I just remember having a stomach ache in the 8th grade, the nurse sending me home and I was laying on my mother's bed feeling awful. Went to the bathroom and then ta da! Ha my mother was so excited for me, hahahaha.

i went home with cramps a couple times in 7th grade not knowing what it was, and then when i actually saw "red" it was my mom who noticed it while doing laundry but it wasn't tons so i just never put much thought into it....it went on like that (kinda half period half not) for about 2 years before it became a regular thing

I went to the bathroom, saw that my underwear was stained, and yelled out "Moooom! I think my period started!" and she yelled upstairs "YAAAY You're normal!"

I was 10 and my mum was away. I thought I injured myself or something so I hid my knickers for fear that my dad wouldn see them. I already had my period for three days when I finally found out what was going on with my body. My dad was going crazy so he called my mother for help... It wasn't a very pleasant experience.

remember on blossom when her dad and brothers had a celebratory dinner for her?

I was at my grandparents house when I started. I think I was 12 at the time. It was all pretty traumatic. I didn't understand that I wasn't going to bleed to death and I was scared that all the blood would build up inside me and make me sick!

Then I got the worst cramps ever and my mother didn't give me any painkillers for them so they took about 8-9 hours to go away and I didn't understand what they were.

All in all... horrible. They didn't get much better. I had the most unbelievable cramps every single month to the point I would be sick and have to stay off school because I was vomiting so much. My cycles were unpredictable and because I was only 12 my mother didn't want me on the pill.

I went on depo provera for 5 yrs and they stopped. They've now started again and last about 3 days... still with the bad cramps though. Now the doctors are worried the depo has made me infertile so they're not even USEFUL.

I hate my period.

I don't even remember! I must have blocked it from my memory.

i hate my period!!!! Ever since the very first period which was mortifying since I was too embarassed to tell my mother (we aren't close) so i walked to the drug store and bought my own tampons.. trying to figure out how to use them I was standing there with my pants down and my grandma walked in on me!!! Seriously..

I hate my period because my cramps are never ending!! Its 5 days of crying, puking and a heated pad.

laura - are you on the pill? i got my period on sunday and it was gone by tuesday - so light, no cramps, it's amazing

i remember getting it in 9th grade (late bloomer, i know) and my mom and grandma were super worried that id never get it, to the point that they started consulting their doctor friends about it. SUPER embarrasing!! i remember being upset that day for some reason lol.. and i remember getting a huge party because i got my period, complete with gold and new clothes. i never want to relive that experience again lol

I was 13, staying over at my friends Nova Thursbys (her real name) house jumping on the trampoline. Having had 3 older sister I knew everything about Periods, except for what it "felt" like, I had been having cramps, but thought they were some wierd tummy ache......untill Nova says to me "you are bleeding" and i looked down and yep.....so i ran inside called my mom, she came and got me. My Dad gave me 50 bucks and we had a "period party" complete with red balloons, red velvet cake that spelled out "welcome to the club" .....which i still appreciate to this day because as we know....its NO PARTY.

what does Nova Thursby's real name have to do with this story?

I remember it, as I was very angry that day. Maybe April 3rd? 1999?. It was definitely a Friday was during spring break of 8th grade. I could be full of it, my calendar says 4-3-99 was a Saturday, but 4-3-98 was a Friday. Perhaps it was a Saturday then, as I was out with my aunt and cousin and everyone else on a Saturday shopping outing.

Anyway, I was expecting it, but at the same time hoping it wouldn't come just yet. All of my friends would complain, and that was just more hassle that I didn't care to experience. So it came that day, and I was *angry*. I marched downstairs, looked my mom in the eye, scowled, and said "mom, I have a problem." No fanfare, no any of that, just me being an angry 13 year old.

I called my friend, as for some odd reason it seemed the thing to do. She told her mom, and they spent a good 20 minutes gushing and other such... sucheries. It didn't help to solve my anger.

Even worse, I never suffered the "oh, well it's just getting started, here it is one month and it'll show up again in another three" that it seems so many people dealt with. It started and kept on trucking. I could set a clock by it.

