That’s why we’re here to help! We’ve pooled our collective wisdom to help ease your mind before your first period. Trust us, you’ll be fine, but there are still are some helpful pointers to know to make that first time (and really just any time after that) feel more under control.

I know, we usually do 10 things for these round ups, but we just felt there were so many things to know about periods, that we’ve come up with 12 pieces of advice. So what are they? Here are the 12 things we wish we knew before getting our first period.

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What It Looks Like

Contrary to what commercials for pads may lead you to believe, periods are not blue or green. That said, they often aren't bright red either. Sometimes it's kind of more brown, so just don't be caught off guard if that's what you notice your first time.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Tampons Can Be Tricky

First of all, you should use whatever period option you're most comfortable with. Tampons can seen really convenient, but sometimes they can be really tricky to figure out how to use. It can be very frustrating. Read through the directions in the box, try to relax as much as you can and know that it may take a few (or several) tries. You should be able to get the hang of it - it just may not be as fast as you would have hoped.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Minimize Your Stained Laundry

Period options are not foolproof. Night can especially be a tricky time - you should be changing your tampon every 4-8 hours so they may not be a good night option, and tossing and turning in a pad can sometimes let leaks to happen. Lay down a towel so you don't have to change your sheets every night of your period. Also, keep some plain underwear to wear during your period (so nothing happens to the pairs you like). When you go to do your laundry, remember that cold water can help get out stains.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Get A Calendar

There's nothing worse than forgetting your period is approaching and being totally caught off guard. Even though you can't ever predict for certain, it can just be a good reminder to think about when it's supposed to be coming so then you can make sure you have all your supplies in order. It doesn't have to be a surprise party every single month.

Source: Shutterstock.com

It May Not Be Regular

While a calendar can help you track in general, again your period may not always be super regular, especially if you've started it fairly recently. Yes, if you're sexually active, a late period could be a sign of pregnancy, but it also just could be that your body isn't on a down-to-the-day schedule. Things like stress can mess with your cycle, and then stressing about that adds a new layer. If there isn't an obvious reason to worry, try to just take a deep breath, and feel free to talk to your doctor about any concerns you might have.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Try To Get Moving

Getting exercise may seem to be the last thing you want to do when you have your period. Heck, you may not even want to get out of bed! Seriously though, getting moving - even if it's just taking a walk around your neighborhood - can sometimes help you feel a lot better.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Heat Pads Are Awesome

For those times when you are curled up in your bed? A heating pad or hot water bottle can be just the thing you need. Pop it in the microwave to help with physical pains you may be feeling, and then just do some other low-key things that will cheer you up, like watching your favorite movie. It's totally okay to take a little time to chill during your period.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Something Embarrassing Will Happen

Seriously, something related to your period is bound to embarrass you at some point, whether you get a leak or you spill your tampons all over the hallway. This happens to nearly everyone, so just remember that. Honestly, it will probably be something that people (including you!) will come to forget about.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Your Friends Can Be Lifesavers

Need a pad or tampon? Don't be afraid to ask a friend. It may seem embarrassing to you, but they've likely been there before and I highly doubt they will think it's weird. It's way better to overcome any little awkwardness and ask a friend to help you out, than to try and figure out an elaborate plan that could end up with your period causing you some embarrassment (see previous slide).

Source: Shutterstock.com

Stock Your Purse

To minimize the number of times you need to ask, make sure you are always prepared with supplies for your period in any bag that you may have with you at any time. I guarantee that one purse with no tampons in it will be the one you have with you when you're out at the mall and you get your period. Cover all of your bases by stocking them all up, even if you're not on your period. Plus, then you could also be that friend ready to help out a fellow girl in need.

Source: Shutterstock.com

You Period Will Be Yours

What I mean by that is that even if your best friend gets bad cramps, that doesn't mean that you will. Maybe you don't even know when your BFF is PMS-ing, but maybe you will notice you can feel kind of blah or easily irritated. Everyone's body is different, so don't feel like your experience will be or should be the same as anyone else's. You have to just take care of you!

Source: Shutterstock.com

You'll Figure It Out

You may want to wish your period away, but you cannot by sheer will just get it to go away. It's something that you just have to figure out how best to deal with. It does though get easier the more times it happens - you know what you need to take care of everything down there and just what makes you feel better overall. You got this.

