– Fertility Akro’s (decoder) –

What’s in a name???

Did anyone else begin their internal fertility struggle journey by scanning the internet and reading countless stories of women sharing their current experiences and using acronyms that you just didn’t understand? I literally felt like I was a freshman in some sort of chemistry class that I just wasn’t following. I felt like I was in a foreign country and didn’t know the language, and I was without a map or translation dictionary. Well my dear friends, the below are some commonly used acronyms in the world of fertility.

  • 2WW: Two week wait (before testing, not always 2 weeks)
  • AF: Aunt Flo, your period
  • AFNW: Aunt Flo Not Wanted
  • AFSA: Aunt Flo Stay Away
  • AH, or AZH: Assisted Hatching, an IVF technology
  • AI: Artificial Insemination
  • ANA: Antinuclear Antibodies
  • AO: Anovulatory
  • APA: Antiphospholipid Antibodies
  • ART: Assisted Reproductive Technology
  • ASRM: American Society for Reproductive Medicine
  • ATA: Antithyroid Antibodies
  • AWOL: A Woman on Lupron, referring to the mood swings that sometimes accompany this fertility drug
  • BA: Baby Aspirin
  • BBT: Body Basal Temperature Charting
  • BCP: Birth Control Pills
  • BD: Baby Dance. Have intercourse for conception purposes or by extension any form of insemination
  • BFN: Big Fat Negative (pregnancy test)
  • BFP: Big Fat Positive (pregnancy test)
  • BMS: Baby Making Sex
  • BOB: Baby on the Brain, or thinking about having a baby all the time
  • BV: Baby Vibes, same thing as Baby Dust, something you “give” to someone in hopes they’ll get pregnant
  • B/W or BW: Blood Work
  • CB: Cycle Buddy, someone who either started the cycle with you, ovulated around the same time as you, or is planning to take a pregnancy test at about the same time as you
  • CD: Cycle Day
  • CAH: Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
  • CCCT, or CCT: Clomiphene Citrate Challenge Test, a fertility test
  • CD: Cycle Day, a reference to the days of a treatment cycle or any menstrual cycle when trying to conceive. CD 3 would be the third day after your period starts
  • CH: Crosshairs- the lines drawn on the chart to indicate ovulation
  • CL: Coverline
  • CM, or CF: Cervical Mucus or Cervical Fluid, a topic you may have never imagined talking about, but in a fertility forum, may find yourself chatting about with unexpected enthusiasm. In detail, no less!
  • CMV: Cytomegalovirus
  • CP: Cervical Position, another topic you probably never imagined talking about with strangers
  • CY#: Cycle Number, since TTC or since starting a treatment
  • DE: Donor Eggs
  • DES: Diethylstilbestrol
  • DH, DD, DS: Dear Husband, Dear Daughter, Dear Son
  • DHEA: Dihydroepiandrosterone
  • DI: Donor Insemination, as you would have with IUI along with a sperm donor
  • DTD: Doing the Deed, or Doing the Dance, a reference to sex
  • DPR: Days Past Retrieval, or the number of days since you’ve had the oocyte (egg) retrieval during IVF treatment
  • DPT: Days Past Transfer, or the number of days after embryo transfer in an IVF treatment or embryo donation cycle
  • DPO: Days Past Ovulation
  • E2: Estradiol, a hormone sometimes measured during fertility testing and treatment
  • EB, EMB: Endometrial Biopsy
  • EDD: Estimated Due Date
  • ENDO: Endometriosis
  • ET: Embryo Transfer, done during IVF
  • EWCM: Eggwhite cervical mucous. See Eggwhite cervical fluid
  • FE: Frozen Embryo
  • FET: Frozen Embryo Transfer, referring to an IVF cycle using previously frozen embryos that have been thawed and then transferred
  • FHR: Fetal Heart Rate
  • FF: Fertility Friend, referring to the charting website FertilityFriend.com
  • FM: Fertility Monitor, used to detect ovulation at home
  • FMU: First Morning Urine
  • FSH: Follicle Stimulating Hormone
  • GIFT: Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer, a form of assisted reproductive treatment.
  • GS: Gestational Surrogate
  • GnRH: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone
  • HPT: Home pregnancy test. Measures levels of the hormone hcG which are produced in pregnancy
  • hMG: Human Menopausal Gonadotropin
  • HOM: High Order Multiples, a pregnancy with three or more babies
  • HcG: Hormone detected by pregnancy tests. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin
  • IVI: Intra-vaginal insemination
  • ICSI: Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection
  • IF, or IFer: Infertility or a reference to someone with infertility
  • IM: Intramuscular Injection
  • IPS: Imaginary Pregnancy Symptoms, when you feel pregnant but you’re not.
  • IR: Insulin Resistance
  • ICI: Intra-cervical insemination
  • IUI: Intra-uterine insemination
  • IVF: In-vitro fertilization
  • IVF–DE: IVF with Donor Eggs
  • LAP: Laparoscopy
  • LH: Luteinizing Hormone
  • LMP: Last Menstrual Period
  • LPD: Luteal Phase Defect
  • LSC: Low Sperm Count
  • LP: Luteal Phase
  • M/C: Miscarriage
  • MF: Male Factor Infertility
  • MS: Morning Sickness
  • O: Ovulation
  • OHSS: Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome
  • OPK: Ovulation Prediction Kit. OPKs measure luteinizing hormone, the last hormone to peak before ovulation
  • PCT: Post-Coital Test
  • PCO, PCOS, or PCOD: Polycystic Ovaries, or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome/Disease
  • PG: Pregnant
  • PGD: Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis
  • PI: Primary Infertility, or infertility without any previously born children
  • PID: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
  • PIO: Progesterone in Oil
  • PNV: Prenatal Vitamin
  • POC: Products of Conception
  • POF, or POI: Premature Ovarian Failure, or Primary Ovarian Insufficiency
  • POAS: Pee On A Stick, or take a pregnancy test at home
  • PUPO: Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise
  • RE: Reproductive Endocrinologist- Fertility
  • RI: Reproductive Immunologist, another kind of fertility specialist
  • RPL: Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
  • SA: Semen Analysis
  • SART: Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies.
  • SB: Stillborn
  • SHG: Sonohysterogram, a fertility test
  • SI: Secondary Infertility
  • SM: Surrogate Mother
  • STIMS: Stimulating Hormones, usually referring to injectable fertility drugs like gonadotropins
  • SP: Sperm Count
  • SOD: Sex on Demand, or sex on schedule or during fertility treatment
  • SubQ, or SC: Subcutaneous Injection
  • TCOYF: Taking Charge of Your Fertility, a book by Toni Weschler on fertility awareness
  • TESE: Testicular Sperm Extraction
  • TL: Tubal Ligation
  • TMI: Too Much Information, something fertility forum goers don’t seem to shy away from too often
  • TTC: Trying to Conceive
  • TS: Traditional Surrogate
  • U/S: Ultrasound
  • VR: Vasectomy Reversal
  • ZIFT: Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer, a kind of assisted reproductive treatmentwww.fertilityfriend.com/Faqs/Common-Abbreviations.html