When I first started letting other people read this blog, I got several questions about some of the acronyms I use. Here are the translations to many of them. If I’ve missed something, let me know and I’ll try to add it.
AF– Aunt Flo (in other words, a woman’s period)
ART– Assisted Reproductive Technology
Beta– the blood test to see if we are pregnant.
BCP– Birth Control Pills
BIL– Brother In Law
bi-v ICD– bi-ventricular Internal Cardiac Defibrillator (the machine inside of me that keeps my heart beating and will shock me if my heart goes into a dangerous rhythm)
CF– Cystic Fibrosis
CHD– Congenital Heart Defects
DH– Dear Husband (or Darn Husband… whichever )
EP– Electrophysiologist (the doc who takes care of the electrical side of my heart)
ER– Egg retrieval (when they take my eggs out to fertilize) or in some cases Emergency Room.
FIL– Father In Law
FSH– Fertility Stimulating Hormone (they test this to see if you are still making eggs… They want it under 10)
GS– Gestational Surrogate (that’s LD)
ICSI– I don’t remember what the letters mean, but essentially it’s injecting the sperm directly into the eggs to make sure more fertilize.
IF– Intended Father (that’s N).
IM– Intended Mother (that’s me).
INR– “International Normalized Ratio.” This is the number that tells how long it takes your blood to clot. Because of my mechanical valve I am on coumadin to slow down clot time. The docs want my INR to be 2.5-3.5
IP– Intended Parents (that’s both of us together)
IVF– InVitro Fertilization
MIL– Mother In Law
PIO– Progesterone in Oil
RE– Reproductive Endocrinologist (the doctor who’s gonna help us make a baby)
SIL– Sister In Law
Sono– Sonogram (can be used to see your insides!)
Stims– stimulation of the ovaries
Transfer– the process of putting the embryos into the carrier (in this instance, LD)
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