Pregnancy Lingo

For those of you first-timers out there, you’ll have discovered by now that there is a whole new language for pregnancy message boards. Below is a list I found on Baby Center (there is even an explanation of emoticons – I don’t make this stuff up). Maybe people think things are less gross if they abbreviate them? Or maybe using acronyms makes people feel like they are part of the club?

This is my promise to you: I WILL ALWAYS SPELL OUT WORDS. I don’t call Geoff “dear husband” in real life, so why would I call him that here? And we sure as heck don’t call sex the “Baby Dance” and then abbreviate it to BD (because it is obviously way too embarrassing to type out “baby dance”). I also don’t want you to have to decipher my posts to figure out what the heck I’m talking about.

I mean, look at how long this list is:

Acronyms	What they mean
AF	Aunt Flo — menstruation/period
AP	attachment parenting
BB or BBS	Internet bulletin board
BBC	BabyCenter
BBL	be back later
BBT	basal body temperature
BC	because, or birth control, or before children
BCPS	birth control pills
BD	baby dance (sex)
BF	breastfeed, or boyfriend
BFN	big fat negative (pregnancy test)
BFP	big fat positive (pregnancy test)
BIL	brother-in-law
BM	breast milk, or bowel movement
BRB	be right back
BTDT	been there, done that
BTW	by the way
CD	cycle day
CF	cervical fluid
CIO	cry it out
Circ.	circumcise
CM	cervical mucus
CWIM	see what I mean
CS or C/S	cesarean section
DC	daycare, dear child
DD	dear daughter
DF	dear fiancee
DH	dear husband
DP	dear partner
DPO	days past ovulation
DS	dear son
DSD	dear stepdaughter
DSS	dear stepson
DTD	do the deed
DW	dear wife
EBF	extended breastfeeding, exclusively breastfeeding
EBM	expressed breast milk
EDD	estimated due date, or expected date of delivery
EWCM	egg white cervical mucus
FF	formula feeding
FIL	father-in-law
FT	full time
FTM	first time mom
FTR	for the record
FWIW	for what it’s worth
FYI	for your information
HPT	home pregnancy test
HTH	hope this helps
IC	incompetent cervix
IMHO	in my humble opinion
IMO	in my opinion
IRL	in real life
ITA	I totally agree
IUI	intrauterine insemination
IVF	in vitro fertilization
JJ or J/J	just joking
JK or J/K	just kidding
JMHO	just my humble opinion, or just my honest opinion
KWIM	know what I mean
L&D	labor and delivery
LO	little one
LOL	laughing out loud
LP	luteal phase
MC or M/C	miscarriage
MIL	mother-in-law
ML	maternity leave
MM	mother’s milk
MYOB	mind your own business
NMS	not my style
NMSAA	not my style at all
NP	no problem
O	ovulation
O’d	ovulated
OMG	oh my gosh, or oh my god
OP	original poster
OPK	ovulation predictor kit
OT	off topic
PG	pregnant, or pregnancy
POAS	pee on a stick (i.e. pregnancy test)
PP	previous poster
PPD	postpartum depression
RE	reproductive endocrinologist
ROFL	rolling on floor laughing
SAHD	stay-at-home dad
SAHM	stay-at-home mom
SAHP	stay-at-home parent
SD	sperm donor
SIL	sister-in-law
SO	significant other
TCOYF	Taking Charge of Your Fertility, by Toni Weschler
TIA	thanks in advance
TMI	too much information
TTC	trying to conceive
US or U/S	ultrasound
VBAC	vaginal birth after cesarean section
WAH	work at home
WOH	work out of the home