First Period Experience

I got my first period in early 6th grade.

I was at home. I went to the bathroom and noticed very light pink stains in my pantys and on the toilet paper.

I was horrified, but knew that I needed to tell my Mom. I went into the room where she was watching television and told her. She came with me into the bathroom - and that's where it got worse. Mom had been exspecting it, and had bought slender tampons and panty liners. You do WHAT with those Tampons??? Until then I thought they were just rolled up pads! No way was I going to do that!

I was devestated and embarrised. I made her promise not to tell my dad. I tried my best to hide it from everyone.

I guess it was about a year before I admitted to anyone that I had "started".

I did end up using Tampons later that year - when it came time to go to the pool.

I had just turned 13 and my father had just passed away prob. 2 weeks before i got my first period. We were home from school because it had snowed that day, and I was sitting upstairs in the recliner and had noticed a "wet" feeling. I went to the bathroom and there was blood EVERYWHERE. I ran downstairs and announced to my mom, "MOM I THINK I JUST GOT MY PERIOD!!" she just looked at me and said, "welcome to womanhood and welcome to hell." Took me upstairs and got me some pads and that was the end of it. Ever since i got my first period, i have been regular. I am 21 and i have skipped prob. 2x's since i got my first period. Heavy flow. Lets just say now i understand why my mom said to me, once you get it for the first time, you're going to wish it was your last. haha.

my first period experience is a little hard to remember. i was in middle school, probably 7th grade. we had an assembly at school a year before that taught us what puberty and menustration was, and what to expect, and told us that we would be experiencing all of that 'soon'. we got little samples of deoderant and pads. i went home and tried on a pad, just to see what it would feel like. it made me feel all grown up, although i was a bit worried about the fact that it was HUGE! and i could hear it crinkling when i walked!

i had been expecting my period pretty much every day since then, so when it finally came a year later, i was really glad to see it. all my friends had theirs already, so i felt that i could finally join the ranks of womanhood with everyone else. it wasn't painful at all, it wasn't heavy either, and i actually can't remember if i told my mom or not. i knew what it was, and took some of her pads (probably without asking). my mom and i never had the puberty/period talk, or the sex talk, i learned what i knew from school, friends and books.

my first period didn't last long, just a few days, and it was about 6 months later til i had another one. now that one hurt! and was heavy. after that all my periods were very painful and heavy, and it wasn't unusual for me to miss school the first day or so of my period.

my family didn't broadcast mine or my sisters periods, so when my younger sisters got theirs, i never heard about it, and they didn't share the news with me either. i think that at least some kind of acknowledgement of what is going on with your body is important for both a mother-daughter relationship and for young girls self worth. i'm not happy with how my mother handled that, and i plan to do things much different with my daughter!

It was aprox 2 months before my 11th birthday. I had only recently been told what periods were (in school). I remember coming home from school one day...in the bathroom...I glanced down and saw a red stain.

My first thought was "NOOOOOOO!!! I'M TOO YOUNG! NOOO THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

I didn't know what to do, I was too embarrassed to tell my mother so I told my older cousin but she didn't believe me!

I kept hoping it would just go away, and it did after about 4 days (I used tissue)

I didn't get another period until 6 months later, when I was a bit more prepared and able to tell my mother.

I had just turned 13, my parents were divorced and we lived with my dad, visiting my mom across country for the summers. I am so glad I got my period in July. I realized that I was growing armpit hair, took a shower and shaved them off. Got out of the shower and got dressed, and felt wierd, damp, and checked my drawers to find out that I was bleeding.

I'd been waiting for my period for a while so I was kind of excited. I found a pad under my moms sink, and waited for her to come home from work. And we went pad shopping.

The best part was my younger brother was teasing me non-stop, and my mom silenced him with "Wait until you get your period." And until I started laughing, he was seriously concerned.

It's funny now how freaked out I was every month buying pads, I'd fling them into the shopping cart and spend the rest of the trip studiously ignoring the cart, and if the check out clerk was a boy, I'd try to pretend that I was actually with the family behind us and what not.

I know the excact moment. It was on a roller coster ride at Elitch Gardens (it's old location). I was 11 years old, 6th grade-ish. It is wonderful to know that my mom had prepared me. I knew what to do and went back to having a good time with friends without anyone even having to find out about it.

I hope that I can offer that same support if I ever have any daughters.

The tramatizing part was that most of my friends didn't get theirs for another few years. I was a pro by it by then. And to think when I was 22 (6 years ago), I had already had my period half of my life. I can maybe, hopefully, look forward to menapause coming soon too.