Infertility Lingo Guide

The land of infertility is very unique.  We women are more concerned with each other's basal body temperature and cervical mucus than we are with going to lunch or shopping.  We even have our own language in infertility land, aka WebMd or other infertility blogs and message boards.  The strange words, acronyms and abbreviations are making their way into the mainstream and you are bound to come across them if you read blogs or certain magazine articles, or if you talk with other infertiles. These are words and abbreviations we use to communicate with each other and  honestly, we are just lazy.  We don't want to type out the same words over and over again.  So here are just some abbreviations that you might find me using in the future.  

A

2WW

Two-week wait, that dreaded time between ovulation (and any conception attempts) and possibly AF.

AF

Aunt Flo, a woman's menstrual period.

ART

Assisted reproductive technology or technique

B

BBT

Basal body temperature

BCP

Birth control pills

BD

Baby-dancing, sexual relations that are hoped to result in conception.

Beta

Often refers to Beta hCG test (See hCG below).

C

CCT, clomid challenge test

Diagnostic test in which clomiphene is used to gauge ovaries' response to FSH, thereby predicting the "health" of egg supply

CD

Cycle day, referring to which day of a woman's ovulatory cycle she is presently in

CM

Cervical mucus

Cryo

Cryopreservation, referring to the freezing of embryos, sperm, and occasionally, eggs for future use in IVF

D

DH

Dear husband

DW

Dear wife

Dx

Diagnosis

E

E2, estradiol

An estrogen most important to a woman's reproductive cycle

ER, egg retrieval

Procedure in which mature eggs are harvested from a woman's ovary for either cryopreservation or for IVF process

F

FET

Frozen embryo transfer, referring to the use of embryos that are results of IVF and were cryopreserved

FSH

Follicle stimulating hormone. When used to refer to a means of determining possible ovarian failure, FSH refers to a blood test drawn on CD3. FSH is also used to refer to fertility medications that are comprised of either naturally-occurring or synthetic hormone.

H

HCG

human Chorionic Gonadotropin, the hormone emitted by human placenta, is what pregnancy tests measure. Also used in reference to medications that are comprised of the hormone and used during assisted reproductive techniques.

HPT

Home pregnancy test

HSG

Hysterosalpingogram, diagnostic test used to determine tubal patency

Hx

History, particularly medical

I

ICSI

Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, assisted reproductive technique in which a single sperm is injected via needle into an egg's membranes

IF

Infertility or infertile

IMHO

"in my honest (humble) opinion"

Injects

Any injectable fertility drugs

IUI

Intrauterine insemination

IVF

In vitro fertilization

J

JMO

"just my opinion"

L

LH

Luteinizing hormone

M

MC, m/c

Miscarriage

O

O'ing

Ovulating or ovulation.

OPK

Ovulation predictor kit

P

P4, progesterone, serum progesterone

Often refers to diagnostic test of the amount of progesterone in a woman's blood, often drawn around CD21, to determine if ovulation is occuring.

PCOS

Polycystic ovarian syndrome

PCT, post-coital

Diagnostic test in which a woman undergoes a pelvic exam after engaging in sexual relations.

PG

Pregnant or pregnancy

Px

Prognosis

R

RE

Reproductive endocrinologist

S

SA

Semen analysis

Stims

Refers to phase of an IVF (or other ART) protocol in which a woman's ovaries are being stimulated to produce eggs through the use of fertility drugs.

T

TTC

Trying to conceive

Tx

Treatment

U

U/S

Ultrasound

Sorry about the crappy formatting.  I don't know what went wrong and I don't know how to fix it.