OvuSense Fertility & Ovulation Blog
Real-life stories from OvuSense users and essential information from fertility experts
Top 10 Questions About Your Menstrual Cycle
The menstrual cycle and your period are the most important aspect of your fertility. These very important functions of a woman's body regulate ovulation and your hormones and have major influences on your fertility health.
You may feel confused or concerned about your menstrual cycle and what your body is trying to tell you, so I have put together my most frequently asked questions and the answers to help you understand your body a little more.
The world is moving so quickly that trying to have a baby doesn't even require words. Now, modern family planning only takes a few letters. Some of these acronyms are familiar (IVF, or In Vitro Fertilization), but others may leave you scratching your head. As in, what the heck is BD and why should I care? (FYI, it means 'Baby Dance'—time to get busy between the sheets!)
Don't be left in the baby-making dark! Here are the top 20 conception abbreviations:
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AF It's that time of the month—a visit from your ol' Aunt Flo. But of course, your period is not what you want when you're TTC. In fact, many gals chant AFSA (Aunt Flo Stay Away!).
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BBT -Basal Body Temperature
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BFN (and BFP) Glimpsing a home pregnancy test and then suddenly feeling like crap means you've seen a Big Fat Negative. The opposite is, of course, BFP, or Big Fat Positive!
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BT Say yes to that needle stick! If you suspect you're prego, a Blood Test can confirm (it's more accurate than a urine test).
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CF (also CM) Ew! Your Cervical Fluid or Cervical Mucus is actually critical to unlocking the conception door. Get up close and personal with this monthly wetness, whether it's slick, clear, or cloudy, so you can pinpoint a fertile moment.
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DH (also DP and SO) He (or she) is your one and only, a partner in crime, and your main squeeze. Yup, it means Dear Husband, Dear Partner, or Significant Other. Why not give yours a little TLC today?
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DPO This is the countdown that can leave you breathless—it stands for Days Past Ovulation. If you're planning a baby, you'll be sitting tight for about 10-14 days before a home pregnancy test shows a BFP.
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DTD Yay—this is the fun one! When your CF is right, it's time to DTD—Do The Deed (as in, have sex!).
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EC Ice, Ice—BABY. EC or Embryo Cryo (freezing) keeps your eggs nice and fresh until you're ready to defrost!
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EDD This is the date you circle on the calendar in red pen. It's your Estimated Due Date, which is often determined from that first, early ultrasound.
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GS - Gestational Surrogate.
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hCG- This substance is a magic hormone, one you definitely want swimming in your bloodstream. The abbreviation stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, and your ob/gyn can detect it in the blood (and later in urine) during the first week or two of pregnancy.
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HPT - Home Pregnancy Tests!
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IUI - Intrauterine Insemination
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MC - It's the saddest outcome, but not that uncommon. Many women who are TTC have suffered a Miscarriage.
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MS - Morning Sickness
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POAS You'll do this to check your baby status. Yup, Pee On A Stick is the longer version, and if you're TTC you'll be sprinkling every month.
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PVN or Prenatal Vitamin is a multi that's taken for a few months prior to conception to ensure the right nutrients are present for the healthiest bambino possible.
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RE If you're TTC and it's taking many months, make an appointment to see an RE or Reproductive Endocrinologist. He can help diagnose why you're having trouble and help put you on the path to mommyhood.
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SD - Sperm Donor.
Baby dust to all our followers!
Team OvuSense www.ovusense.com
Ladies, it is with pleasure that I am over the moon to tell you all that I am pregnant again. Baby No. 2 is on the way, due March 2018! I conceived with OvuSense 3 years before this after 18 years of trying.
I knew I was from my Ovusense chart, sadly and annoyingly I missed a week of using it! I really want to know what happened in that gap but the end result is the same. ❤️
Doctors said I'd never have children without IVF...pfffft. Prolactinoma, screw you. PCOS, suck it. MTHFR, kiss my Ass!
Just wanted to stop in and give all you wonderful ladies a final update. I have been an OvuSense user since 2014. The best fertility prediction I have ever used. It has never been wrong for me as far as ovulation confirmation. Trust and believe in this technology!
Anyway, this is my 2nd BFP using OvuSense. The first, unfortunately, was ectopic in March 2017. Today I am 14 DPO. AF is officially due today and I am scared, to say the least.
This is my 3rd pregnancy in 11 years. Yes, 11 years! Unfortunately, I have lost 2 babies so far so I know the pain and struggle.
Many thanks for all the love and support I have received and I will continue to pray for every single one through this rollercoaster journey! I will be watching this Support Group (OvuSense Users Group) and hanging around for love and support but this will be my last update here for now.
I wish everyone the best of luck.
Please, never give up.
Dana x
It happened! My entire life I have been told how difficult it would be for me to get pregnant as I have PCOS. But I got my BFP today!
I still can’t quite believe that I’m writing this. It’s finally sunk in.
I know a few of you know the difficulty we’ve had (even just getting me to ovulate!!). Out of 9 medicated cycles, I’ve only ovulated 4 times!!! And if it wasn’t for my OvuSense, I wouldn’t have known and we’d have blindly continued on assuming the medication was working when it had stopped.
Hello,
I would like to provide the below testimonial, as OvuSense really did work for me!
In April 2017, following increasingly erratic periods and some high FSH readings (40+), I was told by an NHS fertility consultant that I was in premature menopausal transition and that I could expect to enter full menopause within the next 6-9 months. I was aged 41 at that time.
He said that my chances of natural conception using my own eggs during that timeframe were 5%, and advised that infertility counselling - together with consideration of donated eggs - were my only options.
What is Secondary Infertility
Secondary infertility is a common problem. The term secondary infertility refers to the inability to become pregnant or the inability to carry a pregnancy to a live birth following either a previous pregnancy or a previous live birth. This definition, therefore, includes women who have had a previous miscarriage or stillbirth, as well as those who already have a child.
Many couples turn to IVF in pursuit of creating a family. These couples put their absolutely trust in their clinic and doctor to provide them with the most up to date and research based treatments and investigations. However there is increasing concern that many of the additional treatments and services offered by fertility clinics in the UK are not research based and are therefore misleading patients, increasing their financial burden and ultimately offering little more than false hope.
IVF is expensive, especially when less than half the procedures receive NHS funding. Add-ons increase this financial burden. An endometrial scratch, for example, can cost over £300, time lapse imaging up to £850 and pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) in the region of £3500
Research conducted at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford (Heneghan et al 2016), aimed to assess IVF Add-Ons offered in all UK Fertility clinics against the following criteria:
- Are the Add-Ons recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)?
- Have Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT’s) been conducted to prove that the treatment or intervention is effective?
- Are there any risks or adverse effects associated with the treatment or intervention?
Following the assessment of the website of Fertility Clinics in the UK, the researchers were able to identify a total of 38 interventions and classified these as 27 IVF Add-On, 6 alternatives to IVF and 5 treatments for fertility preservation.
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