Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Week 5: An Appleseed for my Thoughts
If I'd known then what I know now...
... I could have saved a hell of a lot of cash on birth control over the past 20 years of my life.
As it turns out, getting knocked up isn't as easy as those girls on "Teen Mom" make it look. As a matter of fact, I don't know a single girlfriend who hasn't endured her share of TTC (see: Acronyms) woes along the path to the delivery room.
Beware of the Message Board
I should have learned my lesson about message boards when I was 17 and made the mistake of reading "Hernia Surgery" message boards the night before I was having my own surgery.
It didn't occur to me at the time that the only people who were on those message boards (generally) were those who already had experienced problems. After all, we don't jump online and log into "herniafailures.com" to write about how well it went.
By the time I got to the hospital the next morning I was in a state of inconsolable panic that resulted in hours of weeping in the waiting room and delaying the inevitability that my body was sure to "reject the mesh" and that I would promptly die. None of these things happened.
So here I am again - over a decade older, and none the wiser, and so I find myself scouring message boards and consequently filling my head with all the horrible things that could go wrong. After all they are happening to EVERYONE ELSE on the "multiple miscarriages" page. Yeah, exactly.
Message boards can be useful resources when approached rationally and with perspective (something us pregnant ladies are not known to have a lot of). You can make them work for you as long as you maintain an understanding of the audience and the participants and realize (again) that no one goes on a message board to talk about the good stuff. People go on message boards to seek advice and comfort when things aren't going according to plan.
It's easy to get caught up in the buzz of negativity if you aren't careful. So, my advice to you - keep reading your message boards for any tidbits of insight that might be helpful to your questions, concerns or specific situation, but be careful to remember that these are generally forums for sharing worries and woes. While it can certainly feel like a majority after scrolling through post after post of a particular problem, it doesn't mean that the bad stuff is happening to everyone. It simply means, that everyone on that message board is experiencing the bad stuff and that is why they're there.
In the grand scheme of things, those people make up a very specialized sample of an infinite universe of baby bumps. Be grateful they are talking because we can learn a lot from them, but don't let the anxiety get in the way of being optimistic that your pregnancy will be a good one.
It didn't occur to me at the time that the only people who were on those message boards (generally) were those who already had experienced problems. After all, we don't jump online and log into "herniafailures.com" to write about how well it went.
By the time I got to the hospital the next morning I was in a state of inconsolable panic that resulted in hours of weeping in the waiting room and delaying the inevitability that my body was sure to "reject the mesh" and that I would promptly die. None of these things happened.
So here I am again - over a decade older, and none the wiser, and so I find myself scouring message boards and consequently filling my head with all the horrible things that could go wrong. After all they are happening to EVERYONE ELSE on the "multiple miscarriages" page. Yeah, exactly.
Message boards can be useful resources when approached rationally and with perspective (something us pregnant ladies are not known to have a lot of). You can make them work for you as long as you maintain an understanding of the audience and the participants and realize (again) that no one goes on a message board to talk about the good stuff. People go on message boards to seek advice and comfort when things aren't going according to plan.
It's easy to get caught up in the buzz of negativity if you aren't careful. So, my advice to you - keep reading your message boards for any tidbits of insight that might be helpful to your questions, concerns or specific situation, but be careful to remember that these are generally forums for sharing worries and woes. While it can certainly feel like a majority after scrolling through post after post of a particular problem, it doesn't mean that the bad stuff is happening to everyone. It simply means, that everyone on that message board is experiencing the bad stuff and that is why they're there.
In the grand scheme of things, those people make up a very specialized sample of an infinite universe of baby bumps. Be grateful they are talking because we can learn a lot from them, but don't let the anxiety get in the way of being optimistic that your pregnancy will be a good one.
Decoding the Message Board Acronyms
As with any new undertaking, when pregnant or attempting to become pregnant, Google becomes your new best friend, and often your internet research is compiled of both reputable web resources, like the Mayo Clinic, the bump, the American Pregnancy Association, and the Baby Center, supplemented with a sprinkling of message board banter.
I don't know about you, but one of the most absurd and daunting challenges I've discovered thus far is all those ridiculous acronyms people are using in message boards. It's like these women are speaking in code and I don't understand how or when everyone learned all the codewords! I missed the memo. So, here is a collection of some of the most common I've encountered. Happy deciphering!
(For more, you can find the full list here: http://www.babycenter.com/community-help-abbreviations)
I don't know about you, but one of the most absurd and daunting challenges I've discovered thus far is all those ridiculous acronyms people are using in message boards. It's like these women are speaking in code and I don't understand how or when everyone learned all the codewords! I missed the memo. So, here is a collection of some of the most common I've encountered. Happy deciphering!
(For more, you can find the full list here: http://www.babycenter.com/community-help-abbreviations)
AF
|
Aunt Flo — menstruation/period
|
BBT
|
basal body temperature
|
BC
|
because, or birth control, or before
children
|
BFN
|
big fat negative (pregnancy test)
|
BFP
|
big fat positive (pregnancy test)
|
CD
|
cycle day
|
CF
|
cervical fluid
|
CM
|
cervical mucus
|
CS or C/S
|
cesarean section
|
DH
|
dear husband
|
DP
|
dear partner
|
DPO
|
days past ovulation
|
EDD
|
estimated due date, or expected date of
delivery
|
FTM
|
first time mom
|
HPT
|
home pregnancy test
|
IUI
|
intrauterine insemination
|
IVF
|
in vitro fertilization
|
L&D
|
labor and delivery
|
LP
|
luteal phase
|
MC or M/C
|
miscarriage
|
O
|
ovulation
|
O'd
|
ovulated
|
OPK
|
ovulation predictor kit
|
PG
|
pregnant, or pregnancy
|
POAS
|
pee on a stick (i.e. pregnancy test)
|
TTC
|
trying to conceive
|
US or U/S
|
ultrasound
|
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