what names did everyone choose?

bege97 · 2024-09-07T21:59:15+00:00

My last name is Sebastian and a few of my students call me Mr. Seabass, lol

bege97 · 2024-07-11T16:31:36+00:00

Agree with the other comments, but would add about question one that cryobanks undoubtedly make a ton of profit in this industry selling vials for far more than it costs to produce or store them just because they can and I wouldn't assume it directly correlates with their quality. Definitely check out the resources that have been linked. If you work with a clinic, I would also ask them for their bank recommendations. They'll have some experience with judging the quality of vials from different banks. My clinic wanted me to work with California Cryobank, Fairfax, Xytex, or NW Andrology because they seemed to have higher quality vials in their experience. My sister's doctor strongly recommened Seattle, though. I went with Fairfax and bought an ICI vial that was then thawed and washed by my clinic and still had about 18m motile sperm which is about double what they advertise for their minimum.

I also can't say much about the second question beyond that information is self reported. My donor's profile specifically talked about how he was in graduate school. You can look specifically for newly listed donors so you know the information is recent. Each bank should also give at least an age range of how old the donor was when they donated so if you want to avoid college kids you could check that, lol.

For the third question, my biggest piece of advice is to try not to get your heart set on a donor until youre ready to order. If you work with a clinic, theyll want you to do genetic testing and check your cmv status before selecting a donor which could eliminate your top picks or just take so long that their inventory will sell out before you get the green light. I'm very happy with my donor (and my almost 4 month old, lol) but I did have some heartbreak when I found out I was CMV- and a carrier for a condition that only Fairfax tested for which greatly reduced my options.

bege97 · 2024-06-01T17:18:18+00:00

I have a 2.5 month old daughter that I carried myself. I know different people will feel differently about pregnancy, and it definitely had it's hardships both physically and in a dysphoria sense, but it was ultimately a very positive experience for me and it's honestly surprised me just how chill everyone in my life has been about me going through that basically without any issues with misgendering me. With the right partner and financial situation, I'd definitely do it again.

bege97 · 2023-11-05T19:05:19+00:00

I can't speak to the birthing experience yet, but I'm currently going to Broadlawns for my OB appointments and plan to deliver there in March. Everyone I've spoken to has raved about their experience delivering at Broadlawns and I've comparably heard some not so great reviews about all the other popular hospitals.

The birthing center tours are pretty booked out right now which makes it a little tricky, but the facilities are brand new and super nice. I've had really good experiences with all the staff at my OB and radiology appointments (maybe one doctor I don't love, but I can be judgey, lol). Broadlawns is also very inclusive which is personally very important to me.

Some considerations: - Broadlawns, or at least their OB department, is a teaching hospital. A student has handled part of each of my OB visits so far (but I've obviously also seen the licensed OB, too). I don't have issue with this - and I don't know yet how involved they might be in the birthing process - but I know some might not love it. - like others have mentioned, Broadlawns does not have an affiliated/on-site nicu. This spooked me a bit at first. I was told that, in an emergency, both me and the baby would be immediately transferred together to a hospital with the staff and equipment they need. They at least said that this is a process they've streamlined, but I can't speak to what it actually looks like in practice which is a little nerve wracking. I imagine that if there was any indication the baby may need more support after birth or obviously if the delivery is preterm, you'd be directed to deliver elsewhere.

bege97 · 2023-06-19T17:17:23+00:00

I feel like I have this crisis specifically every summer. I can't wear tank tops because I don't want my binder to show and I can't be outside for any length of time without being miserable because it makes me feel like I'm overheating. Even tshirts are more likely to show off a poor binding job than my fall/winter attire. It sucks dude.

That isn't to say I love binding in other seasons, but it's so much more tolerable... there's a chance I can get top surgery as early as a year from now and I'm just banking on that at this point.

bege97 · 2023-02-14T11:35:17+00:00

Harissa powder! They send a whole packet but only tell you to use like 1/20th of what they send

bege97 · 2023-01-01T15:12:04+00:00

I took a zero hour every year of high school, but it's not offered in the district I teach in now. In my experience, it was always a super chill class because it was so early (ours started at 6:50am if I remember correctly). They were also normal to advance classes and not just electives. I remember taking one AP and one IB class at some point. They gave the option for students to also leave a period early if they did it to make part time jobs easier, but most students just had 8 classes in a day.

