Fertilictionary

At the request of several folks who read this blog who do not obsess over fertile cervical fluid, pee on sticks on a regular basis, or know the intricacies of a transvaginal ultrasound, I’ve created this space for common terms and acronyms related to (in)fertility. This is not an exhaustive list, and it will grow over time.

CD= Cycle Day. This starts with the first day of a menstrual period. On this blog, you’ll frequently see references to CD3. That’s Cycle Day 3, the day us infertiles usually start treatment and monitoring in a cycle in which we are trying to conceive. CD3 usually means a transvaginal ultrasound (a.k.a. the bloody wanding) to see if there are cysts remaining on the ovaries from the past cycle and to find out if there are follicles that could release eggs for this cycle.

Estradiol (E2)= The estrogen produced by a ripening follicle. An E2 level of 100-200 means you probably have a real egg in that there follicle.

Follicle= A sack in the ovary that you cross your fingers is nurturing an egg for ovulation.

IUI= Intrauterine Insemination. Prepared sperm is inserted directly into the uterus via a small catheter. This cuts the drive time of the sperm because it bypasses the vagina and the cervix.

IVF= In vitro fertilization. In this scenario, prior to ovulation eggs are retrieved from the ovary via a needle attached to an ultrasound wand. Then, under artificial conditions in a lab, they are introduced to sperm. Fertilization occurs outside the body. When the eggs have been fertilized, one, two, or three are reinserted into the uterus through a procedure identical to IUI.

Kooter bullet, aka hoo-ha bullet= A progesterone supplement most foul, inserted you know where. A precautionary measure to feed a potential embryo after fertilization until a placenta grows.

TTC= Trying to Conceive

Wanding= A transvaginal ultrasound. A long skinny wand attached to an ultrasound machine is inserted into the vagina so that a nurse can view the condition of the ovaries and measure any potential egg-containing follicles. A bloody wanding is a CD3 ultrasound (b/c you have to get it done even though Aunt Flo is still in town).

More to come…