Wow, CaterpillarGirl, a period party? That sounds awesome.

Ski, i have had people say ...."nova? really?" when telling it......its a strange first name.

I was 15 or 16 when I finally got mine and when I finally got boobs for that matter too. It wasn't a big deal because I was old enough to know what it was because I was the last person in my group of friends and probably in my whole class to get it. I didn't say anything to my mom I just took care of business and a few months later she asked me if I had gotten my period and I was like "Yes! God mom! I got it like a long time ago!" I never liked talking about personal stuff with my mom back then. lol

It was 2 weeks after I turned 11, and I went to the bathroom and saw the stain, and yelled down the hall to my mom that I thought my period started. That was it, really. I was only a bit freaked out because I was so young. I wasn't expecting to start it for another couple of years (since my mom told me hers started when she was 13, and I thought I'd be more or less the same.)

I was a counselor at an camp for many years, and I had a couple of girls in my cabin over the years that got thier period for the first time and had NO IDEA what was happening to them (ages 10-13)....and when i called the parent they were surprised that they "got it so early" I say, educate as early as possible , well at least 10 and up.

I was 10 when I got mine. I didn't know what was going on. I just figured I had cut myself. I wore like 4 pairs of underwear. I just kept quiet about it. It wasn't until my mom was doing laundry that she found my underwear and asked me what was going on. She said she never expected to have that talk with me, that she thought she would have a couple of years at least. I was so embarrassed, especially living in a house with three older brothers.

7th grade year, right after my 12th birthday.. I was in the cafeteria just coming back from the gym, when a teacher pulled me aside and said to wrap my sweater around my hips and to go the nurses office right away. Turns out, I had a huge stain on my WHITE pants.

So, I was in the car to my friends birthday party, and I broke out a bit, and my mom was like "hmm, your broken out today". I said ok, and went to the party. I had a bit of a cramp that night. At the end of the night I came home, went into the bathroom and saw blood and so I was like OMG, I have my period! I put a tampon WITH THE APPLICATOR STILL AROUND IT in myself, (which was so uncomfortable) and I went to my moms room, and I was like "mom, I got my period". She started screaming, and she called my aunt, my grandma, my cousins. You name it. Then she told my dad. I was so excited, because one of my friends got her period and I was jealous. Looking back, that was so stupid to be jealous, because I could have gone without a period for the rest of my life, and I'd be okay with it now.

Oh god I was 9 years old; I didn't know what the hell was going on. I thought I had cancer or something. I kinda just locked myself in my room for hours debating if I should tell mom or not, but eventually I caved and then she explained. Awkwaaard. I don't have that open relationship with her and I was a little girl.

I think I was in 4th grade, and one day like, underwear stained, thought nothing of it...grandma went to do the laundry and her and my mom were in the bathroom discussing it i guess, and then I either walked by or they called me in and bla bla bla...a week or so later the school had that stupid "tea" sh*t they do where the moms/female guardians come in and we all watch a film of some weird lady making pancakes in the shape of a vagina and teach us the beauty that is...a period.

I was 10 and a huuuuge tom boy. It was April fools day and I was playing basketball in my driveway, when I felt sick (cramps, grrr!) so I went in to the bathroom, and saw that there was blood, so I screamed for my mom, and when my dad came, I slammed the door and said I needed mom. It was horrrrrrrrrible! I was in bed for like 2 days with bad cramps...

Man, I'm a late bloomer.
It was painful and ruined my life. Thats about it. I was 13 when I got it and my periods have always been BRUTAL... then when i was 16 (the pain was so severe that i passed out) I found out i had uterine/ovarian cysts and endometriosis... then they put me on birth control to regulate it and such.. now i only experience the worst pain ever three times a year. I always wondered why i couldn't get up off the couch/bed when i had my period, but now i know. And now I educate teens on it, on occasion.

Well, I knew what it was but decided not to say anything and put a tampon in with the cardboard applicator. I didn't know any better, which was stupid of me.

