Abbreviations and Acronyms

In the (ttc) trying to conceive community you may come across many abbreviations that you’re thinking to yourself What the F….. (WTF) listed below in alphabetical order is a list that you could potentially come across within the Sperm Donation World communities.

2WW / TWW	The Two Week wait: post insemination, once ovulation occurs the average luteal phase before period begins is 14 days. So, you wait 2 weeks to find out if you’re pregnant or not. (Can also be written TWW)
ADHD	Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: People with this condition will include it in their post, it means they have above-normal levels of hyperactive and impulsive behaviours. While it can be inherited through males, predominately the female is the carrier of the gene.
AF	Aunt Flo: is a polite classy name for a period.
AFC	Antral Follicle Count: Follicles visible in ovaries
AI	Artificial Insemination: Inserting sperm into your uterus, without having sex, in order to try and get pregnant this done through an Artificial Insemination Kit. In most countries this is a legal way of having children without custody and child support issues but be sure to check your local law.
AMH	Anti-Mullerian Hormone: Is a protein hormone that gauges the ovarian egg reserve to indicate fertility levels and can also be used to work out how your body will react to fertility drugs for IVF treatment. An AMH test can be conducted at any time in your cycle. An ideal AMH level range is 6 to 24, but don’t be disheartened if you have low levels as we have seen women succeed out of the range, by using fresh sperm and eggs with a lot of vitamins and supplements that increase egg quality.
ART	Assisted Reproductive Technologies: Refers to methods used to achieve a pregnancy other than sexual intercourse.
ASD	Autism Spectrum Disorder: Is a complex developmental disorder that affects communication and involves social challenges. Many men with ASD wish to become donors because they lack the social skills to form a relationship. So for many this is their only way they see themselves of having offspring, although many men with ASD prefer to donate at Australian Clinics to avoid the social awkwardness, we do get some brave soldiers willing to give it crack online, and they will disclose it in their post.
BBT	Basal Body Temperature: is a way of tracking your ovulation and the BBT thermometers can be purchased in the Grand Daddy and the Deluxe home insemination kits.
BCP	Birth Control Pills: A form of contraception that prevents a pregnancy from occurring.
BETA	Blood test for pregnancy: Once your HCG pregnancy sticks give you that positive you usually head off to the doctors to get that confirmation.
BFP	Big Fat Positive: When you do a Pregnancy test, and you look at the stick in front of you and you start jumping for joy!
BFN	Big Fat Negative: When you do a Pregnancy test, and you look at the stick and become sad because it didn’t give you a BFP!
BT	Bloody Pregnancy Test: When you go to the doctors and do a blood test to check your HCG levels.
CD	Cycle Day: The start of a new cycle is the first day of your period and every day from that is given a day number. CD2 would be the next day and so on.
CF/CM	Cervical Fluid / Cervical Mucous: Throughout you cycle your cervical fluid changes in consistency, the term is often used in regard to monitoring fertility. People take supplements like Fertile CM to make their CM more sperm friendly.
CP	Cervical Position: Your cervix can change from high, medium, to low during the fertility cycle.
DOR	Diminished ovarian reserve:  is the loss of normal reproductive potential in the ovaries due to a lower count or quality of the remaining eggs.
DP	Days post transfer: An IVF term to indicate the number of days that have passed since an embryo has grown in the lab and been transferred to a uterus.
DPO	Days Past Ovulation: People usually use this in reference to when they try to do a pregnancy test or if their period is running late.
DX	Diagnosis: the process of determining which condition explains a person’s symptoms and signs.
ED	Egg Donor: In our communities, some women like to pay it forward by becoming Egg Donors within our community.
EDD	Estimated due date: The calculated birth date of a baby based on a full-term pregnancy.
ENDO	Endometriosis: Is a condition that tissue around the womb grows in places other than it’s supposed to often causing pain and fertility issues and up to 10% of women can experience it in life.
ET	Embryo Transfer: The last part of the IVF process.
EWCM	Egg White Cervical Mucous: Should indicate the most fertile time and is called that because it does look like raw egg whites.
F	Following: If you see this in a post someone has written it so if anyone else comments on the post it should come up as a Facebook notification for them.
