As a type 2 diabetic woman, I was shocked to discover how little information is available about pregnancy and diabetes. At first glance, it looks as if there's a ton on the topic. Google "pregnancy and diabetes" and several million pages come up. But dig a little closer and you'll see the majority of those pages are about diabetes of pregnancy, or gestational diabetes.

Search "pregnancy and type 2 diabetes" and a million or more pages come up, but still most of them are about gestational diabetes, which is often a precursor to type 2 diabetes. Once I hit upon the magic search words "pregnancy and preexisting diabetes" the content wasn't reassuring. Words like high-risk, complications, birth defects and macrosomia jumped off the screen.

According to the March of Dimes, "Pregnancy is considered risky for the 1.85 million U.S. women of childbearing age who have diabetes." After detailing the numerous problems pregnant diabetic women can encounter-miscarriage, still birth, microvascular damage to the mother-and with visions of "Steel Magnolias" in my head, I found the reassuring words, "with good preconceptional care and careful monitoring of their blood sugar, most women with preexisting diabetes can look forward to healthy pregnancies and healthy babies."

Not satisfied with my web searches, I went to the book store and bought every book I could find on pregnancy and diabetes, except for a textbook that looked rather scary. I devoured all three books that afternoon and felt gypped. There wasn't anything in these books that I hadn't already read on the web.

After I got over all the scary stuff-and believe me, there was a lot of scary stuff-it almost sounds like a piece of cake. Plan your pregnancy, achieve a healthy a1c, maintain tight blood sugar control throughout the pregnancy and work closely with your doctor, and you will be rewarded with a healthy baby.

Sounds easy enough, right? My a1c is well within range, and my fasting and post-meal numbers are good too. A few doctor's appointments to go and some tweaks to my meds and meal plan, and let the baby dancing begin!