Read on for some stories from other women and girls who have gone through the same things as you. Reading these stories will help remind you that you’re not alone and that everybody has to go through the same embarrassing and confusing stuff that you’re going through!

“ My parents were divorced and I was with my dad the first time I got my period. Of course, we had to go to the store to get ‘products’ and I was totally embarrassed the whole time. It turns out that my dad was kind of embarrassed too, but he was really cool about it and made me feel a lot better.” -- Sarah, 16

“I was around 13 years old and really wanted to go swimming with my sister and friend at an indoor pool in a hotel we were staying at. I just got my period, so I put on a panty liner thinking that I would take it out quickly before I got in the pool. Well, after a fun time in the pool I realized I had completely forgotten about it. My sister looked over at me and said: ‘There’s something on your back!’ It turned out that yucky lump under my suit was … you can guess what! I was so embarrassed, but lucky that nobody else was in the pool.” -- Kirsten, 15

“ I remember it like it was yesterday - who doesn't? After all, the rite of passage IS a big deal. I was 12 and most of my close girlfriends had already started so they would ask me all the time, "have you started yet?" I finally found some new girlfriends who wouldn't dare ask such a thing. (Such things were not talked about as openly back then as they are now.) At any rate, it was a weekend and I was at home with my Mother and step-dad. I had gone to the bathroom and voila, there "it" was. I sheepishly called my Mother to come to the bathroom and she grinned from ear to ear. She politely told me, "you're a woman now." – Anne, 50

“ It was a week before Christmas and I was so confused! Of course, that night I had a major sleepover party at my friend, Jessica’s. I couldn’t miss the party for the world. I was kind of embarrassed and didn’t want anybody to know so I brought a bunch of pads and hid them in my backpack. Well, my friends had the great idea to call a hotline about tampons and pads and order special packages to the house of this boy in our class as a big prank. Little did everybody know that I had a bunch of pads in my backpack at that very moment! I was mortified and didn’t want anybody to see my red face, so I hardly spoke the whole night and pretended I was sick. Jessica thought I was mad at her.” –Lynn, 22

“ I remember the day because I guess I was a "late bloomer" - all the girls in PE talked about getting their periods so I knew to expect it. I do remember seeing girls at school who got it unexpectedly on a day while wearing light colored pants, and I made a silent pledge to NEVER wear light colored pants or shorts to school "just in case".” –Rose, 19

I was relieved the day "IT" finally came. I was in the 7th grade and I noticed I felt "different" at the end of the day, sure enough a quick trip to the bathroom confirmed my suspicions. I stuffed a wad of toilet paper in my underwear to prevent "leakage." I told my mom as soon as I got home from school so I could ask what kind of protection to wear. Some of my friends that started their periods in 5th and 6th grade wore the belts with the pad, and I knew I did not want to wear that big bulky thing. My mom told me about all the options and quickly dispelled the myths I heard about tampons (the 7th grade perspective at the time was that you would not be a virgin if you
wore a tampon). I was not embarrassed, but I really did not want to talk about it in detail. My mom wanted to give me WAY more information then I wanted or needed to know, I think she was trying to make up for the scientific "sex ed" explanation she had given me years earlier when I asked for a baby brother or sister. Thankfully she did not announce my news to my father at dinner or anything weird like that, she was very discreet and put me at ease about the whole thing.”–Beth, 30

• Your Body: What's Going On?
• Timeline
• Menstrual Cycle
• Puberty