When I realized that wasn't right because it hurt too badly, I told my mom that I had started. Her response? "That sucks. Welcome to being a woman."

I was 11 and I'm grateful to my parents for having already put me through a church-run sex ed class earlier that summer, so I knew what was going on. I remember my parents coming back from the store with my feminine products and my dad smiling at me like "my little girl is growing up" - kind of weird but not that bad of an experience. I had horrible cramps and heavy flow for years (like two days of being in bed and a full week of a period), and everything returned this summer when I was off Nuva Ring for a few months. I'm back on it now and everything is so much better! No cramps and a three-day period... I love it.

I think I was 12 when I spotted a little and my mom stocked me up with all of these pads and products...then it went away and didn't reappear until I was 15. At first I was excited because I finally got to be like everyone else, then I started having AWFUL, passing-out-level cramps around 16/17 and I HATED my period. I still hate it. I have the Mirena IUD and it has definitely lightened things a lot, but most months during that time I would much rather be a guy.

I was 10 and at summer camp with 3 days left until I could go home. I kinda knew what was going on but there was no way that I was going to tell anybody. I did tell my mom right away when I got home and I remember her being excited. Luckily my period was very light that first time, but ever since it has been hell. Thank God for the pill.

You know what's funny? I totally don't remember! Must have been untraumatic. But I do remember getting my first bra, because I had a softball game that day and I was nervous it would mess up my throw.

I think I take the cake for late bloomers .. I was fifteen and a half when it finally showed up!! I was ecstatic that it showed up because it was a big stress that it had never shown up, as annoying as periods may be.

That excitement dropped off REAL quick. I have Von Willebrand's disorder, which is a disease similar (but less severe) then hemophilia. From the get-go, I had severe, painful periods - I'm talking 15, 16, 17 day periods, or even more then that, laying in bed crying, and getting dizzy and even passing out from them. Luckily, since they were so irregular I only put up with these ordeals every few months. But can I tell you how much I LOVE THE PILL?! I recently switched to Seasonique, the extended-regimen BC ... I get a period lasting no more then 3-4 days and it is light and easily handled. I swear I always cried with joy the first month I was on it.

It was the day after my 13th birthday. It happened at home. I went to the bathroom and found dark brown stuff in my underwear. I didn't know what it was. I didn't think it was my period because I had always thought it would be red. I wiped my "area" and that's where it was coming from. My mom was all excited and I was just laughing and crying at the same time lol. It didn't start coming out red until after a couple periods, and I didn't start getting cramps until after about a year.

I was 16 and I was about to go driving with my dad. I had that weird stomach ache all day, and there it was, and I was a little surprised, but just put on a pad and went on with my day. Later on I told my mom.

I was 11 and it was the summer before I entered 6th grade. We had family visiting, and we'd spent the day showing them the sights, etc. I didn't have any cramps or anything, no signal of what was coming. After we'd gone home, I was getting ready to take a shower and I noticed my underwear was stained. I started crying! haha I told my mom and she comforted me, and now I feel silly that I was so traumatized by something so natural.

I was 13 and it was on New Years day. I had just come home that morning from being at a friend's house, and I felt really really sick (although I recall not feeling good the day before).Then I noticed the red.... hahah I'm so glad I was at home! I wrote my mom a note because I was too embarrassed, and she bought me pads. But I really had no idea at first it was my period...it freaked me out!

it was the exact day my mom stopped getting her period...she had a hysterectomy due to cysts. talk about ironic. i was scared to tell my dad, so i told my mom over the phone while she was in the hospital and my older sister. later my dad was so cute, and told me "you know you can always talk to me about this kind of stuff too"

Oh, and just to add on what I was saying before -- I was 13, so it was pretty normal, but since then I have had horrendous cramps -- like, so painful I've passed out. So, doctors gave me coedeine for it, and I've had Vicodin and the likes. I had such long periods 8-10 days, it was horrible. Still, nothing happens. It worsened when I was 16/17, and the only thing that helped was Yasmin, which I started at 20 years old. I still get a lot of pain sometimes, but not nearly as bad. I only have the really bad ones a few times a year now. Anyway, I have gone to doctors, and they were sure I had endometriosis or a cyst -- but, I actually do not. So it's sort of unexplainable why I felt and still feel such pain.

