What the kids[’ wannabe moms] are talking about

To this day, sometimes I read fertility blogs and have absolutely no idea what people are talking about.  But here is a somewhat helpful guide to some of the more popular fertility blog abbreviations.

·       BFP – big fat positive, i.e. a positive pregnancy test (often used with a happy emoticon)

·       BFN – big fat negative, i.e. a negative pregnancy test (often used with a sad emoticon)

·       DH – darling/dear husband

·       DS – darling/dear son

·       DD – darling/dear daughter

·       TTC – trying to conceive

·       2ww – two week wait (aka the nerve-wracking period between when you ovulate and when you take a pregnancy test when you diagnose every twinge, hoping for your BFP)

·       LMP – last menstrual period

·       AF – aunt flow, i.e. period

·       MC – miscarriage

·       CP – chemical pregnancy

·       Rainbow baby – baby or pregnancy after pregnancy loss

·       D&C – dilation and curettage

·       D&E – dilation and evacuation

·       ART – assisted reproductive technology

·       HSG – hysterosalpingogram (x-ray of uterus and fallopian tubes)

·       HCG – human chorionic gonadotropin (in IVF, triggers ovulation; after pregnancy, hormone is measured to confirm pregnancy and confirm that pregnancy is developing—sometimes this is also called “beta HCG” or just “beta”)

·       LH – luteinizing hormone

·       FSH – follicle stimulation hormone

·       HRT – hormone replacement therapy

·       IUI – intrauterine insemination (using a “turkey baster”)

·       IVF – in vitro fertilization

·       ICSI – intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (a single sperm is injected into the egg after IVF)

·       PGS – preimplantation generic screening (screening frozen embryo for normal chromosome numbers)

·       PGD – preimplantation genetic diagnosis (screening frozen embryo for specific genetic issues)

·       OHSS – ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome (bad news)

·       SET – single embryo transfer

·       EC – embryo collection

·       ET – embryo transfer

·       DPT – days post transfer

·       DPO – days post ovulation

·       HPT – home pregnancy test

·       POAS – pee on a stick (do we really need abbreviations for all of these things?!)

·       Baby dust – well wishes for a pregnancy (if were actually a thing, infertile women would buy it and snort it)

There are lots of other abbreviations (some made up on the spot?), but this should be enough to get you going!