By: Allison Waldbeser
From soccer games to period stains, here are six first-period stories we thought you would get a chuckle from, because who doesn’t like to hear about other people's period stories?
How come this tampon won’t go in?
“It was the morning I had to go to a soccer tournament and I didn’t want to wear a pad, so I had to try to figure out how you put in a tampon. My mom was standing outside the bathroom trying to explain it to me and I think I was yelling at her! I definitely didn’t put it in the right way until the third attempt...and I’m pretty sure we were late to soccer.” – Cammie
Celebrating your first period at good ol’ Starbucks
“I didn’t tell my mom for four days, I was in 7th grade and used panty liners (like four together to make a pad) because that’s all I could find and I was too scared to try a tampon, and when I finally told my mom she took me to Starbucks to celebrate.” – Aubrey
Poop or blood?
“I got my first period when I was around 11 or 12. I was out with my grandmother and when we got home I went to the bathroom, pulled down my pants, and was like “Um...whoms’t??” because there was a big brown stain in my underwear! I honestly thought I shit my pants and just didn’t realize it while we were out. So I took my underwear and went downstairs to show my grandmother. She FREAKED and called my dad telling him how I got my period and he needed to come home. I panicked and texted my mom. She said “Yeah probably your period. Don’t freak out. Text your dad to get you some pads, you’re fine.” And that’s the story of my first period!” – Isabelle
When you and your bestie are on the same cycle
“My parents were away and my uncle was babysitting me, my brother, and my cousins. I went to the toilet oblivious to what was happening. To my surprise I found blood in my pants and freaked out! I knew vaguely of periods but felt very unprepared. I messaged my girlfriends for reassurance, and I discovered that my best friend had also started that night! We couldn’t believe it and both went through the stress together.” – Leah
Bloody family vacation
“I started my first period at 14 years old. I was on holiday in Spain. We were by the pool, and I went for a wee, and then noticed in my swimsuit something weird and brown. I asked my mum about it and she said it was my period. So we sent my dad to the local shop about a 5 minute walk away to get me some pads. My sister is seven years older than me, so luckily my dad knew what he needed to buy. If it hadn’t started on holiday I don’t think it would’ve been so memorable.” – Abigail
Saved by the mud
“It was the 3rd of October of 2011, and I was at a festival with my family wearing WHITE shorts. I happened to sit on a dirty chair and got my white shorts stained by mud. This actually hid the first vestiges of my first period, which I noticed when I got home and went to the toilet.” – Dory
What was your first-period experience? Was it funny, scary, exciting, or all of the above? Let us know in the comments below! :)
I started my period on January 7th of 2017. I was 12, turning 13 in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately I started a day before we were leaving on a trip to Mexico. I had my period for most of the trip, but at least I was home when I started.
I experienced brown discharge June 2020 and onwards until Monday September 7th 2020 – the first day back at school from lockdown (in the uk) I felt it during pe and it was a double lesson. But when I got home from school I completely forgot about it until I went to the bathroom. I asked my online friend about it since it was brown and she said it was my period. I only have two brothers so I couldn’t tell anybody. And my mum was in the hospital sick. So I hid it for the rest of the week while it gradually got worse every day. I didn’t know where all the feminine products were though. However, I did not leak through though thank god because I sat on the edge of my chair throughout the week. When she got back home on Saturday I told her everything and it turns out she left me a load of packs near the cupboard behind my bed which at that point I felt pretty annoyed. It’s been 6-7 months now, I was 12 (turned 13 a month ago) and I feel kind of relieved that it’s happened.
This is a bit of a different story, but I got my first period when I was 17. I had been battling an eating disorder since I was 14 and was in and out of treatment for years. Eventually my doctors decided to give me hormones for about 10 days to see if they could induce a period. I wouldn’t say the medicine gave me mood swings, it just depressed my mood for about a week, and two days after stopping, I got my first period. It was very calm, very planned, and at 17, I felt mature enough to deal with it. I wish I didn’t have to go through years of therapy and treatment and I honestly think that starting my period younger would’ve been better than battling with mental illness, but I’m grateful for the now-healthy body I have every day.
It was in the early summer and I was running around my yard, then I went inside to go to the bathroom and there it was, about a quarter size patch of red brown blood. I knew what it was, but I still freaked out and I was super shaky. I went back outside and started pacing, while trying to figure out how to tell my mom. Eventually my mom came outside and I told her, she was super cool about it, and she showed me how to use the pads. It was really funny though, because my mom said that she kind of new it was coming. Isn’t it so weird how moms just know??
I started my period in October of 2020. About a month prior, I had noticed brown discharge for a few days before it stopped. Then, In October, I noticed the brown discharge again. I worried that maybe it WAS my period, becuse it was almost exactly a month sincerely the last time that bad happened. I looked it up, and then MY SISTER popped up from behind me and was like
And that’s what happened. The thing is, my. Period has been early/ regular every since and it’s never been late.“What the heck Are you looking at?”
I was so embarrassed And rAn to my room. After talking with my two sisters for a bit, I ended up sleeping in one of their rooms. The next morning I woke up and went downstairs into the bathroom only to realize that there was blood all over the liner I had put in last night because of the discharge. I was like “Mom?”
“What?”
“Can you come here?”
“One sec”
…
“I think I started my period.”
“Really!?”
“Yeah.”