I had dreams that I'd eaten sushi when I was pregnant," says Ginny Gallo-Dowdakin of Sleepy Hollow, Illinois. "I would wake up in a panic since I knew it wasn't allowed." Figuring out what you're permitted to eat and avoiding the forbidden foods can truly be a nightmare for moms-to-be. It seems like every day, there's a story in the news about yet another favorite food that's now off-limits for pregnant women, leaving you scared to take a bite of anything lest it be on the list. It's enough to make a woman crazy. But now, learn how other moms-to-be have coped.

Eating in the closet
If you're waiting until your second trimester to share the news of your pregnancy, as many women do, you're forced to hide all your quirky new food fears so that others won't discover your secret. "I was at a fancy dinner party where the first course was a plate of raw beef carpaccio," says one mom from Chappaqua, New York. "I basically had to act like I was a crazy person to get out of eating it. 'I'm nuts when it comes to certain foods,' I said. 'It's really silly. I won't eat anything raw. I'm so sorry.' They all thought I was loony, but at least they didn't suspect I was pregnant."

Tiffany Lankford of Garland, Texas, had a more direct approach. "When I was served something I shouldn't eat, I would say that I had already eaten and was too full."

Most of the time, though, you don't have to play crazy or stuffed. Make some easy substitutions for the risky foods, suggests Jenny Dean, a dietitian in Longmont, Colorado. If you're out for sushi with a friend, order the California roll (with imitation crabmeat). Get a grilled-chicken sandwich instead of a deli-meat one. Have yogurt as a snack instead of cheese. No one will notice.

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