As I write my column this month, I am nine months pregnant. By the time this issue comes out, I’m hoping to have delivered my first child. This pregnancy has been an adventure and opened my eyes to just the beginning of motherhood experiences. I feel like I’ve already learned so much and still have so much more to learn. I thought it would be fun to detail some of my observations as they relate to beverages.

The first thing I learned is that people can tell you are pregnant by what you drink and also by what you do not drink. During one dinner out with friends, I ordered a Sierra Mist, which was how one of my friends knew I was pregnant. “That’s a pregnant woman’s drink,” he said. I had no idea I was being so obvious. I know many pregnant women get “discovered” when they stop consuming alcohol, but I didn’t know people also watched whether or not I was consuming caffeine.

What this taught me is we are what we drink. I’m not just talking about what we’re putting in our bodies, but what we’re holding in our hands. Before I was public with my pregnancy, I floored my friends because I had given up Margaritas with Mexican food and I declined to try a new craft beer when on vacation in Arizona. When I ordered a lemonada instead of a mojito, my friend said I could start a new trend by how cool the bartender made my lemonada look next to the darker-looking mojito.

Additionally, women who have been through pregnancy before have a few tips, too. As my pregnancy-induced heartburn worsened, highly carbonated beverages became harder for me to consume and limiting myself to non-carbonated beverages further shrunk my beverage range. My palate was getting bored with my selections, but I was scared to try new things in fear of heartburn.

Luckily, one of my friends, who is a new mother herself, came over for lunch and brought with her a lightly carbonated flavored seltzer water, which was one of the few beverages that she could enjoy drinking while she was pregnant. The beverage also had been recommended to her by a friend. Her recommendation emphasized to me how important word-of-mouth and product suggestion is to the success of introducing new consumers to your brands. 

Although I’ll be a close beverage industry observer and avid beverage consumer for the next two months, this month commences my official role as mother and begins my maternity leave. During my absence feel free to reach out to Managing Editor Jennifer Zegler (zeglerj@bnpmedia.com) and Associate Editor Jessica Jacobsen (jacobsenj@bnpmedia.com). I can’t wait to chat with all of you again next year. BI

Related links:
Beverage Beat: Fanfare for Fair Trade
Beverage Beat: Beverages do a body good
Beverage Beat: When life gives you lemons