Thirty Words in the TTC World

Thirty Words in the TTC World
©tarasov_vl from Getty Images on canva.com

What is TTC?

Thirty Words in the TTC World
TTC stands for Trying To Conceive

TTC stands for Trying To Conceive, the period when a person actively tries to get pregnant. A social media world encircles providing or obtaining support for people actively seeking to expand their families.

Many acronyms or weird terms can be daunting for an outsider or a newbie in that community. Here is a compilation list to help you get acquainted.

2WW is Two Week Wait and IUI is Intrauterine Insemination
    1.  2WW – Two-Week Wait: The time you wait between doing the deed, ovulating, or transferring an embryo until your pregnancy test via blood or at home.
    2. AF –  Aunt Flow:  Menstruation, the blood flow that should happen (on average) every 28 days or so.
    3. ART-Assisted Reproductive Technology: The method or technology used to assist someone in achieving pregnancy.
    4. ASRM – American Society of Reproductive Medicine: ASRM is a nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization for advancing the science and practice of reproductive medicine. (The FDA, CDC, or WHO of fertility).
    5.  BBT – Basal body Temperature:  A way to track your ovulation, usually involving taking your temperature vaginally with a thermometer or fertility device simultaneously each morning or as instructed by the device.
    6.  BCP – Birth Control Pills: The pills a person takes to try and prevent pregnancy, also taken during fertility treatments to control a cycle.
    7. BD – Baby Dance: Trying to conceive the “old-fashioned way” without condoms or any protection.

      6dpt is six days post transfer, and BFN means Big Fat Negative, a negative pregnancy result.
    8. BFN – Big Fat Negative:  When you evaluate, the test at home or by blood is negative.
    9. BFP –  Big Fat PositiveWhen you evaluate, the test at home or by blood is positive.
    10. CD – Cycle Day: Cycle day one is your first day of menstruation, and it may vary by a fertility clinic. Most clinics define it as the day you have a full flow achieved before 1 pm.
    11. CM – Cervical Mucus: Mucus coming out of your vagina. This discharge will vary during your fertile window or as you get close to your cycle.
    12. DPO- Days Post Ovulation: Counting the DPO, the days post ovulation. For example, many assess for pregnancy at 8DPO, at eight days post ovulation.
    13. DPT- Days Post Transfer: Counting the days post an embryo transfer, the DPT. For example, many people start testing at 6dpt; 6 days post embryo transfer, with a day five embryo transferred, which can also be called 6dpt5d.
    14. FET – Frozen Embryo TransferAn embryo transfer involves thawing a previously frozen embryo during treatment.
    15. FT –  Fresh Transfer: An embryo transfer is done a few days immediately following egg retrieval, depending on the protocol.
    16. HPT – Home Pregnancy Test: Those sticks you dip in urine, and you either see one line, two lines, a cross, or the words “Not Pregnant,” “Pregnant,” or something similar along those lines.
    17. IUI – Intra Uterine Insemination: Some people call it artificial insemination. It is a method of depositing sperm into a female’s cervical canal with a piece of clinic equipment or an insemination kit. Some clinics prepare the sperm, do a sperm wash, and ensure the best sperm is available for insemination.

      RE is Reproductive Endocrinologist, and IVF stands for In Vitro Fertilization.
    18.  IVF –  In Vitro Fertilization: This is the process where the female takes fertility medications that are injectable, also known as “Stims,” for stimulation. These medications will stimulate the growth of the ovaries, so a batch of them grows at a close pace and as big as possible during a period. An egg retrieval follows, and the egg is fertilized in a petri-dish with sperm. “In Vitro” is a Latin term meaning “In Glass,” which directly translates to fertilization happening in a glass (petri-dish).
    19. MFM –  Maternal Fetal Medicine (Doctor): This is a doctor for a person carrying a high-risk pregnancy, such as an IVF pregnancy, a geriatric (carrier after 35 years old, hate the term, I know), or a post-pregnancy loss pregnancy will visit or consult with.
    20. OPK –  Ovulation Predictor Kit: Test and test strips you take to know whether you are ovulating. Both lines need to be equally dark.

      PASP means Pregnant And Staying Pregnant!
    21. PASP –  Pregnant And Staying Pregnant: One of the many sayings in the TTC world, usually said during a Transfer Day or IUI day.
    22. PIO – Progesterone in Oil: A medication injected, usually in an ART procedure or when the person’s progesterone level is being monitored and found to be in low levels.
    23. POAS – Pee On a Stick: Taking an at-home pregnancy test – stick type. For example, “I have a POAS addiction.” 
    24. POI – Premature ovarian insufficiency: Previously referred to as premature ovarian failure (POF). This condition is when a woman’s ovaries lose their normal function at an earlier-than-expected age. In general, this condition applies to women younger than 40 years of age and not having periods for more than four months with confirmatory lab testing.
    25. PUPO –  Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise: One of the many sayings in the TTC world, usually said during a Transfer Day or IUI day.
    26. RE –  Reproductive Endocrinologist: You should see this doctor about more complicated fertility issues if you have tried with your OBGYN or non-REI Fertility doctor for over six months or have thyroid issues, PCOS, low or no sperm, poor sperm motility or morphology. Reminder, both males and females should be tested.

      Stims refer to when a person injects medication to stimulate follicle growth for egg retrieval.
    27. STIMS – Ovarian Stimulating Injections: The method or process of stimulating ovaries to grow harmoniously and faster for retrieval or IUI.
    28. TI –  Timed Intercourse: Usually, the first step in trying to conceive. It just involves timing when to have sex without protection to achieve pregnancy.
    29. TTC – Trying To Conceive: Trying to get pregnant.
    30. WANDA –  Transvaginal Ultrasound Wand:  The “magical” device shoved in a female’s Hoo-Ha, and every female gets acquainted with it. But more professionally, the ultrasound wand is inserted vaginally to check for ovary growth and in the initial stages of pregnancies for other uses.

Did we miss any acronyms or terms that you do not know? Let us know!

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Audrey Quinones
Originally from Puerto Rico, Audrey grew up in a military family moving across the southeast US. She moved to Atlanta in 2013 for work and fell in love with the city and her now husband, Jorge. Audrey has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, an MBA from Kennesaw State University, and now works as a Quality Assurance Engineer for a global communications company. She is an advocate for infertility and pregnancy loss and co-founded and co-hosted the Infertilidad Latina podcast, a "Spanglish" podcast that provides support for the Latinx community. After battling infertility and repeated pregnancy loss for over five years, she is now a new mom of a beautiful rainbow baby boy, Matteo Makai, who was born via Surrogacy in Ukraine. She loves to write and wrote a children's book titled Now Imagine: A story for our rainbow baby to cope during the difficult time. She journals about her journey to motherhood on her page @travelingtobaby. She is a world traveler, loves culture, and languages. She speaks three languages (English, Spanish and Italian) and hopes to master Ukrainian someday. She lives by the quote, "If there is a will, there is a way."