Readers Respond: What Was Your First Period Like?

Responses: 79

Updated November 30, 2011

This content is not monitored by About.com's Medical Review Board.
Before acting on this information, check with your health provider.

See More About

Mom had tried to prepare me for the onset of what she called "ministration." She sorta hinted around about what might happen, but wasn't too clear. I read up on it in Dear Abby's column, so I knew some of what to expect. However, I got confused about what it meant. So when my first period started, as soon as I could, I went to church and told the Youth Pastor that I was now called to the "ministry" and wanted him to recommend a seminary for me! After all, I was now "ministrating" so it must be time, right? I didn't reveal this to the Youth Pastor, as I figured he would know. He was totally baffled (women were not encouraged to become ministers in those days) and tried to reason me out of it. Disappointed, I went home and complained to my Mom. She laughed. Then she bought me a box of Kotex and a girdle with garters. I'm still not sure what the girdle was for ...
—breastcancer

I'll admit to being the weird kid who really looked forward to getting my periods. But when it happened (7th grade) I had to tell my mom so that I could get some pads or something. But I was nervous. Apparently I was skulking around her trying to work up my nerves, when she finally said, "Are you pregnant?" I was so embarrassed!
—Guest LeahT

My first period was so traumatic that I didn't get another one for years, and was considered a late bloomer. The school nurse was mean to me when I wanted to go home. Then when I got home, I wasn't home but in a temporary camp-out situation that my folks had created while waiting for a new house to be built. There was no indoor toilet and the "outhouse" did not have running water nearby. I was sick with cramps, headache, and diarrhea. My mother was a saint trying to help me, but the whole thing was a nightmare for me.
—Guest ImIntoPilates

My sister got her first period in the middle of a weeklong camping trip attended by the entire 6th grade! Everyone knew, and she was one of the first to 'become a woman', so everyone was talking about it! She was determined to prepare me for mine, so I had been anticipating it for a long time. When it finally came, it was the morning of a day trip that I was taking with my family. My sister told my mom, and it ended up being a special day spent with the women of the family all knowing that something had changed for me. (I know this is a corny post, but that's how it happened!)
—Guest Elizabeth

Previous76-79 of 79