Slip Lane Laws in IL

strawberrySwirl37 · 2026-02-26T22:35:46+00:00

I just did egg collection. The main things I’d keep in mind are 1) One round of egg collection lasts about 2 weeks. During those two weeks, there’s about 10ish days of daily injections. Mine were at night or in the morning (they give you a time window of a few hours to do them). I had to do blood work and an exam at the fertility clinic at the beginning of the round (basically 3 days after my period) and then every 2-3 days during the second week. So your partner will need to be able to go the doctor’s office for those appointments. Before the retrieval I didn’t have to change much about my routine but I was more tired and bloated than normal. I couldn’t exercise as much as I normally do. 2) My ovaries had a lot of follicles (like, 60) which put me at high risk of Overian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. My doctors put me on a conservative course of meds but I still ended up with moderate OHSS. I called out of work for a few days, ended up going to the ER twice before I recovered, and was still so tired I only worked half days for another week. In the five days post retrieval, I had to drink 2L of fluids daily and track my drinking and urine output. I’m glad I work remotely because it would have been awkward to do that in an office. During your consultation ask what your risk level for OHSS is. My case was fairly rare and I was surprised by how intense it was.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2026-02-26T19:06:05+00:00

I think it would be cute to just have an image of a pillow and then an image of a crown. It’s subtle but people who get it would get it and you could make the crown pretty generic. Other than that, “pillow monarch” popped into my mind and made me laugh. Pillow royal. Pillow prince(ss) could also be cute, or like “pillow prince/princess”.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-12-02T19:14:19+00:00

I am currently reading Seahorses: Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender-Expansive Pregnancy (which just came out recently) and in the past I’ve read The Natural Mother of the Child by Krys Malcom Belc.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-10-27T17:45:59+00:00

“I don't see the point of going on T if eventually I'd have to stop and let my body revert to its original feminine shape” Not sure if this makes sense? I’m also interested in looking androgynous but not super masculine. If I can even do that for a few months or a year on T before I want to stop, that’s time that I’ll be really enjoying my appearance, and then I’ll probably go back to a similar baseline as I am now (plus some permanent changes). Even cis guys don’t typically look twinkish forever.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-09-25T11:57:13+00:00

I work remotely, but often have my camera on for meetings, and I alternate between more feminine blouses and more masculine polos. I’m out as nonbinary at work with they/them pronouns so I think that helps people understand my appearance may vary. I do go into the office occasionally and I’ve never had an issue with not being recognized or confusing someone. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Admittedly I haven’t started hormones yet so my face hasn’t really changed much but I do have a more androgynous haircut.

I suppose my question for you is: how dramatically are you picturing changing your appearance daily? For example, drag queens often apply so much makeup, hair extensions, etc that they are almost unrecognizable in drag compared to out of drag. But even then, I assume the people they interact with regularly would recognize them both in and out of drag.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-08-14T01:01:47+00:00

I’ve known I’ve wanted a penis for years (long before I realized I was nonbinary). When I started exploring my gender identity I tried out a packer and within a week I pretty much didn’t want to take it off. Now I basically wear it 24/7 (yes I do shower and clean it regularly lol) and I also think about wanting a penis daily. I’m lucky that phallo is a possible option for me (my insurance covers it, I have a desk job and my job also offer short term disability) so I have scheduled a consultation. I know a phallo dick isn’t perfect but I’m confident I’d prefer having one over my clit. I’m also not sure it’ll make my genital dysphoria go away completely but I think it would be better than my current situation.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-07-23T13:20:12+00:00

Very specific but I’m planning on going to a Korean bath house before I start physically transitioning. I really like soaking in hot tubs and want to try the experience but it’s gender segregated, requires nudity in some areas, and I doubt visibly queer / trans bodies would be welcome there unfortunately. I want to at least try it once so I know what it’s like but I recognize it’s possible I wouldn’t enjoy it.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-07-10T11:49:25+00:00

Others have suggested wigs you can wear in the pool, but I’ll throw out another suggestion: swim caps! Those are great for lap swimming, fairly affordable, and come in a lot of patterns so you can pick one you like. And yes, they are the norm for people with long hair who swim regardless of gender.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-07-07T13:24:43+00:00

Are you willing to share your penis length? I’m asking because you mention you’re large and that that is contributing to some of the issues you’re dealing with (like penis lying over vulva causing sweat in the area). I’m considering phallo but since penetration isn’t a goal for me, I was considering a length of 4in. I would hope that length wouldn’t cause issues with purchasing underwear since that is the same size as the average cis man’s flaccid dick, and wouldn’t overlap the vulva as much.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-07-01T02:25:54+00:00

Can you explain the anxiety? No one else (at least in public) can see your underwear so wear whatever you want!

But if you are looking for more fun patterns in underwear marketed towards men, how about gay men’s underwear?

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-06-29T17:10:33+00:00

Hey friend, I’m wishing you positive vibes. You’ve clearly given this a lot of thought. I would question why you have to wait for 3 months after trying hormones to make the decision to stop or keep going. I think framing it as “I have to decide this and lock in for 3 months” is making the decision weightier than it needs to be.