FDA	Food and Drug Administration: A federal agency of United States Department of Health and Human Services eg. The watchdog.
FET	Frozen embryo transfer: Is the thawing one or more embryos (frozen during a previous treatment cycle) and transferring that embryo(s) to the uterus in order to try to establish a pregnancy.
FMU	First Morning Urine: Refers to taking a LH ovulation test or Pregnancy test with the first pee of the morning.
FS	Fertility Specialist: These are the people that are meant to be full bottle on what is going on with your fertility, although many have differing opinions from the next :/
FSH	Follicle-Stimulating Hormone: A hormone that is naturally produced in your body and the higher the amount indicates how hard your body is trying to develop follicles/eggs. FSH tests can be found in the Grand Daddy Ai Kit, which can indicate if you’re approaching menopause or possible fertility issues.
GA	General Anaesthetic: Refers to sedation procedure that puts you to sleep.
GnRH	Gonadotropin-releasing hormone: is a releasing hormone responsible for the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from the anterior pituitary.
HCG	Human Chorionic Gonadotropin: Hormone detected by pregnancy tests. You can find HCG tests in the Ai kits.
HPT	Home pregnancy test: Measures levels of the hormone hcG which are produced in pregnancy.
HSG	Hysterosalpingogram: is an X-ray test that is done in a radiology practice or department. It involves the injection of a radio opaque dye into the uterine cavity under pressure and taking an X-ray to show where the dye has flowed (Looks for blockages), women coincidentally enough fall pregnant at higher rates after receiving one of these procedures.
ICSI	Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection: where they handpick a sperm that looks good and inject the sperm directly into the egg. This is usually done when the male has a low count and they are searching long and hard for a sperm that could potentially fertilise an egg successfully.
IP	Intended Parent:  is a name for an individual or couple that is building their family through the use of third-party reproduction, which can include egg, sperm or embryo donation and surrogacy arrangements. The intended parents are the individuals that will become the child’s parent once it is born.
IUI	Intrauterine insemination: is a fertility treatment where sperm are placed directly into a woman’s uterus close. It’s pretty much the clinic version of at home Ai except lower success rate because they use frozen sperm and you only receive 0.5mls per insemination.
IVF	In Vitro Fertilization: A medical procedure whereby an egg is fertilized by sperm in a test tube or elsewhere outside the body.
LAP	Laparoscopy: An examination of the abdominal organs using surgical methods to determine the reason of pain or other complications of the pelvic region or abdomen. In regard to fertility checking uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries.
LH	Luteinizing Hormone:  produced and released in the anterior pituitary gland. This hormone is considered a gonadotrophic hormone because of its role in controlling the function of ovaries in females and testes in males. In our community LH usually referred to monitoring ovulation by looking for LH surge on an OPK.
LMP	Last Menstrual Period: Pregnancies are dated from cycle day 1 when the period began.
LOL	Laughing Out Loud: Just because we’re a life creating community, doesn’t mean we can’t laugh every once and a while, as long as we’re not stirring someone up.
LOR	Low Ovarian Reserve: means a situation in which there is a decrease in the number of eggs to such an extent that it interferes with a pregnancy. Most of the time, a low ovarian reserve is a result of the normal process of ageing but other reasons may also be present.
LP	Luteal Phase: The phase of the menstrual cycle that occurs after ovulation; the corpus luteum secretes progesterone which prepares the endometrium for the implantation of an embryo; if fertilization does not occur then menstrual flow begins. (Normally the 14 days after ovulation)
MC	Miscarriage: Means loss of an embryo or foetus before the 20th week of pregnancy. Most miscarriages occur during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The medical term for miscarriage is spontaneous abortion.
MF	Male Factor:  Refers to infertility of the male in a couple that are actively trying to conceive.
MS	Morning Sickness: That awful feeling when that growing foetus is stealing all your life from you.
MW	Midwife: That special miracle worker that is with you through labour and birth.
NK	Natural Killer Cells: The bodies immunity system can be quite effective in killing foreign invaders but having a high level NK cells can also kill off sperm and make it hard to sustain a pregnancy if egg is fertilized.
