, women don’t want the beans spilled too soon. Here are some tips on how to keep your pregnancy a secret until you are ready to reveal the news.
1. Hiding morning sickness. You may have one challenge to not be caught by a co-worker throwing up in the bathroom. If you work in a multi-level office environment, use the bathroom on another floor. Chances are the people from those other floors won’t know who you are or won’t recognize the shoes to the woman losing her lunch in the stall next door.
2. Shielding alcohol avoidance. You may be known to NOT skip a drink offer. So if it would be uncharacteristic of you to say no to booze, take the glass when offered and pretend to sip it. Then replace the liquid with alcohol-free version when no one is looking. If it’s white wine, replace it with apple juice if convenient. If it’s pure vodka, water works. If it’s rum and coke, get just the coke.
3. Covering up the Early Pregnancy Look. There is a certain look that women who are suffering from morning sickness get: glazed eye, red nose, puffy cheeks are indications of vomiting and dealing with nausea. It’ll be hard, but just try. Also, don’t look too dumpy because that is a dead give-away that something is up. Keep your hair coiffed and keep wearing make up even if you’re feeling queezie and not up to it. If you have to heave, reapply your make up so you don’t look so green coming out of the restroom.
4. Disguising the hand on the tummy posture. You may feel the uncanny urge to rest your hand on your tummy. It’s an unexplainable phenomenon. Try to be conscious where your hands are and make an effort to keep them at your hips or another natural place OTHER than resting on your tummy…LIKE A PREGNANT WOMAN! A couple of years ago, when Mariah Carey was pregnant and before suffering her miscarriage, many outlets, including this blog, reported that she MUST have been pregnant based on that photograph alone! (see right)
5. Dressing to Hide a growing bump. Finally, dress in chunky but hip sweaters or A-line or empire waist tops or dresses to take the focus away from your tummy. Keep it fresh and trendy so it appears that you are wearing those tummy hiding outfits for style, not for the convenience of hiding a pregnancy you don’t want someone to know about.
