Content for Confidence

Bobbeta R •  Virginia  •  21

 

It was about a week after my 13th birthday, and my mom had given me tickets to the circus. I was changing into nicer clothes to go, and my mom was in my room vacuuming. When I took off my shorts, I noticed the blood, and I knew that it was my period, but I threw them in the back of my closet to hide them from my mom, and pretended nothing happened.

Bobbeta R First Period Story

That night, I stayed up till 3am watching videos on how to tell your mom. I was able to tell her the next afternoon, and to this day I don't know why I was so scared to tell her.

Bobbeta R First Period Stories

Sworn to Secrecy

Melani S •  Colorado  •  33

 

I had just turned 12, and I remember seeing blood in my underwear one morning. It was just me and my mom at home at the time, but I didn't tell her, or anyone, that I had started my period. I quickly washed out my underwear and hid them in my room. I put on a fresh pair, stuffed a wad of toilet paper into them, and went on with my day. I was partly disgusted, partly ashamed, but mostly annoyed and not wanting to draw any attention to myself.

Melani S First Period Stories

This went on for many months – hiding my periods, wrapping my underwear with toilet paper – until my mom somehow found some bloody tp and confronted me about it. Even though she did her best to make me feel okay about it (and get me some actual pads, thank god!), I was humiliated knowing that other people knew about my “secret.”

Melani S First Period Story

A Pink Problem

Ella F •  New York  •  13

 

I was 13 (the same age I was at time of posting this). I had had heavy discharge and was just waiting for my period to come, especially since my doctor had told me I would get it “any day now” a whole year ago. On the day it happened (Monday, December 2nd), we got off school early and arrived earlier than my mom. I went to the bathroom and I saw I had pinkish discharge in my underwear.

My first thought was “OMG I just got my period, but then I wasn’t even sure if it was actually my period since it was pinkish and not red or brown like I thought periods were supposed to be. I texted my mom and my friend (who had gotten hers a year earlier) and asked them what to do. I knew how to use pads and had plenty under the sink since I had been waiting for my period for so long, but I wasn’t even sure this was it.

Ella F First Period Story

I called to my sister (who was two years older than me but still hadn’t gotten her period yet) as if she knew something that could help me. She wasn’t sure if it was my period either but she did get me clean underwear and a panty liner. When my mom got home, she confirmed that it was my period and I was extremely excited. I had been waiting for it forever.

The next day, I was in the bathroom changing my pad, and I was extremely surprised at the amount I could bleed. I exclaimed “wow, that’s a lot of blood,” and my friend (the one from earlier) who was in the stall next to me just laughed since she obviously knew how much blood there could be after getting her period for a year.

If you are reading this before getting your first period, remember you can bleed a lot more than you think you can.

Ella F First Period Stories