Source: Shutterstock.com

What are some questions you have about getting your first period? If you have already had yours, do you have any advice for other girls? Tell us in the comments!

10 Names For A Period That Kind Of Gross Me Out

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Unfortunately, you can’t run from your period. | Source: ShutterStock

Good news, girl: there’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of! Getting your period is totally natural and happens to every girl. I can completely understand why it seems scary, but it’s honestly not as bad as you might think it is. Plus, it’s a sign that you’re growing up and that you’re healthy, which is only good news!

I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of horror stories about first periods, but as long as you’re informed and know what to do, you should be perfectly fine. Most girls will get their first period between the ages of 11 and 14-years-old. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen sooner or later than that. If you’re feeling super nervous about your first time, you can carry around a small pad like a pantyliner so that you’ll be prepared. Always having that in your bag might soothe your nerves.

Getting your period will definitely cause some changes in your body (also known as PMS), but these are normal and usually nothing to worry about. You might get stomach cramps, nausea or a headache. If you do, take some Tylenol and try to rest. Heating pads for your cramps or back can also make you feel a lot better. Other symptoms include your breasts feeling sore, feeling really tired, getting food cravings and feeling bloated. All of that is normal.

Yum! Eat up, girl! | Source: ShutterStock

You’ll probably also feel extra emotional during this time, and that’s fine too. Menstruation affects girls in different ways, so maybe you’ll feel more angry, more sad or just plain moody. Those symptoms will stick around for a few hours or days, but they’ll go away once your period is over and you should feel back to normal in no time. Even though you feel really different and maybe a little weird on the inside, that doesn’t mean that it’s obvious on the outside. No one is going to be able to look at you and immediately know that you’re on your period, I promise.

If you’re worried about using pads and tampons, don’t be. Pads are your best bet, since they’re super easy to use. If you don’t feel comfortable using a tampon just yet, you don’t have to.

Your mom is right, getting your period can be annoying – but it’s not scary. As much as it might drive you crazy, keep in mind that it’s only a week out of every month… a week during which you have a foolproof excuse to eat ice cream and cry over sappy movies. Sounds pretty good to me!

take care,
Heather

What’s on your mind? Heather can help! Send her your question at heather@gurl.com

What do guys really think about periods? We got a naked one to tell us!

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I just wanted my mom! | Source: Shutterstock

But I’m not writing about any of those firsts. I’m writing about a first I never looked forward to experiencing—my first period. I’m pretty sure the only time in life you pine for a visit from Aunt Flo is when you think you’re preggers and don’t want to be.

I especially never wanted to get my first period at summer camp, hundreds of miles from civilization and my mom. But after archery class one hot summer day, I saw blood in my underwear. Let’s be honest: no matter how many birds and the bees talks you received and no matter how many health classes you taken, no one is ever truly prepared for her first period. I didn’t feel like a woman; I felt like an ER patient. “My vagina is bleeding and it won’t stop” ran through my mind in a loop.

I figured a little toilet paper could solve the situation and it’d be over by dinnertime. (Yes, I was bit confused on periods.) When that didn’t work and I was close to using my camp’s summer supply of toilet paper, I finally confided in a friend. By confided, I mean burst into inconsolable tears. I didn’t want my period, and I didn’t want it like this.

My friend did what any intelligent 12-year-old would do when facing a crisis: she brought in reinforcements. As a collective group of friends, everyone decided we must tell the counselors. The counselors comforted me in the best way they could, but I could tell in their eyes that they were thinking: “I came to work at camp for a tan; I’m not being paid enough for this.”

I never thought I'd have to tell my dad! | Source: Shutterstock

Let me tell you, the only thing worse than getting your period at camp is having to tell you dad about it over the phone with the male camp director listening in the same room.

For a few days, I waddled around camp in my counselor’s mattress sized pads until finally my vagina stopped bleeding. When the weekend arrived, a counselor pulled me aside and said I had a visitor—another camp no-no. She led me to the parking lot where my dad sat in his car. He had driven over three hours to deliver his daughter two things: a beautiful letter about growing up (no period mentions, thank god) and a McDonald’s extra value meal—another camp no-no.

To this day, I can still remember sitting in my dad’s car and sipping a chocolate milkshake. We didn’t say much to each other, but it was better that way. My first period was a total bitch, but it did show me how much my dad loved me even if had no idea what to say to a recently mensing daughter. And it also taught that if you don’t know what to say to someone, buying a chocolate milkshake works too.

