TTC: What all those trying-to-conceive acronyms mean

When I first began struggling with my own issues four years ago, I found myself scouring online message boards and reading other people’s personal accounts of their own fertility journeys. The problem was, I couldn’t understand half of them because the accounts were peppered with acronyms like BFN (big fat negative) and TWW (two-week wait).

If you’ve been recently thrust into the world of infertility, chances are that you’re suddenly dealing with a lot of new medical terms and acronyms. To help you keep up with the conversations, here’s a handy list of the acronyms most commonly used on message boards and in articles for those who are TTC (trying to conceive).

AF Aunt Flo, or menstruation (not the other AF that’s popular right now)

AMA Advanced maternal age (refers to women 35 and over)

BCP Birth control pill

Beta A blood test that measures levels of beta hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which is commonly known as the pregnancy hormone.

BFN Big fat negative (indicates a negative pregnancy test)

BFP Big fat positive (indicates a positive pregnancy test)

CD Cycle day (cycle day one is the day you start your period)

CM Cervical mucus

DE Donor egg/embryo

DH Dear husband

DPO Days past ovulation

DPT Days past embryo transfer

DW Dear wife

EWCM Egg white cervical mucus

FET Frozen embryo transfer (this is done after a cycle of IVF in which the embryos are frozen)

FX Fingers crossed

HCG Human chorionic gonadotropin (this is the hormone produced by the placenta after implantation, and it’s what pregnancy tests detect to determine a pregnancy)

HPT Home pregnancy test

IF Infertility

IUI Intrauterine insemination (the process in which sperm is placed inside a woman’s uterus with a catheter)

IVF In vitro fertilization (the process in which eggs are extracted and fertilized outside a woman’s body to make an embryo, which is then transferred into her—or another woman’s—uterus)

LMP Last menstrual period

MC Miscarriage

OPK Ovulation predictor kit

PG Pregnant

POAS Pee on a stick pregnancy test

PUPO Pregnant until proven otherwise

RE Reproductive endocrinologist (a doctor who specializes in fertility and hormone treatments)

TTC Trying to conceive

TW Trigger warning (meaning the post or article may contain trigger wording about a loss or even a pregnancy)

TWW Two-week wait (the amount of time between when you ovulate and when you can take a pregnancy test)

US Ultrasound