transition selfies thread
So I decided to just have fun! This is my face now and I can do what I want with it.
And actually having someone to talk to now made such a huge difference in so many ways. Especially when she's one of those few special people you're only ever going to meet a handful of. π₯°
Anyway, that's November, after 15 months of HRT. Lots of puberty happening now, with a not insignificant amount of 40yo silliness on top.
transition selfies thread
December! Sixteen months now, and I'm forced to start microdosing my estradiol to make supplies last longer.
I also had a crisis which cost me a lot of energy, but eventually resolved some pretty significant old trauma, at least sufficiently that I had to rewrite my rules for what's allowed into my life. Previously I only accepted my child and my transition to take space, but now I added rules that says I also need self-acceptance (for the full spectrum of my neurodivergence) and love.
transition selfies thread
January! 17 months. After the December crisis, I'm feeling much more myself and even freer now than before.
This transition really has been a long, continuous, heavy work dealing with all the layers of shame I'd wrapped myself up and mummified myself in. By now I'd been transitioning for over two years in total.
Still have to shave daily though. Ugh
transition selfies thread
(Still January) And things continued to happenβ¦
It's astounding how this person was always there inside of me. I myself knew it! But you really couldn't see it from the outside. I never got to really try actually being like this before, so I was always a bit shaky on the detailsβbut I did know. And now that I have what's needed to show up as myself, I've finally been able to prove to myself that I was right.
transition selfies thread
(cw: mild nudity)
18 months! It's February! I'm switching from gel+cypro to injection monotherapy now, and the months of microdosing are over.
I'm still exploring this new way I look. It's like every emotion I try to express just shows up! I can feel a thing and when I look at myself feeling it it is visible!! I've never experienced this! It's like I've been in a hazmat suit my whole life but now it's gone.
I have so many emotions now. π
transition selfies thread
And here I am in March, and since then I am again opening up, and I don't actually know to what this time, because it's too deep. But I'll get back to you in six months or soβ¦ β¨
transition selfies thread
yay let's go! another six months!!
Here's March first. I tried to start running again but failed. Got misgendered a bunch too. Honestly I was quite tired a lot of the time, but still had some silliness in me.
I had switched to injections in mid-February and I stopped taking androcur in mid-March.
transition selfies thread
April: 20 months of HRT.
Continuing to improve my makeup skills. I started a new work training programme! Worked at a cafe the first week and had to stuff my hair into this little cap while wearing a workplace uniform. That was really scary, because my gender presentation now had to rely entirely on makeup, voice and the way I moved, while I simultaneously started using the women's locker room.
But I made it! The staff at this place clearly had a strategy in place to make me feel safe. I only really got misgendered by three people (out of dozens and dozens of other programmes participants) and the staff meticulously corrected them each time, sometimes even inserting themselves into conversations just to gender me correctly in front of people who didn't "get it".
This was my first experience with meeting new people after fully transitioning socially 8 months earlier. The confidence boost I got was huge! π₯°
transition selfies thread
May, 21 months. I turned 41 years old! There was work training, but now at a car wash. And I almost reached my pre-transition weight again, which unfortunately made most of my clothes impossible to wear.
transition selfies thread
June, 22 months. Had a close call and almost got evicted by the end of May, and the month that followed was pretty frustrating. Spent a lot of it in freeze mode with my mental health kind of deteriorating.
transition selfies thread (cw: implied nudity)
July, 23 months. Time's running out on dealing with the eviction thingβbut I actually manage to fix it. β
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Slowly beginning to get into better shape again, with lots of walking and healthier eating. Feeling more playful again after replacing much of the impending doom with rest. (So much rest.)
No matter how little exercise I got, I always had a very muscular build. There are pictures from my yeti couch potato days, when all I ever did was eat unhealthy food and sit at the computer, and I still look really strong. It's just the way my body is, whether on testosterone or not. It's been stressful because of the dysphoriaβbut this month was when HRT had finally changed me enough that I could begin appreciating it.
This is actually the first time I've been able to appreciate my own body at all, ever!
transition selfies thread
August, 2 years! I started walking for several hours per day, for both my mental and physical health.
There are so many mornings now when I wake up, put on my old worn out glasses, go to the bathroom and see a girl in the mirror. It's so joyful! Even if it's still sometimes confusing after so many years thinking that this was impossible. It clearly isn't though. π₯°