Gwendolyn is the author of the new novel A Long Way From You.

Have you gotten your first period yet? Where were you when it happened? If you’re still waiting, do you carry pads with you just in case? Tell me everything in the comments!

Still Haven’t Gotten Your Period? Think Yours Came Too Early?

Going through puberty is ALWAYS awkward! | Source: Shutterstock

I was roughly the age that most of my friends got their periods–totally normal–but I still felt like a total freak.

Last week, the New York Times ran a big story about “early puberty,” focusing on how a ton of 6, 7, and 8-year-old girls are starting to grow breasts and pubic hair before the average girl. Overall, the article was packed with information, but I do have one major problem with it–and that’s the term “early puberty.” If a girl is hitting puberty in the third grade, that might not be “normal” compared to the rest of the world, but it certainly is normal for her, and I can’t see how freaking out about it and schlepping her around to specialist doctors will do anything but freak her out more.

Growing up is hard enough! | Source: Shutterstock

Apparently, some parents are insisting on their daughters getting hormone shots to slow down the progress of puberty–but the scary thing is that these same shots that can keep a little girl “little” can also cause things like osteoperosis, a serious condition that involves the weakening of your bones. Is that worth it? I don’t think so, and I bet if girls were given a choice, they’d say they didn’t want the shots, either!

Nobody knows for sure what’s causing really young girls to start developing breasts, but if I know anything about girls, I know that when we start getting breasts or our period starts or–whatever–it’s mortifying, and we just want to be left alone about it.

It seems like there are some things parents can do when their daughters are babies and toddlers that might help prevent early puberty–like making sure their kids eat healthy food without hormones, that they exercise, and that they do not become obese–but once a girl is already hitting puberty, no matter how old she is, isn’t that time to just accept it and try to support her the best you can? I think so, especially since girls who develop early are already at higher risk of having low self-esteem, depression, and eating disorders. Youch! Girls who hit puberty early need extra love and hugs–not prescription drugs!

So if you started developing early, maybe even before all your friends, try not to freak out. It’s actually pretty normal now. No, it’s not super fun to go through all these changes, but we all go through it sometime. You are not alone!

How old were you when you started developing? Did you feel kind of embarrassed about it? How old were you when you got your first period? Do you think early puberty is something we should freak out about? Tell me everything in the comments!

Still Waiting To Get Your Period? Don’t Stress About It, Girl!

You'll catch up to your friend soon | Source: Amerikanki.com

I’m not going to lie: waiting to hit puberty can be frustrating. It’s like, all you want is to rock some womanly curves and carry around a tampon in case of emergencies, and it’s something that you literally have no control over. It’s especially annoying when it feels like all of your friends are getting there faster than you, and trust me – I know it doesn’t seem like it, but there are tons of girls out there who can totally feel your pain.

Unfortunately, like I said before, you really have no control over when you’re going to hit puberty. There’s no magic medicine or exercise you can do to speed up the process. That has to do with your body, and every girl gets there at a different time. It might happen a little bit later for you, but I promise you’ll get there. Girls normally get their first period between the ages of 11-14. But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen a few years earlier or later than that, so if you’re over the age of 14, there’s no need to worry.

No need to stress! | Source: Flickr.com

I know you’re really anxious to hit puberty, but for now, you should be happy with how your body is! Think about it – you don’t have to worry about getting a totally embarrassing period stain during gym class, and you don’t have to deal with crazy mood swings. I mean, you’ll have the rest of your life to enjoy those experiences (I’m kidding, kind of), so there’s no need to rush things.

But seriously, you have nothing to worry about. Your body is changing even though you don’t realize it or see it, and one day when you don’t expect it, you’ll start to notice those changes. Don’t feel left out, because just because your younger friend has her period doesn’t mean everyone does.

take care,
heather

What’s on your mind? Heather can help! Send her your question at heather@gurl.com

This girl likes someone of a different race, but her family doesn’t approve. Check out Heather’s advice.

Late Puberty

Hope she's got something in her purse!

Pads and tampons are your most obvious options when it comes to protection, but there are a couple more that you might know about and want to consider, too. Here’s the 411 on all the products you could be using.

Read it, then decide what’s best for you!

