AF – Aunt Flo
One’s menstrual period.
AFC – Antral Follicle Count
Each follicle on your ovary contains an egg. The fewer follicles you have, the worse it is in terms of your fertility. A typical 35-year-old woman has 12 or more; I have 6 :(
AMH – Anti-Müllerian Hormone
Much is still unknown about this hormone, the test for which has only been around for 7 years. Its level is thought to correlate to the quantity of eggs a woman has left, but not the quality of those eggs. However, it is only one piece of the bigger picture – hence, women with low AMH can still have children – but women whose levels of AMH are low often have lower success rates in IVF because they don’t respond as well to stims.
Bio Mom – Biological Mother
Much of the language in third party reproduction is borrowed from adoption, but even adoption language is out of date. We no longer say “the biological mother gave up her baby” – rather, we say “the birth mother placed her child for adoption.” The term “biological mother” in the context of third party reproduction is not only out of date, but also medically inaccurate. Although she contributes half the genes, the donor is not the “birth mother,” “real mother,” or “donor mother” – and nor does she want to be considered as such. (If she did, that would disqualify her from the psychological screening.) In DEIVF, the biological mother is the recipient / intended mother. Though the genes passed on are not hers, it is the intended mother’s body that directly influences how those genes are expressed. For example, when pony embryos are transferred to a horse, the foals born are larger than regular ponies. To learn more, read a more in-depth explanation here, or research this field of biology, called epigenetics. This is why I refer to myself as the biological mother and to my child as my biological child. Or, these days, just “mama” or “mom.” :-)
BBT – Basal Body Temperature
After ovulation, your temperature should rise by at least 0.3 degrees (Fahrenheit) or more which is due to the increase in progesterone. When you chart this your temperature at the same time every morning (using a thermometer that has two decimal places) you begin to see your fertile patterns. Such patterns may help you predict when you ovulate, but it doesn’t tell you definitively ahead of time. It can be used to help you conceive or as a form of contraception if using the Family Awareness Method. Either way, I highly recommend the book Take Charge of Your Fertility (see TCOYF) by Toni Weschler.
DEIVF – Donor Egg IVF
Our donor “Nellie” does the IVF part.
DH – Dear Husband
I wish I’d thought of something more meaningful than boring internet shorthand, but oh well.
DOR – Diminished Ovarian Reserve
Although my ovaries still work, the number of antral follicles in them is half what you would expect in a woman my age.
FET – Frozen Embryo Transfer
Where frozen embryos are thawed and transferred to the womb. Hopefully we won’t have to do this until we decide to have a second baby in a few years’ time!
hCG – human Chorionic GonadotropinAnything under 5mIU/ml is considered not pregnant. Anything about 25mIU/ml is considered pregnant. HPTs typically can detect hCG as low as 25mIU/ml. Read more here.
HPT – Home Pregnancy Test
The thing that hopefully gives you two pink lines if you are TTC! (Also see hCG and POAS.)
HSG – Hysterosalpingogram
A specialised x-ray to determine if your Fallopian tubes are “patent,” i.e. open. A catheter (plastic tube) is threaded through your cervix and dye is injected into your uterus. You roll onto one side, then the other, to swill the dye through your tubes. It hurts like a motherfucker for 90 seconds.
ICSI – Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection
Regular IVF combines the egg and the sperm in a dish. ICSI (pronounced “IK-see”) is where the lab technician selects a single sperm and injects it directly into the egg. This procedure is commonly used in IVF where the man has a low sperm count or other semen quality issues. It’s almost always used during DEIVF, regardless of whether there are male factor infertility issues or not.
IF – Infertility
What a bitch.
IP – Intended Parent/s (Intended Mother / Intended Father)
How our RE and his team refers to DH and me. Specific to DEIVF.
LH – Luteinzing Hormone
See OPK.
Miscarriage is “like a bad period”
Sorry to break it to you, but when that kindly doctor reassures you that it’s “just like a bad period” they have no idea what they’re talking about. I have endometriosis. I’ve gone through multiple pads an hour, passed clots the size of golf balls, and taken handfuls of painkillers just to function. A miscarriage is much worse – not to mention, there’s the whole emotional part where you’re devastated because you’ve just lost your baby.
Nellie – “Nice Egg Lady”
Our donor! We haven’t met but have exchanged emails. We chose her based on the fact that she is a veteran donor and other criteria that was important to us. We have a family history taken by a genetic counsellor, a psychological history taken by a psychotherapist, along with her answers to questions like why she wants to be an egg donor, her favourite things (like, colour, film, music) and several photos of her as an adult. Our EDC describes Nellie as one of her all-time favourite donors; and when she and I met, she was struck by the “uncanny” physical similarity between Nellie and me – we apparently have “the same angular bone structure.” Cool!
OPK – Ovulation Predictor Kit
As you approach ovulation, your body produces something called Luteinizing Hormone (LH). An OPK measures the LH surge and can help you pinpoint ovulation before it occurs. Some women, like me, have trouble detecting their surge. (I never got a clear result even during the month I conceived – my surge happens very early in the morning so I like to joke that it’s on UK time, where I am originally from.)
PGD / PGS – Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis or Screening
Where cells are taken from the blastocyst (day 5 embryo) to screen for genetic aberrations. This could be for a single gene disorder, like Tay-Sachs or Cystic Fibrosis, or a structural disorder like PIC8. As approximately 20% of eggs are chromosomally abnormal even in young healthy women, we did PGS on our donor embryos to minimise our risk of miscarriage. PGS counts chromosomes, like you count fingers and toes. You should have 23 pairs of chromosomes, but sometimes you end up with a third copy (Trisomy 21, aka Down syndrome, has three copies of Chromosome 21) or one copy (a deletion). And sometimes parts of two different chromosome can switch places (a translocation) or the middle part can be flipped 180º (an inversion – what I have). Chromosome 1 is the largest and the 23rd pair, the sex chromosomes, are the smallest. And because you look at all 23 pairs of chromosomes when you do PGS, you end up knowing the sex of your embryos.
PIC8 – Pericentric Inversion of Chromosome 8
What I have and the reason we’re doing DEIVF. It means the middle section of my eight chromosome is inverted. In other words, instead of reading ABCDEFG, mine reads A-FEDCB-G. What this means is I am unlikely to produce eggs that are structurally sound. If I get pregnant, I am most likely to miscarry. In the highly unlikely even that I carried a pregnancy to term, there is a 5-10% chance that our child would be Recombinant (have Recombinant 8 Syndrome), which means s/he would be severely mentally and physically disabled.
POAS – Pee On A Stick
What you do with HPTs and OPKs.
RE – Reproductive Endocrinologist
An infertility doctor.
Recombinant
See PIC8.
SHG – Sono-Hysterogram (aka Hystero Sonogram)
Like an HSG but nowhere near as painful! (Cramps similar to period pain.) Saline solution is injected into your uterus to check the uterine lining has no scarring or fibroids. It is an abdominal ultrasound so you need a full bladder to do the test.
Stims – Stimulation Medications
A cocktail of hormones that women swallow/ inject/ insert as part of their IVF protocol. In DEIVF, it is the donor, not the Intended Mother, who stims.
TCOYF – Take Charge of Your Fertility
A terrific book by Toni Weschler which educates you on your fertile signs. It is considered the fertility bible by many, even outside of the IF community. You can buy it here
TTC – Try/ing To Conceive
The stuff that used to be fun until you got hit with the miscarriage / infertility stick.