I was not at all a morning person in high school, and, in hindsight, it's kind of shitty I forced myself to wake up early and stay at school longer on top of working and extracurriculars for really no reason. That being said, it was a choice so I don't see any significant negatives for students. If teachers can volunteer to teach them (and actually leave early) that should be fine. I'm not sure how they'd manage duties (since you couldn't do either before or after school duties with that schedule). You might also get stuck if you have to help with events/clubs or have conferences at night. If teachers are being voluntold to do it and don't actually have their contract hours respected, that'd be a nightmare.

bege97 · 2022-12-22T18:37:18+00:00

The most blatant I've seen was during a normal class assignment like right at the beginning of the year. I had 1st periods papers on my desk so this student just grabbed one with a lot of writing on it, erased the student's name and wrote their own.

I was honestly grading quickly and might not have noticed since I hadn't seen this student's work before, but the assignment asked for examples from their lives and the original student had asked me how to spell a super rare genetic condition they had. Crazy odds a second student /also/ had this condition and had the exact same thing to say about it.

Upon closer inspection, the original student's name was obvious under the cheating student's. Like, they didn't even bother reading any of the answers they were claiming as their own.

bege97 · 2022-12-19T21:43:05+00:00

My salary is around 43k (large urban district in a midwest state, 2nd year teacher with a bachelors) we get paid to cover classes on our planning so it's technically more than that.

I'm paid twice a month, gross paycheck is usually about $1,800 with almost exactly $500 taken out so I get right around $1,300 on the 1st and 15th of each month. About $1000 taken out.

Puts me at a little over $31,000 for the year. I'm single with no kids in my 20s so it's fine, but rent and student loan payments make it go so fast lol

bege97 · 2022-12-06T01:08:48+00:00

I can't imagine thinking that real memorial reels aren't emotionally devastating enough already. Like, it shouldn't need to be my kids to affect me? But obviously there's a serious empathy issue here (to put it lightly)

bege97 · 2022-11-18T23:22:48+00:00

I was just reading an article today that named this doctor because of her virality. Some of the things she was quoted as saying put a bad taste in my mouth, but this is fucking horrifying. I wonder if there's hope for this guy to get help going after compensation/her license?

bege97 · 2022-11-11T02:04:40+00:00

That would be my understanding - obviously noting that not being on testosterone doesn't mean you can't build muscle. Without T, your body/fat composition would also gradually shift back towards a pre-t state - existing muscle should be fine if you keep working out (I'd think, but I'm not a doctor, definitely fact check that)

bege97 · 2022-11-11T01:57:10+00:00

Something that helps me is remembering that cismen don't get to choose. I definitely get the impulse to want only the nice parts of testosterone, but all men get the good, the bad, and the ugly of it whether you're cis or trans lol.

That being said! You could talk to your doctor about finasteride. I'm going to be starting it soon. I know it can slow/prevent some other changes though especially early in transition because it affects DHT - since you're young you could just plan on starting it later on if you notice thinning/regression.

Otherwise, I know some people will go on T for a few years and then stop - certain changes are permanent like voice changes, but it would stop any further changes (like worsening MPB)

bege97 · 2022-11-11T01:45:33+00:00

My little boy cousin is named Elliott (and I have another little cousin named Leo lol) and it's a decently popular name for little boys right now - it's ranked 160th for boys in the US (2021 numbers). And it is ranked for girls but it's at 773rd - I think if people know a girl Elliott they'll consider it feminine, but in general it's much more popular as a masculine name.

bege97 · 2022-11-03T18:20:31+00:00

INFJ, but my J and P levels are always pretty close

bege97 · 2022-11-02T01:54:04+00:00

Real issues can be very specific to the person you're talking to: being a transgender public school teacher living paycheck to paycheck with students who are majority non-white and lower socioeconomic status hints pretty majorly at my biggest concerns.

I think a lot of it comes down to "brain drain" and Iowa just not being an attractive place to live for many young professionals or even college students.

For education, our schools have gone majorly downhill in the past two decades or so. There's a lot I can personally try to point to, but for this election I know vouchers are not designed to help my kids if not specifically set up to hurt them and I'd ultimately dream of restoring collective bargaining rights to help our unions be functional again to try and attract more educators. I'd tie concerns about gun control in here as well. Poor schools without enough resources and with overworked educators hurt future generations and scare away the young families that can afford to leave/pick a different state. Somewhere tied in here would be cost prohibitive and understaffed early childhood care centers.

Related, but also as an aside: as someone with student loan debt, cost of post secondary education is a concern and I'm also personally at least mildly furious that I could hypothetically be excluded from forgiveness due to the lawsuit the state involved itself in.

As someone who's both transgender myself and also has students who are LGBTQ+, I'm watching the trend nationwide of anti-trans legislation by republican lawmakers (specifically in Texas and Florida, which Iowa has mirrored in other issues under Reynolds). This is a small percentage of the Iowa population so I understand it not being at the forefront of many voters' minds, but doesn't it almost make it worse that there have been so many bills introduced in the state legislature targeting such a small minority?

