New to the whole world of trying to conceive, I was utterly confused at first by the language that kept cropping up in online forums and message boards. I work in a field that is acronym heavy (educational policy at the state level), but it was still a challenge decoding some of the terminology as some of the acronyms have other, more commonly used meanings (see AF, below). I found myself Googling quite a bit, and wondering at times why we should need a glossary to describe one of the most fundamental aspects of biology or why we can’t just write what we want to say instead of abbreviating. It should come as no surprise that I am the kind of texter that writes in long form.
At any rate, I thought I’d share some of the common acronyms floating about:
| 2WW/TWW | The two week wait (otherwise known as the luteal phase or ~14 days after ovulation). | |
| AF | “Aunt Flo”. I hadn’t heard this term since junior high. Also not to be confused with its more common usage “as f*ck”, as in “I’m tired AF right now”. Why can’t we just say period, ladies? | |
| Baby Dust | What well-meaning fellow message board-ers will offer to sprinkle on you for good luck. | |
| BD | Baby dance (sex). Is this cutesy acronym in play so that message board content doesn’t get flagged as inappropriate? | |
| BFN | Big Fat Negative
Big Fat Positive |
The pregnancy test results. You’ll see these a lot. |
| BFP | ||
| CD | Cycle Day … usually followed by a number | |
| DB | Darling boyfriend
Darling daughter Darling fiancé Darling husband Darling son |
The darling monikers. I’ve seen the “D” also stand for ‘dear’. |
| DD | ||
| DF | ||
| DH | ||
| DS | ||
| DPO | Days past ovulation | |
| FRER | First Response, Early Response pregnancy test. | |
| FX | Fingers crossed. Usually used in conjunction with baby dust. The best part of the message boards is the common rally call and support you receive. Everyone is rooting for you! | |
| HPT | Home pregnancy test | |
| IUI | Intrauterine insemination | |
| IVF | In vitro fertilization | |
| LH | Luteinizing hormone (detected in ovulation predictor kits) | |
| OPK | Ovulation prediction kit | |
| POAS | Pee on a stick (Home pregnancy test). No DYSIP, though (dip your stick in pee) … yet. | |
| SA | Semen analysis | |
| TTC | Trying to conceive | |
| VFL | Very faint line – with regard to pregnancy tests. Chances are you’ll also see VVVVFL, as well as other iterations that vary the frequency of the ‘v’. | |
Any others that I’ve left off?
I was the same – I have Googled so many of these before. I feel like there is a whole language of Motherhood out there that I didn’t know about!
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