Fertility Lingo

Things you will hear us talk about while undergoing fertility treatments... a couple things I have realized... 1) I know WAY TOO MUCH about the human reproductive system & 2) Dignity goes out the window when undergoing fertility treatments.

Beta - This is the quantitative blood pregnancy test to measure the amount of HCG in your system.

POAS - Pee-On-A-Stick - Doing a urine home pregnancy test. I could own shares in First Reponse by now, I am an addict!

BFN - Big Fat Negative - Getting a negative pregnancy test.

BFP - Big Fat Positive - getting a positive pregnancy test!  Never had one of those

CD1/CD2/CD3 etc - Cycle Day - CD1 being the first day of full menstrual flow (spotting doesn't count).

LH Surge - The hormone that surges causing you to ovulate naturally when the egg is mature. 

IUI - Intrauterine Insemination - A process where Aaron's sperm is "washed" and then placed directly into my uterus via a catheter that is fed past the cervix. Ovulation is monitored in order to time the inseminations properly. You will hear people refer to this as artificial insemination.

Sperm Washing - No, they don't put soap in it to clean it and they don't run it through the washing machine or dishwasher. LOL!  They "wash" the sperm where they separate the sperm from the seminal fluid. Only the best and strongest "swimmers" survive the wash.

Cycling - You will hear us say we are cycling. What this means is that we are going to attempt another round of IUI or IVF. When we start cycling it starts on the 3rd day of my menstrual cycle. Once my ovaries are checked and my hormone levels are normal I start "stimming" and I am monitored daily to watch the progress of the follicles.

Follicles - This is a fluid filled sac where the egg grows in the ovary. They monitor the follicles by internal ultrasounds to measure and record growth every day while stimming.

Trigger - This does not in any way refer to shooting anyone. When the follicles reach the desired size (1.8cm-2.0cm) I will receive instruction to "trigger". This is yet another needle that I jab into my stomach with HCG in it to finish the maturation process of the eggs. It works the same as a womans natural LH surge which is the hormone surge you get causing you to ovulate.

2WW - 2 Week Wait - This is the time from the procedure to finiding out if I am pregnant. I also refer to this time as a trip on the crazy train. Need I say more?