A Little Introduction

[Guest Maelee]

Hello everyone, this is my first post on these forums and the email recommended an intro so here goes.

I am mtf and have been on HRT since Sept of 2008, but only started taking spironolactone july of 2009. Originally I had been seeing a psychologist in Texas which is where I was living at the time that I first started HRT. Just last month I finally found a great therapist in Michigan which was reasonably priced.

I am 36 and really wish I had had the courage to start my transition so much sooner. I might have been able to save my hair! (Dang male pattern baldness I have a six-head instead of a 4-head, lol.) Propecia does work though, I am getting fairly thick regrowth in the areas that the hair fell out of.

Seriously though, talk to people and do not try to hide how you feel. It has amazed me how many people are accepting of my transsexuality. Of course, many of my friends are gamers and gamers tend to be more accepting of people. My parents know that I am starting to transition and they both have sort of mixed feelings about it but they have said they will support me whatever I do. I tried to push aside how I felt all my life and just be "normal" but the feelings of never being right don't go away, they just get stronger. In my case, I was so afraid that no one would ever accept me, especially my family, that in May of 2008 I tried to commit suicide. Thank goodness I survived!! The whole experience I went through showed me how silly and stupid that decision was. All it took was talking to people, and finally being open about who I really was, and suddenly I felt as if a great weight had been lifted from me.

Currently my home is in rural northern michigan which is not fun at all. Even worse is that I am stuck working in the family business which is a small rural construction company. I have noticed quite a bit of upper muscle mass loss making that kind of work very difficult and painful sometimes. My forearms used to be quite large and I love that they are getting smaller.

Anyways, I don't want to go on to much, I could just keep typing away

Love,

Nichole

P.S.: I have no idea what I want for my name. My given is Nicholas, hence the Nichole. But I really love Mae and think about some variations of that. Does or did anyone else have this confusion about what they wanted to change their name to?

[Guest viv]

Maelee, hi hun and your welcome to our little corner of the world.

Your gonna feel at home her in Laura"s . Another mod will be along

soon enough for a quick introductory chat . in the meantime hun

there is a link at the top of the page , it will guide you to our Rules

and Moderation info , why not have a look. Talk to you soon, luv,viv

[Guest ~Brenda~]

Hi Mae

It's me again

Welcome sweetie. Now hon, don't worry about your name. Nichole and Maelee are both beautiful names

In time, your name will find you.

Just relax, and know that you are already accepted here

Keep posting hon. Posting is so theraputic

Love

Brenda

[Guest EmilyA]

Welcome,

I picked a name that I've always like and admired. Of course later I found out that my new name means "rival" which I found suitable to my situation. Just find something that works for you. I think Maelee is a pretty name though.

Blessings,

Emily

[Guest Elizabeth K]

Elizabeth! Daughter to Eliza - a Biblical name.

I have said here it is a family name - and it is. We have several Elizabeths in my mother's line - but there is a secret I never shared.

My aunt Elizabeth - she died age 2, dysentary. She was between my mother and my Aunt B. Born 1920.

Lizzy

[Guest praisedbeherhooves]

Hi! Welcome to Laura's Playground. This is a very accepting, supportive and close knit community. Some of the people here consider it to be almost like a family, and in some cases it is far superior to their actual family. You are very lucky to have such acceptance among your friends and family. A lot of people, perhaps even most transsexuals, have been met with serious stigma. A genetic male friend who considers herself in between male and female but lives mostly in the female gender role got kicked out of her house when she got caught wearing women's clothing, in addition to having the women's clothing burned. Another friend who is an FTM got disowned. A great deal of people on this site have had very tragic stories about the reaction they got when they came out. So, a lot of people have it really hard. Even though people in your town are not accepting, they have a fairly low impact on your personal happiness when compared to the people closest to you, at least on average. I personally got pretty lucky except a few friends left me. If you would like to keep your strength but decrease your visible muscle size, maybe you can do that thing where they make you stronger but the muscle doesn't really show? I don't know about that, but I'm sure someone here does. When it comes to your name, pick something that you love the sound of, that is not very unusual and that is gender specific. I say gender specific because I picked Daragon, which is androgynous mainly because no one else has it and what it does is perplex people more when it comes to my gender. It also makes me have to explain how to spell it whenever someone needs to write it down and it can get very annoying. Don't pick a name that you don't like though just because it is related to your old name.

[Guest sarah f]

Welcome to Laura's Nichole. I am glad you found the site and willing to share your story. Thanks for the information on Propecia. I don't have a lot of hair loss yet but if I want to grow my hair out then I am going to need to do something to recover the hair I have lost. Keep on posting and let us know how you are doing.

Love,

Sarah F

[Guest casper]

Hi Nicole,

<<hug>>

Welcome to Laura's Playground.

Please feel free to come over and chat sometime.

The Chat room does require another registration that is separate from from your forums one.

Please read the chat room rules before coming in, and expect a short interview with one of the chat room moderators.

One of the things that they will ask you is if you read the rules.

We have MTF meetings-Mon & Sat 9pm est, and you are welcome to attend.

We all look forward to seeing you.

vanna

[Guest ricka]

Welcome to Laura's, Maelee, and to our loving family. Hon, many of us came out to ourselves and started transitioning later on. Make yourself at home here and warm yourself by the fire and with some of Sally's hot cocoa and cookies-out-of-the-oven.

Ricka

[Guest A.S.]

Welcome to Laura's. Thanks for sharing your story with us and I am sure you will have a lot support and have someone to talk to when they're online.

Hope you enjoy this site.