NP	Nurse Practitioner: Is aregistered nurse educated and authorised to function autonomously and collaboratively in an advanced and extended clinical role.
O	Ovulation:  The phase of the female menstrual cycle that involves the release of an egg (ovum) from one of the ovaries.
OB / OB-GYN	Obstetrician/Gynaecologist:  is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period) and gynaecology (covering the health of the female reproductive system – vagina, uterus, ovaries, and breasts).
OHSS	Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome: a disorder affecting some women undergoing hormone treatment to stimulate ovulation, initially characterized by enlargement of the ovaries with abdominal bloating and pain, sometimes progressing to serious circulatory, respiratory, and renal complications that could result in death.
OMG	Oh my God: Is normally the first thing you say when you see a positive pregnancy test.
OPK	Ovulation Predictor Kit: at home method for tracking when a woman is most likely to become pregnant. Most commonly found in the Ai Kits.
PCOS	Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome: s a complex hormonal condition. PCOS can be associated with problems such as irregular menstrual cycles, excessive facial and body hair growth, acne, obesity, reduced fertility, and increased risk of diabetes. PCOS can be diagnosed by taking a medical history, examination, blood tests and an ultrasound. You can potentially help treat PCOS by taking vitamin supplements
PGD	Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis:  the genetic profiling of embryos prior to implantation (as a form of embryo profiling), and sometimes even of oocytes prior to fertilization. PGD is considered in a similar fashion to prenatal diagnosis.
PGS	Preimplantation Genetic Screening: removing one or more cells from an in vitro fertilization embryo to test for chromosomal normalcy. PGS screens the embryo for normal chromosome number Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes – for a total of 46 Having an extra or a missing chromosome causes problems
PID	Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: An infection of the organs of a woman’s reproductive system. Usually caused by Chlamydia or Gonorrhoea.
PMS	Pre-menstrual Syndrome: Involves a variety of physical, mental, and behavioural symptoms tied to a woman’s menstrual cycle.
POF	Premature Ovarian Failure: Otherwise know as premature menopause where the ovaries fail before the age of 40.
POAS	Pee On a Stick: When it’s your fertile window and you’re monitoring you LH surge, or when checking for HCG on a pregnancy stick.
PUTB	Pillow Under the Bum: After you have been inseminated or with Ai while being inseminated the pillow allows gravity to do its thing to assist the sperm into travelling into the uterus.
PUPO	Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise: All about the positive thoughts and setting a mind frame that is focused on telling your body you’re ready for a baby and fingers crossed it works if this is your technique.
RE	Reproductive Endocrinologist: A Doctor that specializes in fertility problems.
SA	Semen Analysis: A test that evaluates certain characteristics of a male’s fertility. Eg. Ph level, Sperm Count, Morphology and Motility.
SD	Sperm Donor: A man that donates his sperm
SDA	Sperm Donation Australia: Australia’s 1 number resource for picking a donor
SDUSA	Sperm Donation USA: United States number 1 resource for picking a donor
SO	Significant Other: A person whom some has an established romantic or sexual relationship.
STD	Sexually Transmitted Disease: The old school definition of when a condition is passed from one person to another through sexual contact. Eg. HIV, Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea
STI	Sexually Transmitted Infection: Similar to STD, technically it’s to be infected before a disease results from it. Eg. PID as a result from Chlamydia would then turn that STI into an STD. So be sure to get tested in the privacy of your own home using the Chlamydia self-testing kit for the donor or recipient.
TGA	Therapeutic Goods Administration: is the regulatory body for therapeutic goods (including medicines, medical devices, gene technology, and blood products) in Australia
TSH	Thyroid Stimulating Hormone:
TTC	Trying to Conceive: The act of trying to fall pregnant and the things associated with in doing so.
TYB	Test Yolk Buffer: otherwise known as medium which is what is used in shipping fresh sperm for at home Ai.
U/S	Ultrasound: A type of imaging test when used in this community refers to examine internal organs for fertility issues or monitoring a babies development.
UTI	Urinary Tract Infection: Are caused by micro-organisms, usually a bacteria called E.Coli.