{"id":6854,"date":"2020-11-17T12:22:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T17:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/?p=6854"},"modified":"2020-12-12T22:50:57","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T03:50:57","slug":"critical-mass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/2020\/11\/critical-mass\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical Mass"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"initial-letter\">\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">For a while there I was almost concerned. That ongoing breast tenderness had ebbed down to a whisper, barely noticeable at all. Was this it, were we somehow reaching the end of the story after mere months? But\u00e2\u20ac\u201dokay, never mind. Tits back to fire again. I haven&#8217;t mapped it out, but it feels like it moves in cycles\u00e2\u20ac\u201da certain number of days on, then off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On top of that, generally I feel so fucking crampy and gross. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which&#8230; with a more than a cursory understanding of biology, would make sense, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So yeah, I guess I should probably start to keep track of this business. Because on the basis of&#8230; really every month since February, but absolutely since August, there is a clear cycle going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is established, if not particularly well-studied\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbecause, trans healthcare; who gives a shit, right\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat regardless of your genital situation, once you got a certain level of estrogen in your system, you start to experience periods. It&#8217;s not about the hardware (which is all basically the same anyway); it&#8217;s about the instructions that the firmware sends around. Of particular note is that at a certain threshold, breast tissue begins to produce a cyclical amount of estrogen, along with some other compounds that contribute to the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, uh. <em>whee<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"869\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/En3vLZiXYAArfM6.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7001\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/En3vLZiXYAArfM6.jpg 869w, https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/En3vLZiXYAArfM6-255x300.jpg 255w, https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/En3vLZiXYAArfM6-768x905.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 869px) 100vw, 869px\" \/><figcaption>It&#8217;s hard to get a good sense in two dimensions with bad lighting&#8230;<br>but yeah, we&#8217;re entering the active cleavage zone. Bringing the gang together!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I guess my breasts are at critical mass already? I mean, seven months into my regimen they were at a size that the literature tells me a trans femme half my age might expect to reach after <em>2-5 years<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand today they&#8217;re two cup sizes larger than <em><strong>that<\/strong><\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As I say, the real monthly roller coaster kicked off in maybe August, September? Which, yeah, would line up, right? And good grief, the soreness I&#8217;ve been getting since last night. It&#8217;s that kind of tenderness where you feel if you poke it too hard you&#8217;re gonna barf. Like a pair of giant cystic pimples, connected to nerve lines running from my toes to my teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I guess It follows that it would build in intensity, month on month, as development progresses, right. And I mean, <em>I&#8217;ll take it<\/em>. Whatever! I&#8217;m used to feeling like shit every day of my life. It&#8217;s fine. If the trade-off is that life is worth living? That finally I <em>don&#8217;t<\/em> feel like this the other 80% of the time? Sure, whatever, <em>lol<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On top of all that, today I&#8230; seem to have entered the chocolate zone. I&#8217;ve talked a little about my change in <a href=\"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/2020\/10\/change-of-oil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">taste and food preferences<\/a>, some of which has been weirdly cyclical as well, and&#8230; yeah, okay. We may have an answer to some of that as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Due to fairly systemic ignorance about this topic I was not aware that this feature came with the territory until I got here. But, I, uh. <em>I guess I&#8217;m part of the club now, huh? <\/em>One imagines a uterus just makes this all the more fun. At least the discomfort doesn&#8217;t come with a mess over here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s just&#8230; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah. so. With how much more bothersome it&#8217;s gotten month on month, it will be an adventure to see where these waves will go in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, I&#8217;m. For now&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m just\u00e2\u20ac\u201di&#8217;m gonna&#8230; stand in the shower and groan for an hour, I guess.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For a while there I was almost concerned. That ongoing breast tenderness had ebbed down to a whisper, barely noticeable at all. Was this it, were we somehow reaching the end of the story after mere months? But\u00e2\u20ac\u201dokay, never mind. Tits back to fire again. I haven&#8217;t mapped it out, but it feels like it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1156,1153,1148,1074,1123],"class_list":["post-6854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-azure","tag-body-stuff","tag-femininity","tag-gender","tag-transition","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6854"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7033,"href":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6854\/revisions\/7033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aderack.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}