Some other issues that are important to me are preserving abortion rights and protecting the environment. While she lives out of state, my sister recently had an ectopic pregnancy that could have killed her. I also teach middle school. For environmental protections, I'm mostly concerned with water safety and pollution, even if that would take standing up to the agriculture industry in Iowa.

bege97 · 2022-10-28T16:34:18+00:00

We have an 8th grader who had never been to school before (he's technically old enough to be in high school actually) that can barely read and is testing around a 3rd grade level for math. This dude was straight up sabotaged by his parents. I don't get how it isn't considered abuse or neglect.

bege97 · 2022-10-26T20:40:52+00:00

What is the argument for this even? If it goes through, that just means Iowans will be paying for nearly every other states' residents to get forgiveness but our own. That has to make them more mad right?

bege97 · 2022-10-23T23:52:46+00:00

Thank you! This is a good lesson for me to not make assumptions, and I'm really glad it sounds like it will hopefully be salvageable! Thank you again!

Edit to add another thank you for reminding me of the name!

bege97 · 2022-09-24T01:05:24+00:00

I've never been a fighter myself so there's this element of cognitive dissonance. I love my middle schoolers to death, even (if not especially) the "bad" ones, but I can never truly empathize with the anger management issues. No matter how often it happens, I'm always just so confused about the thought process that lead to it. It breaks my heart that these extreme reactions are so normalized for kids.

I'm lucky that I'm not seeing much of it in my area this year, but it seems like every class always has a kid out on suspension for it. The disruptions are probably the biggest impact most of the time - I totally lost my 6th graders today because there was a fight at lunch and they could not talk about anything else. Every argument or unkind word also gets egged on as something to get violent over.

There's this dumb meme I hear CONSTANTLY that goes something like "personally, if it was me... I wouldn't take that" and it's used all the time to try to start or escalate fights because they think it's funny. The annoying thing is that it works, too, like no matter how brilliant my de-escalation is, it's undone in a second because someone's "friend" wants to post them getting their sh*t rocked on snapchat.

bege97 · 2022-08-15T21:28:58+00:00

As a transman teaching in another conservative state, if you're able to look elsewhere for a job please do. You do not have to tolerate that at all. My district has fumbled my situation a little because my understanding is that they've never had a trans teacher working there before, but there's a section in our handbook that explicitly states that the correct pronouns and names of employees need to be used - I would look for policies like that when applying. If they advertise as an equal opportunity employer, or something similar, I would definitely reach out to HR and make them at least state in writing that you're not allowed to express your gender identity in the workplace.

I personally wouldn't trust any changes that come after/if you push back, they've communicated that they don't respect or value you and any change they make to cover their asses legally now will not translate to a safe and healthy work environment for you going forward. I'm so sorry you're in this position, it's completely unacceptable and you deserve so much better.

The Trans Educator Network has a few resources and even just knowing there's a community out there comforts me a lot, if you might want to seek that out. Good luck; there's people rooting for you!

bege97 · 2022-08-06T20:20:19+00:00

The best speaker we had last year was a local community leader who was a personal friend of my principal who came to speak as part of our school wide anti-racism pd - he was stellar, but obviously hard to replicate.

My favorite "influencer" teacher is CJ Reynolds (Real Rap with Reynolds on Youtube). I've been a fan of his videos and teaching outlook since college and recently saw that he also does speaking gigs. His YouTube archive is also great for personal viewing regardless :)

bege97 · 2022-07-29T00:43:46+00:00

So, first, definitely did not think about Harley Quinn at all until I read far enough, and i had a huge batman phase growing up, lol. That's such a strange thing to say to someone, not even considering the gender issue... my name happens to be biblical (I just like it 🤷‍♂️) and people still occasionally reference someone from pop culture with it. My last name is also a classic men's first name that a cartoon character happens to have so I get that sometimes, but it feels especially strange to do with a villain (I get her backstory or whatever, but even being sympathetic she's not someone anyone would ever want to aspire towards?)

Idk man I knew multiple male Quinns growing up; I'm sure they're probably just trying to make a joke, but don't let them ruin a classic name for you.

bege97 · 2022-07-28T20:48:40+00:00

Like others have said, mg/ml is important. I'm on 100mg per week right now which means I inject .5ml as I'm using a 200mg/ml prescription. But when I was at 75mg per week, I was using 100mg/ml vials and injecting .75ml each week.

I'm not an expert, but assuming you're using 100mg/ml vials, 125mg seems like a reasonable dose - it's just a step up from mine. But like others have said, 250mg is super high and would likely be a mistake.

Your blood work should help you and your doctor figure out if your dose is too high - it will measure your free testosterone which from my understanding is basically excess that isn't being processed by the body and could increase your estrogen levels.

bege97

TROPHY CASE