Thank you ❤️ I am too!

Lol, I can definitely see how that could catch someone off guard. Yes I love pickles but it’s more of a “remedy” for some of the side effects I may experience at first.

Specifically, the medication Spironolactone is used as a testosterone blocker. It’s a medication that is prescribed for a bunch of different things (cystic acne, high blood pressure, hormonal imbalances in woman) but it’s a class of drug called a potassium sparing diuretic. So it flushes the body of fluid but unlike other diuretics, it doesn’t flush out potassium in the process. So this makes electrolytes go out of whack and your body’s response is to crave salt in order to balance out the potassium and electrolytes (at least that is how I understand it?)

So the pickles are for my salt cravings basically. ❤️

Guess that was a bit of a long response, but hopefully you found it interesting. Thanks for the question and your support!

This has been my experience my whole life 😭

Thank you! It went great and I’m so happy for taking this step. First time I really did anything for myself like this. It’s empowering ❤️

Thank you! It went great and I’ll be on anticistamines soon!

I’m definitely feeling the excitement afterwards :) feeling a lot better now and thank you for the kind words

Thank you :) that means a lot

Just updated my post, but it went great! I felt seen and heard in a medical setting for the first time in a loong time.

Plus my wife surprised me with my own blahaj and love note about how proud she was of me.

So I’m crying happy tears today. ❤️

You’re right, that was my US privilege showing. My bad.

I am located in the US. In the state of Indiana - but I hear you. It really depends on location and my coverage whether I could get it covered.

I’m going to keep looking for a relatively close bank around me because a mail in kit does make me nervous. At bare minimum, I would definitely make sure not to start taking E until I knew for certain there were no issues from transport.

I definitely agree with not necessarily wanting to do a mail in kit, but it may be my only option if I don’t want to drive 2 hours one way to a lab. With an extremely car sick 18mo, my options are very limited. :/

Thank you for giving me some insight on your prep stuff!

Thank you! This seems to be the most straight forward company and pricing. Might go with them myself. Thanks again!

Ooo. That’s a really good point and I didn’t even think of that. I can totally see that being an issue.

I thought I could just go to a fertility doc and they’d take care of it all for me, but it looks like I need to find my own bank and I’m just a little lost as to what all I need to do to get the ball rolling.

Ooo good thinking :D plus there are a lot of cacti cuties out there 🌵

Thank you! I’m going to DM you ❤️

I’ve learned that flowers give my wife anxiety because she desperately tries to keep them alive (regardless if they’re planted or cut) and gets sad when they inevitably die 😬

But maybe I could incorporate a little caterpillar life cycle drawing thing in my love notes I hide around the house that end in a photo of two butterflies together or something 🤔

Thank you for the suggestions! Pictures sound like a great idea because we don’t have many since I came out yet. They’ve been a bit of a sore subject because all pictures pre-egg crack are me with a beard and you can really see the sadness behind my eyes. Some photos afterwards would be a great gift ❤️

Although hilarious, don’t think that would go over too well 😂

When I first was considering changing my name, I had wished my given name was more gender neutral so I could just stick with it for awhile. I also felt like I should wait until I was at least semi passing before changing my name. So I felt like sticking with my given name until I was a lot further along on my journey made sense.

It wasn’t until I sat with my recent cracking and self discovery that I had a growing sense of being less “connected” to my given name. And my identity as a man in general. And especially those that called me by my given name. They were holding onto an idea of who I was that no longer was something I could be. So changing my name ending up being a firm starting point for my “official” coming out. As I told friends and family,I also gave them my new name. Of the woman inside me that I no longer could keep inside and needed to let free.

I’m still very new to transition at only 3 months since my egg cracked but I’ve socially changed my name to Olivia as it’s a nice reminder of my trajectory. And the more I hear it and use it, the more it feels right.

I guess what I’m trying to say is I used to feel like you but ended up realizing that the name change was really important to me and going by any version of my given name starting feeling worse and worse.

As long as going by your given name feels right to you, than do that! But pay attention to how it makes you feel when others refer to you as such. Does it feel right or does it feel out of sync?

The only right time for changing a name (or not at all) is the one you decide for yourself ❤️

Them: Happy Birthday!🎈🎂

Me: Thanks, you too!

😔

I’m not OP, but have the same question. Are you talking about something like this?

https://a.co/d/bVPbBO1