First Period Experience

My period started when I was 11 yrs old. I was at school of all places. I was horrified. I called my uncles girl friends and she asked me was I happy. I was like are you crazy lady. All I could do is cry. I thought I was dying or something. When I went home that day my family had ice cream for me and pads. WOW

I was just shy of my 15th birthday. By this time all of my friends had it one to three years. It was a horrible experience for me being a newbie at it while my friends seemed like pros. My mom was older and I didn't feel comfortable talking about it besides the fact of just telling her I got it. My periods were incredibly heavy yet cramp free. I often cried myself to sleep because I could hardly make it through the night without leakage. Thankfully I grew accustomed to having it after not too long and found ways to lead an active lifestyle even during my period.

I was thirteen, and I noticed that I wasn't feeling well during P.E. We were supposed to be doing a mile run, but it was all I could do to walk on the inside of the track because I was cramping and otherwise feeling miserable, and not knowing why. After I got back to the locker rooms, I changed and went to the bathroom before my next class, and I noticed some bloody-brownish gunk in my underwear. It took me a few moments to realize what it was (all the girls in the 4th and 5th grade at my elementary school were brought together and told about puberty and periods when I was in 5th grade), but when I did recognize it, I rolled some toilet paper up in my underwear and decided to go to the nurse at lunch, as there was only one class period between then and lunch. Once I got to the nurse's office, she gave me a large pad and called my mother. My mother came and picked me up to take me to my grandmother's for the rest of the day, where I took some aspirin and layed down while she went out to buy me some clean underwear and pads.

I got my first period exactly one month after my 11th birthday... which just so happened to be my mom's 29th birthday. August 24th, 1992 LOL. We were going to the beach that day!!!! I mean, I had absolutely NO idea! My grandmother insisted that I needed to go change clothes b/c I'd sat in something. I kept saying, no Grandma! I haven't sat down in anything! When I finally went and took off my lil green shorts I knew exactly what it was. I went and told my mom, lol. I remember her handing me a pad and saying, "Do you know what this is?" I nodded yes. She then asked, "Do you know how to use it?" Again, I nodded. I was so embarrassed LOL. Thank GOD we had a brief & basic sex ed class the year before, when I was in 5th grade. My mom hadn't ever really talked to me about it before then... but I was actually kind of glad she didn't. I sulked around all day at the beach. I felt like my childhood had just been ripped away LOL... I was already a pre-teen drama queen in the making!!! And it was my FIRST period LMAO! My mom kept trying to explain to me that if I wanted, I could still get in the water, that there were ways.... but I wasn't even trying to hear what she was saying. LOL. It was a sad, sad day in my book.

It's funny thinking back on this now... I was SO worked up over such a wonderful, natural thing. I just had NO idea how much of a huge part of life my period was going to be LOL.

I WAS 12. I WAS LUCKIER THAN A LOT OF WOMEN, I STARTED BEFORE SCHOOL. I TOLD MY MOM, AND I WAS ALLOWED TO STAY HOME FROM SCHOOL THAT DAY, YESSS! SINCE MY OWN FIRST PERIOD, I HAVE HELPED NOT ONLY MY 12 YR OLD DAUGHTER, WHO STARTED HERS BEFORE MY 15 YR OLD DAUGHTER, BUT ALSO MY HUSBANDS YOUNGEST SISTER, WHO BEGAN AT A RIPE OLD AGE OF 9....AND STARTED BEFORE MY DAUGHTERS WHO ARE MUCH OLDER THAN HER...WELL, THEY THINK THEY ARE ANYWAYS....ALL OF THE GIRLS TOOK THINGS VERY WELL. THEY DIDNT FREAK OUT, SO I FELT LIKE I HAD REALLY DONE A GOOD JOB IN PREPARING THEM FOR THEIR MENSTRUAL PERIOD...NOW, A COUPLE YRS LATER OR SO, MY DAUGHTERS JUST TELL ME WHEN THEY NEED THEIR PRODUCTS, AND THATS THE ONLY TIME I KNO WHEN THEYRE ON IT....

i was 11 when i got my first period. prior to this, my mom had bought me a couple of books that explained the birds and the bees, etc. i had been cleaning that afternoon and it was hot, i was sweaty, so i didn't really notice anything going on down there for awhile. then i went to the bathroom, was taken by surprise, and nearly passed out at the sight of the blood! a bit silly, i know. much to my embarrassment, my mom was out of town, and i didn't have any pads. so i had to tell my dad that i had started my period and that we needed to go to the store to pick up some pads. my dad didn't realize that this was my first time and was upset at me for having bled all over the place and having to rush to the store. i remember standing in the feminine products aisle, looking at the vast array of options, and thinking "omg...what am i supposed to get?" finally, i just grabbed a pack and we went to the check out line. we knew the (female) cashier, and she saw the tears in my eyes and how embarrassed i felt, and smiled really kindly at me. after my mom got back into town, i told her all about it, and she told me that she had pads for me in one of the bathrooms. she could've told me that sooner! haha. despite all of the troubles i've had over the years, i enjoy my period now. i see it as a blessing. should i ever have a daughter, i hope she will feel the same way!