My first period came when I was 11 years old, I was the first of my friends to get my period and I was especially pleased with myself, as the flat-chested girl in a group of girls who had developed early and large, this meant I wasn’t going to be left behind. In fact getting my period first meant to me that I was the first to reach womanhood, my chest may have been flat but I had made up for that with womanly hips and womanly things going on between my hips.
It was after gym class…in the winter the girls changing rooms would flood, so we had to get changed in the gym itself, I distinctly remember suddenly feeling warm and more wet than usual. I knew this had to be my period, so I changed back into my uniform with my back to the wall so no one would see blood on my underwear, and I kept my gym shorts on under my skirt. Between class I nipped to the bathroom, sure enough a big bright-red splodge of blood in my underwear and all over the toilet paper when I wiped. We had lovely bathrooms in that school, but no sanitary product vending machines, and I had no supplies with me, so I wrapped toilet paper round my underwear and went to my last class of the day.
Last classes were always tough, this was double history, plus my friends and I had been separated, so I went all class desperate to tell my friends I had gotten my period, I was positively bubbling over with excitement, so that lesson really d.r.a…g…g..e..d! Although I was excited, at the same time I was fairly calm about the idea of actually having my period, I hadn’t really thought about periods before then, I’d always just assumed it was something that came naturally and it was something you just got on with.
I walked home with my best friend Rachael, she asked me all about it, I didn’t know what to say, I was no more wise than her as all I knew was that there was bleeding. I was thankful walking home knowing that by some great coincidence my older male cousin Gary who had been staying with us for a few months had moved out. Knowing I had him out of the way meant when I got home I could get a grasp of things without worrying about him, it was an all-female house at home again.
As soon as I got home I told my mother/Mum, I have my period, I need some “things”, so can you go to the shop and get me my own “things” please – and I’m borrowing one of yours. I remember a girl-talk given to us by a woman from Tampax in school, she didn’t tell us much about periods themselves, but I remember she said pads are like nappies, and you’re big girls now so you’d not want to use nappies, would you? She then gave us leaflets and samples of Tampax applicator tampons – my mother always used Lil-lets, non-applicator, so I had zero interest in using Tampax. After that girl-talk we went back to join the boys, feeling like we knew something secret, good job I knew something as no one else ever taught me about periods.
After informing my mother that her role was to buy me “things” I went straight upstairs, got a Lil-lets tampon from her bedroom and inserted it – as my mother had always worn tampons, never pads, it had never occurred to me to use anything but a tampon. The tampon thing didn’t go too well the first time, I had no hesitation in inserting the tampon, but I ended-up not inserting it high enough. I went out to play in the street with my friends – the kids in the street were climbing the lampposts, the whole time I had horrible pains…a sickening stomach cramp. I knew this was from the tampon, and knew I had to try again, but didn’t want to leave my friends, eventually I couldn’t take it any more so went home early, inserted a fresh tampon, and that was that. I suppose I can be thankful my first period wasn’t negative, but I wish I had known more, and I especially wish I had marked that big day. I’m so excited for when I have daughters of my own, they will be taught about periods as soon as they’re old enough to understand, I’ll give them a beautiful period kit, a diary, and celebrate the day they become women.
By Jay
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