Fertility lingo can be really confusing, especially if you’re trying to figure out what people are talking about in online forums. Here are the abbreviations you’re most likely to encounter and what they stand for. This list includes a mix of actual medical terms and internet slang.

 

2WW: Two-week wait (the time between when you ovulate and when you can expect to get your period/ take a pregnancy test)

AF: Aunt Flo (your period)

ART: Assisted reproductive technology (IVF, for example)

BBT: Basal body temperature

BCP: Birth control pills

BD: Baby dance (= sex)

BFN: Big fat negative (on a pregnancy test)

BFP: Big fat positive (on a pregnancy test)

CD: Cycle day

CM: Cervical mucus

CNM: Certified nurse midwife

CP: Chemical pregnancy

D&C: Dilation and curettage (a surgical procedure often done after first-trimester miscarriages)

DOR: Diminished ovarian reserve

DPO: Days post ovulation

DPR: Days past retrieval (in IVF)

DPT: Days past transfer (in IVF)

EDD: Estimated due date

EWCM: Egg white cervical mucus

FET: Frozen embryo transfer (in IVF)

FMU: First morning urine (for taking a home pregnancy test)

FRER: First Response Early Result (a brand name home pregnancy test)

HOM: Higher-order multiples (triplets, quadruplets, etc.)

HPT: Home pregnancy test

HSG: Hysterosalpingogram (a fertility test)

ICSI: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (in IVF)

IR: Insulin resistant

IUD: Intrauterine device (a form of birth control) 

IUI: Intrauterine insemination

IVF: In-vitro fertilization

MC or M/C: Miscarriage

MF(I): Male factor (infertility)

MFM: Maternal fetal medicine (MFM doctors are also called perinatologists)

NTNP: Not trying, not preventing

O: Ovulation

OHSS: Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome

PCOS: Polycystic ovarian syndrome

PCP: Primary care physician

PGD: Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (in IVF)

PIO: Progesterone in oil (intramuscular injections often used in IVF)

POAS: Pee on a stick (= take a home pregnancy test)

PPD: Postpartum depression

PUPO: Pregnant until proven otherwise

RE: Reproductive endocrinologist

RPL: Recurrent pregnancy loss

SA: Semen analysis

TTC: Trying to conceive

TWW: Two-week wait

US or U/S: Ultrasound