From the article: The Menstrual Cycle
A woman's first period is usually memorable. Thanks to my sister announcing mine to a city street full of people (true story!), I'll certainly never forget mine. What was your experience like? Share Your Story
talked about it
- I was at my aunts beach house and I was about to go in the shower. I was bleeding and was with my cousin and she gave me a pad to use.
- —Guest llli
not me but my friend
- I was at this day camp one day and we were paying some game when I noticed all the girls my age were gone. So I went in to the bathroom thinking they would be there, and what do you know, all the girls were in there sitting on the counter and the head of the camp was on her phone. Everyone looked so serous I thought someone had died. When I asked one of my good friends, she said that one of the girls (who I am now close with) had gotten her period. That was a day of camp she will never forget.
- —Guest bado
No so bad
- Well I had been having brown stuff in my undies and this morning there was more brown stuff than usual. We were in p.e, and I went to the bathroom but I thought nothing of it. For our recess in the afternoon I went to the bathroom again, and when I wiped, and all I saw was red. I knew this girl that had started her period so I asked her for a pad and that was it.
- —Guest rani
Couldn't WAIT!
- My best friend and I were both Judy Blume fans and had dog-eared Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? by the time we were ready to menstruate. We both were dying to get our periods but she was first. When I finally got mine it seemed a bit of a letdown -- messy and uncomfortable and I didn't feel any more grown up!
- —MdMomof3
Oh No!
- I was only 11 years old when I had my first period. My mother, who had started menstruating when she was only 10 had already given me a talk during which she explained how to use maxi pads and tampons. The problem was, she was never very specific about what would be coming out of me. I believe she used a vague explanation like "tissue which would normally create a soft lining for a baby to grow in." Well, a nice soft cozy home for a baby did not give me an image of blood so when I started bleeding I was horrified and thought I might even die. I went back to my mother in tears and she explained that it was perfectly normal. However, at my young age (and being an only girl) I had difficulty accepting my passage into womanhood. The next couple years were kind of rough, until my friends got their periods too.
- —khayesrn
Throwing in the Towel
- When I was young, my mother handed me a stupid book with some funny pictures of genitals and said "read this". We never spoke a word about it. Thank God for best friends with older sisters. I remember it happened in 8th grade and my best friend Eileen and I ran into the bathroom to check things out. We both looked at each other in sheer glee. Yes, I was finally a woman! I was not at all alarmed, per se, but felt like I had been catapulted into some mystical right of passage. When I went home, I remember my mother was folding laundry and when I told her, she threw one of the towels up in the air in celebration.
- —djtcopd
Friend was unprepared
- I don't actually remember my own first period (couldn't have been that eventful) but I do remember that of a friend. It was in 7th grade and we were all walking back from the auditorium from some sort of announcement. A group of us were walking behind her and noticed that there were blood stains on her shorts. Some friends took her aside to tell her and give her some tampsons but I guess she didn't even have any idea what it was all about. Her mother hadn't prepared her at all.
- —Guest Sarah
White Jeans
- I was at church, feeling like hot stuff in my new pair of white Levi jeans, when I started to feel a strange pain in my lower back. When I got home I saw the blood. I was so bummed that my new jeans were ruined. Not a great start to years of menstruation!
- —Guest bbb
A Young Girl's Rite of Passage
- I was riding my bicycle at the time. I was on my way to my orthodontist appointment when I realized something wasn't quite right. I got off my bike to check things out. I was wearing yellow shorts and saw the stain. I promptly got back on my bike and peddled back home. No one else was at home, but I knew what to do. I quickly put on some darker colored shorts after tending to my needs in the bathroom. Then I rode my bike as fast as I could to get my appointment. At the orthodontist office the doctor chewed me out for arriving late. I apologized, but didn't have the guts to tell him I had good reason to be late. I didn't feel much like a woman yet, not with that doctor yelling at me and my mouth full of metal. But, I was oddly satisfied as I rode home afterwards. I didn't even care that my teeth were hurting from getting my braces tightened. (Excerpt from: Celebrating Menarche - http://healing.about.com/od/sexualhealing/a/menarche.htm )
- —healing
Not Prepared at ALL!
- My first time, my mom wasn't home and my dad wasn't really into helping me figure things out. My mom hadn't really prepared me for it, but I muddled through. My sister's experience was similar although I did try to let her know a few things. We made sure that my niece was ready, had all the supplies, and knew that she could ask questions and so on. When she "became a woman" she was ready!
- —Guest cdgb
i misunderstood the concept
- 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
How embarrassing!
- 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
too traumatic to continue
- 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
Right Before A Day Trip
- 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
