Day 346 – Breast Cordon Bleu
It has been quite a while since I last posted, I apologize for that. I kept meaning to post but something else just kept coming up! For that reason I am going to make this post a little longer than usual. After I got back from New Hampshire I set about enjoying the last 3 weeks of summer vacation before classes started again. The picture above was from just before we left the condo and headed to Maine.
Last weekend hurricane Irene came through and caused quite a stir. Everyone in my area was in a state of panic, getting ready up for the apocalypse. We didn’t get hit that bad out near the coast, It was mostly some heavy winds and rain on Saturday and some more rain on Sunday. We were lucky enough to not loose power but my cousins and aunts one street over lost theirs for about a day or so. The only real damage I suffered was that half of my Staghorn Sumac trees were bent over in the winds and a few even cracked. It couldn’t have come at a worse time now that we are getting right to when the berries are ripe for picking. Maybe I will still be able to salvage some and make some lemonaid..Who knows?
I’ve had two electrolysis appointments since I got back, last week I had quite a bit of regrowth and my electrologist thinks it is the hair that we treated near the beginning that grew back. It is kind of good and bad at the same time, it sucks that is is still growing, but at the same time she was able to get a lot of hair in the Anagen growth phase which is more effective. I also had my 2nd laser appointment this week. It is hard to tell how effective it is, but I think the hair under my arms looked a bit patchier than it used to. I should be able to tell for sure by my 3rd treatment. Even if it’s effects are minimal, it is still significantly easier than electrolysis.
I saw my girlfriend on Wednesday for the first time since we came back from NH. We made Chicken Cordon Bleu last night for her mom and tonight for my family. It came out fantastic! We’ve tried a bunch of recipes from Allrecipes and they have all turned out great.
This afternoon I took sam out for a short hike around Appleton Farms, one of the oldest farms in the country. They have 6 miles of trails that sit adjacent to 133 acres of grassland. The weather was perfect and the hills were absolutely beautiful. We ate some sandwiches by an obelisk and watched the cows graze the fields. It is nice to get away from the internet for a while. I have quite a few pictures of what I’ve done over the summer and I thought the best way to share them would be by making a new album with everything from the summer. So once I sort out the good ones I will be putting them up for your viewing pleasure.
I finally got the results from my most recent blood work and they look pretty good. My testosterone levels are down to 184.96 ng/dL, which is still not in female range but it’s a lot better than the 300-400 that it was before. My estrogen is siting at 50.16 pg/mL, that should jump up when I add more estrogen. I have my next endo appointment in 3 days and there is no reason why he shouldn’t bump me up to 4mg Estradiol per day. Looks like I will finally be on a respectable dose!
I think I will end it here before it gets too long. I am going to take my measurements and some new breast growth pictures tonight or tomorrow and I will update my comparison charts soon. Have a good Labor day weekend!
Abbey
AA: Poles
Hello!
I just arrived in New Hampshire with my parents and girlfriend. We are staying in a condo for the weekend. I am going to try to make a post or two talking about the next couple of days. In the mean time here is a quick ask Abbey question I got today.
Abbey
Q: Hi
You’re amazing in your transformation
I wanted to ask about your age when you started hormone therapy
Greetings from Poland
-Gina
A: Hi Gina, thank you for your compliments. To answer your question, I started taking hormones 4 months after my 21st birthday. It was definitely a good time to start. I am also part Polish!
Day 330 – Eleven to One
Candy & Popcorn
Howdy Folks!
It’s been a while since I last did an update so I thought I would talk about what I’ve been doing recently. Last week I went in and got my lab work done again, I should have my results back by next week at the latest. I am excited to see if my testosterone levels have dropped at all. Once I get them back I will do another round of measurements and update my breast development timeline. I know you’ve been waiting for that! (You filthy buggers) I go in to see my endo on the 6th of September, which happens to be the day before classes start. It was a total coincidence I swear! It is hard to believe that I just hit the 11 month mark of being on hormones. One thing I noticed recently is that my skin is extremely smooth and that my leg hair feels a lot softer and lighter than it used to be.
I am up to 6 hours and 15 minutes of electrolysis treatments, things are going good as always. After shaving 24 hours ago I can’t really feel any stubble at all, it’s nice to not have to shave every day.
Last weekend we put on a family reunion and we had about 50 relatives over that I probably haven’t seen since I was a baby (or never). It went surprisingly well and no one seemed to have any problem with me being trans (if they even noticed). And there was lots of food to be had.
This weekend me and my family are planning on going up to New Hampshire for a small vacation. It should be a nice little break before classes start up again. I will try and make an update or two while I am away!
Abbey
Day 320 – Vinegar Hair
My girlfriend and I have been busy doing some major cooking lately. On Thursday we cooked for 4 hours and made 2 lasagnas and some italian bread. For the second lasagna we used gluten-free noodles because my brother has celiacs disease, meaning his body has an intolerance to wheat gluten. It was extremely delicious and totally worth it. Each lasagna had a whopping 4000 calories and there are still leftovers! The recipe we used came from allrecipes.com, this website has a ton of great recipes if you want to try something new! Just last week we made a filling beef stew.