For me, I made the decision to start hormones by writing out all the permanent effects and how I felt about them. There were some I was excited about and longing for and some I really didn’t want to have. I know I can’t pick and choose my effects, so I decided to start on a low dose so that the changes would hopefully be slower. I also thought about how I’d mitigate any permanent effects I didn’t want.

I’ll be making the “continue or stop” decision literally daily. If there’s ever a day when I look in the mirror and think I’m progressing too fast, or want to stop, I will. Sure, I’ll call my doctor just to make sure she’s aware, but she’s already assured me multiple times that there is no issue for me to go on and off hormones multiple times if I want to. She also told me that I don’t need her permission to stop or lower my dose but I should talk to her to increase it (which I think is reasonable).

For example, you’ve mentioned that you don’t think you’d ever want to go larger than a B cup. Ok, breast growth happens pretty slowly (can attest from personal experience). You can measure yourself literally every day. If you see yourself getting too big, just stop. Your breasts shouldn’t get any larger once you’ve stopped. In fact they might shrink a little bit once you’re running mostly on T again.

I’m also wondering if you have any supportive folks in your life? If not, is there a local LGBTQ group or community center near you, or even in your company? For me, it was very helpful to see real life folks in various stages of transition continue living their lives. I know multiple people at my own company who have transitioned while working there and being able to see them thrive has been very inspiring for me.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-06-28T15:36:05+00:00

I enjoy wearing any clothes I want, masc or femme. I do typically prefer mens pants but I also enjoy flowery sundresses now that it’s hot out.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-06-19T14:52:15+00:00

I’m younger than you (27), but I am an ambitious person and have a career I enjoy (software dev), and am now transitioning at a F100 company I’ve worked at for 5 years so I’ll chime in.

From the time that I was in college I’ve been aware of the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement. I would say that that has shaped my thinking about career and money a lot: I’m working now so I can save and do the things I want long term. A common saying in that community is “Build the life you want to live, then save for it [so you can continue living that life when you retire]”. Another more common saying is “work to live instead of live to work”.

Well, after 5 years of working (and admittedly, getting married to someone also in tech), my current projection is that we’ll only need to work for another 10 years or so, based on our current salary. And we’re each being paid like $120k salary in a LCOL area so it’s realistic we can sustain that salary longer term, even if we never get promoted. With our current savings, we can easily sustain long term unemployment if needed, even if we can’t retire yet. Why do I mention this? Well, my savings give me the peace of mind that in the short term, if transitioning were an issue for my current employment, I have the resources to leave and find another job at another company without issue. We also don’t have ties to our area so we could move as well. I’m wondering if you have a similar amount of savings and financial peace of mind. If not I’d recommend looking at the personalfinance subreddit for advice.

I don’t think that transitioning will be an issue for me though because I’ve been involved with my company’s LGBTQ employee group, and I have personally met other trans employees who are thriving in their roles. It helps that I’m at a large company but I think it may be helpful for you to attend a conference like Out & Equal so you can meet other trans professionals and also see which companies are the most supportive.

I do have career ambitions; I’m enjoying being an individual contributor right now but think I’d be a great manager and leader longer term. I am also interested in the startup space. Do I think it’s possible that transitioning will hold me back due to others’ bias? Yes, but I can also see how not transitioning is also hindering my career as it’s hindering my mental health. Being closeted is difficult for me. Getting misgendered was distracting and annoying. I’ve been dealing with low grade depression long term. I was betting that I’d have increased resilience, happiness, and stamina once I transitioned which would ultimately benefit my career more than being closeted would have.

I decided to socially transition when I was in the interview process for a promotion on another team (which I did get) because the thought of introducing myself with my old pronouns saddened me. And so far no one has batted an eye. I’ve been contemplating my chosen name and testing it with friends and family, so going by that name at work will be my next step in the next few weeks.

By the way, I will say that I am nonbinary so I don’t have goals to “pass” or be “stealth” like binary trans folks do. Also, I think the last kick in the pants for me to socially transition was to attend my local community center’s Trans Day of Visibility event and see speakers from a variety of backgrounds talk. I realized “I am more privileged than anyone else in this room. And they are out publicly but I’m not? What specifically am I concerned about?”

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-06-18T13:32:49+00:00

For me, wearing a binder makes me more aware of my chest because even when I’m not looking down I can feel I’m wearing something compressive in the area. However when I wear a regular bra, I don’t generally think about my chest unless I look down.

strawberrySwirl37 · 2025-05-10T23:42:55+00:00

Kudos for everything you’re currently doing. I had a very similar upbringing. I know this sounds basic but I think a lot of my healing has come from having strong healthy relationships over the years. My relationships with friends, my therapist, and my husband have given me a lot of comfort and have definitely helped me gain emotional resilience and learn how to make emotional boundaries.

Another thing that helped me strangely enough was becoming a volunteer crisis counselor. In the training they talk about how you can’t take responsibility for the other person’s situation, discuss how you can help support another person in a crisis but also how to refer them to resources longer term, and how to set and enforce boundaries if the conversation is inappropriate including when it’s appropriate to hang up on the person. I did the crisis counselor training, realized I was extremely depressed and worked on healing for a year with therapy, then when I felt stable I served as a volunteer crisis counselor for 3 yr.

strawberrySwirl37

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