Pads (or, as your grandma calls them, Sanitary Napkins)

Pads are made of absorbent material and stick onto the inside of your underwear, like an extra lining. If they sound like a diaper, we swear they’re not. There are tons of different pad options out there – you can buy really long ones, or shorter ones, and companies now make them super thin. Obviously, if you’ve got a heavy period, go for the ones marked “heavy,” regular is “regular,” and if it’s really, really light? Panty liners are tiny and you can barely even feel you’re wearing them.

Pads might be a little bit uncomfortable at times, but they can also be worn for longer than a tampon, and there’s no risk of getting Toxic Shock Syndrome (more on that later). They’re super easy to use, and if you’re not comfortable sticking something into your body down there, these are the perfect option. Just please don’t wear them when you go swimming: trust us on this one!

Tampons

Tampons are essentially tubes of cotton that you insert into your vagina to absorb your flow. Sometimes tampons feel a little strange when you first use them or first insert them, but most girls get used to them really fast and soon can’t feel them at all. And if anybody tells you that you can lose your virginity by using a tampon? They’re full of it. You can only lose your V-card by having sex, and um, inserting a tampon isn’t sex!

If you’re comfortable inserting a tampon, go for it! You can swim with a tampon on (super helpful for the summertime) and they’re easy to dispose of. Just like pads, they come in a variety of sizes depending on your flow: usually light, regular or super. Oh, and using a super tampon doesn’t mean anything other than a heavy flow. It doesn’t like, have a cape or anything!

If tampons are your thing, just make sure you’re changing them at least once every eight hours. If you keep them in too long, you risk getting Toxic Shock Syndrome. TSS is rare, but it’s potentially fatal and can happen quickly. Even without the threat of TSS, tampons can’t hold as much of your flow as a pad can, so make sure you’re keeping an eye on it.

Cloth Pads

Do these sound like basically the same thing as a regular pad? Well, that’s because they kind of are, except cloth pads are environmentally friendly and reusable. It might sound gross at first, but it’s perfectly sanitary and a totally healthy option. Cloth pads are actually cheaper than regular ones, since you don’t have to buy them as frequently, and they’re allergen, chemical and perfume-free. You can choose from a variety of sizes, just like disposable pads.

The only downside to cloth pads is that washing them takes some time, and is kind of icky if you don’t like blood. Also, you’re less likely to find them in stores than disposable pads. But if you’re looking for a way to be good to the Earth, these are a great choice.

Menstrual Cup

It might sound like an ancient idea, but it really isn’t. A menstrual cup is a disposable or reusable, small bell-like cup that gets inserted into your vagina to catch menstrual flow. It’s worn just like a diaphragm (sitting over the cervix) and it’s flexible.

Menstrual cups can be worn while you’re having sex and they don’t have any risk of TSS. The only thing with these is that they can be messy: removing them and inserting them without spilling might take a while to nail down. Also, while reusable ones last for ten years, they’re pretty expensive.

If You’re Not Getting Your Period:

If you’re well into puberty, and you haven’t gotten your first period yet; or if you stopped getting your period out of no where there could be a few reasons why. Some girls naturally just bleed way less than other girls, so they don’t even really notice their period, and that’s totally normal, but generally, not getting your period means something’s wrong. Girls who are underweight, which is unhealthy, won’t get their period because their body is too malnourished. Excessive exercise can also cause your period to stop.

Missing your period could also be because your pregnant or because you’re under way too much stress. If you’ve stopped getting your period, or you haven’t gotten it yet, go see your doctor. She’ll get you sorted out in no time.

Which period option are you using? Let us know in the comments.
Period Options

A watched pot never boils.

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During your period, your uterine lining is shed and prostaglandins are released. Since it can be heavy or contain clots, prostaglandins can cause your uterus to contract and tighten as it strains to get rid of the lining.

cute bag or super-secret pad hider?

Hi Heather,

Okay, so, I got my first period today, and I have to go to school tomorrow. Well, I have a condition, and that condition is Super Embarrassment Syndrome. What am I going to do? I’ll die of embarrassment having to carry a pad around between classes. I mean, I know I go to a girls-only school and all, but still….WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!?!?!

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Slang: Some common phrases/words used to describe menstruation: Aunt Flo, Big Red, the rag, being on the rag, the curse, a friendly visitor, the dot, etc…