I’ve also started washing my hair with baking soda and vinegar. Why you ask? Because the shampoo we use is full of chemicals that strip all of the oils out of our hair and cause the scalp to produce even more oils to compensate for the loss. So the more often you shampoo, the more often you will have to!
Shampoo is basically detergent, and a strong one at that. Baking soda is a much milder Alkaline that will still clean the dirt and grime from your hair. Baking soda is a common ingredient in toothpastes for this reason.
Because vinegar is an acid, it will neutralize the baking soda. (An acid canceling out a base, brings you back to high school chemistry doesn’t it?) This acts much like a conditioner would.
Some of the obvious benefits of not using shampoo is that your head will produce less oil and will be needed to be cleaned less often. No more over-dried frizzy hair! You will also save a lot of money on hair care products, I have become addicted to shampoo that costs $13 a bottle and I will save hundreds of dollars if I no longer need it.
How do I wash my hair with baking soda and vinegar?
It is very simple, first you need to make a solution of 1 tablespoon baking soda, to 1 cup of water. I put mine in a sports water bottle that fit about 3 cups so that I could easily squirt it over my hair. Next, do the same thing in another bottle with the vinegar, 1tbsp/cup of water. Apple cider vinegar is suggested but I only had white vinegar on hand, both will work just fine.
In the shower, squirt the baking soda solution over your hair and massage in for a few minutes, then rinse thoroughly. Then, spray the vinegar solution over your hair and do the same, you may need more or less depending on your hair type. I always comb it through when I take a shower to get out all the tangles.
After a good rinse you are done! It has been nearly a week since I used shampoo and I used this combination for the first time last night and my hair came out surprisingly clean. There is a transitional period where your body gets used to the lack of shampoo, oil production should decrease once it realizes it does not need to overcompensate for the oils the shampoo removed. This can take a few weeks to a few months, it all depends on your hair type.
There is no reason not to try it out for a few months to see if it works for you, and if it doesn’t, you can simply go back to your shampooing ways. Here is a blog that goes a lot more in-depth into the process. http://simplemom.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/
I’m going to finish things off with a recent AA question, I will get another post up in a few days after my next electrolysis appointment.
Until next time,
Abbey
Q: I was wondering how easy it is to start hormone therapy in Mass? I’m around the same area you are, and I want to start hormones a.s.a.p. I might be able to start them in like October, but they told me I have to get all these tests done first, which I hope to do in a few weeks. And I was wondering if there were any trans stores around eastern Mass, I know nobody in real life who shares these feelings.
-Ashley
A: Hi Ashley,
It can depend a lot on who you are going to see in order to get your hormones. For me it took about 4-5 months from the time I started therapy until the time I took my first hormone pills. The general rule of thumb is 3 months of therapy before they will give you a letter for hormones, but some will do it only after a few visits. I got my letter at around the 3-4 month mark but it took a while longer due to the time between my lab work appointment and my follow up. (This is heavily dependent on how busy your doctor is) The actual test itself is pretty basic blood work, it should take no more than a week or two to get the results back. From what I have heard clinics tend to prescribe HrT faster than a private therapist would but it is important to make sure they are professional.
There is one trans-friendly shop that I know of in Wakefield, MA. It is called Florence’s Fashions and is a small boutique store that has a variety of women’s clothing, wigs, and breast forms. The owner is heavily involved in the trans community and is happy to give you advice help with your outfits. Shopping at a big department store can be extremely intimidating for the first time, Florence’s provides a safe place to start learning what to look for when shopping for women’s clothing. They do not have much casual wear like T-shirts and shorts but they have a decent selection of dressier clothes. Here is a link for more information about Florence’s Fashions.
Day 315 – 45 and Life
Greetings and salutations!
Today I had my 6th electrolysis appointment. In 45 minutes we treated most of the regrowth, it was mostly light hair anyway. In the 6 days since I last shaved It had grown about as much as it would have in 24 hours before I started treatment (Much thinner though). I am really happy with how my my beard removal is going, I feel as though I am really lucky with how much progress I’ve made. I spent all evening working on my electrolysis timeline and got half of it done. I will be adding a second set of photos showing under my chin as well as two more to show today’s treatment. After this point I think I will only add new pictures every few treatments or else it will become an extremely huge file.
Tomorrow I am going to a support group that my therapist put together for the second time. It is a pretty small group (5-6) and we are all around the same age range so it should be fun. Out of all of the people who attend I am one of the farthest along but that isn’t to say I won’t be able to get anything out of it. At the very least I can help some of the others with any questions they have about transitioning.
I still haven’t sent in my name change petition yet. My mom is insistent that I at least consider a middle name of her selection. The problem is that she is so busy and stressed out dealing with one of my uncles who has a drinking problem, and now has a blood clot in his lungs, that she says she can’t deal with me changing my name right now. It is pretty frustrating and part of it has to do with the fact that she is still holding onto what remnants of my past self still exist. I will have to sit her down and talk it over.
P.S. My skin is unbelievable soft!
Abbey
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