A few mommies, both accomplished and aspiring, who have come to know more about each others' diseases than their doctors met in person for the first time today in Fairfax, Virginia.

The women, this blogger among them, have corresponded for various lengths of time at www.diabeticmommy.com, a forum for women who have diabetes and are pregnant, hope to become pregnant or have become mothers. Today, they met each others' husbands, laughed at the pair of 2-year-olds squirming at a Cheesecake Factory table, compared insulin pumps and meters, listened to each others' stories and chowed down. Some went bowling afterward.

All of the women have tales to tell about struggles with their illness, medical care, families, children, pregnancies, birth experiences and more. And all would probably give up diabetes if given the chance. But none would trade the support discovered and celebration of victories shared via the web while embarking on what is among a diabetic woman's greatest challenges.