Welcome to your period!

Some get their period at around eight or nine, or it might not come until you’re fourteen or fifteen. If you are older than fifteen, are biologically female and haven’t started to menstruate yet, it might be a good idea to make an appointment with your GP. Usually, your period won’t start until you notice that your breasts are starting to develop or until you have noticed that your pubic hair has started to grow. You might begin to get some cramping feelings in your stomach, or just below your belly button. Sometimes it might help to know what age your mother started her period at, or others in your family. This might help you feel more prepared. 

It will probably feel scary and different at first, because you are not used to it. Bleeding from your vagina can seem weird, in general! However, after about six months it’ll feel like a normal part of life. You may experience some cramping before or during your active bleeding. If it is extremely sore and it is impacting your daily life, you should tell an adult.

Contrary to what you might believe or fear, blood does not gush out of the vagina. In fact, most people lose a lot less blood than they expect to. On average, most people with a period lose about 2 to 3 tablespoons of blood. Your first few periods may be very heavy or very light and you may need to wait and see what 'normal' looks like for you. Period blood may also not be bright red (but usually is).  At the beginning and end of your period, it might be more of a rusty red or even a brown colour. It might also be pink at the beginning and end of your period.  It can also be normal to sometimes see blood clots. If you are worried that you are losing too much blood, having to change period products every hour or seeing large clots in your pad/the toilet, tell an adult. 

Physically, it is normal to expect a bit of cramping in your stomach or pelvic area.   

It is also normal to get some bloating around your stomach area- this is when you might feel bigger or heavier than normal. This is normal and is because your body is retaining water. It will dissipate in a few days. You might find that you get headaches during your first period. This might be because you are anxious or stressed about it. You might get acne or skin break outs and have tender breasts. These are all normal and you may get none of them, or you may get all of them. It may also change from cycle to cycle - every period is different.
 

You might also get some emotional symptoms. Feeling tense/irritable/emotional (also known as PMS) is very common on the lead up to or first couple of days of your period. You might feel like simple things require a bit more work to get motivated to do them. It is also normal to feel a bit sad or low - your body is very low in the hormones that help make you feel positive. 

 The annoying thing about your first few periods, is you might not be aware when they are going to show up. Don’t worry though! Over time, you can use a calendar, diary or period tracking app to track the date of your periods and your symptoms and this should make being prepared a bit easier, as you'll know when to expect your period.  It might help to make sure you have got some period products in the house for when your period starts. For your first couple of times and especially if you don’t feel confident or comfortable inserting something into your vagina – you could use period pants (which are reusable and washable) or pads (which can be reusable). It might be good to buy pads that are different absorbencies (usually period products are shown with drips beside them – the more drips a product has, the higher the absorbency and so the more liquid it will hold). This will seem expensive at first, but don’t worry because you won’t have to spend this every month. It is just to ensure that you are prepared because your first few periods can be unpredictable. You could always give anything you haven’t used and won’t in the future, away to a friend or a charity