I'd just like to tell girls not to worry about getting their periods when all their friends do because it ended up causing me a lot more problems.

...and as far as late bloomers go, I had a friend who was 18 and didn't have her period!

I remember my first period vividly. I got it September 12, 2001. Yep, day after 9/11. I remember I had some cramping, and I complained to my mom about not feeling well, but instead of dealing with that she pulled me into her lap and called my brother over, then informed us that our grandfather had passed away during the night. Then a bit later I went to the bathroom and realized why I didn't feel well, and I went out and told my mom, "I think I just got my period." I also, weirdly, remember the exact pair of underwear I was wearing. haha.

Great 2 days, huh?

I remember not being afraid but I was scared because I had no pads or tampons. My step mom found out I was on my period and took care of everything but I have pcos so my periods were very far apart and I didn't know why.

I was 11, I think.

It began to hurt while I was in class, I remember that. I came home from school, thinking it was food poisoning...and then I began to bleed. I knew what it was [we'd just watched that horrible puberty movie about how girls become women when they bleed - everyone else in the room cried after that], but it was still very uncomfortable. That whole week was kind of blah...and I had a habit of moving around a lot when I sat, so I kept on staining my clothes. Dark jeans the WHOLE week - in the blazing humid 90-degree springtime! ick.

My first period was awful! I was in 6th grade and remember changing out for last period (no pun intended) gym class. I went to the bathroom and was so confused. I thought I had crapped my pants because it was actually brown. Then it clicked and I called my mom from the pay phone...haha. I got home and had to use some of my mom's mammoth Kotex pads, that felt like a diaper, until I could get to the store. I'm pretty sure I stayed home the next day. My cramps were horrendous and my period was insanely heavy. I was too scared to use tampons for a few years and would go through pad after pad. I remember it being pretty traumatic! Thanks to Ovcon 50 I now have a practically non-existent period for only 3 days max!

I was 10 almost 11. in between moving went to visit cousins so thats how i remember. that and i didnt know what a period was. I thought i was dying or i did something wrong. so i went up to my mom in front of my brother admitting i had red stuff comming and wanted to know if i was going to die. my mom just blushed. lol

I got mine a month before I turned 10. It was pretty uneventful... I went to the bathroom and saw a red spot on my Esmeralda underwear (from the cartoon version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame). I knew about periods, so I knew exactly what it was.

I was 11 and like pippins_halflin I knew what they were and wasn't too scared. It lasted 3 days was the easiest period I ever had.

I was 12, almost 13, and in 7th grade. I woke up, went to the bathroom, and there it was! I knew exactly what it was and was kind of excited. I immediately walked downstairs, told my mom I started my period, and went back up to get ready for school. She didn't really say anything at first but soon asked me if I had found the pads and gave a shpiel about cleanliness, etc.

It was Valentines Day 2000, I was 13 in 8th grade. I woke up and went to the bathroom before going to school and saw the blood in the toilet then told my mom. I think I wore pads for my first period and then that was it. UGH pads are disgusting. Tampons make periods at least a little bit easier! By the way this may be a good book, but my sexuality ed. professor from college just wrote a book called "The Day Aunt Flo Comes to Visit". It's the same thing and I think it is a tool to introduce to girls even younger than 10. http://www.bestdaymedia.com

Knew what to expect from my friend at the time, who got hers when she was 11. I was 12, when I got it, went to my mom and said "I got my period today, and I don't want to use pads, I want tampons." She said ok, gave me a tampon, and that was it.

I have only used a pad once in my life as an emergency when I was on a train....never again!!

LOL at all of the people's families here who threw parties, had celebrations, etc. for them when they got their period. There is NO WAY my family would have done that EVER....they would be mortified!

It's so funny how so many people had similar experiences. My relationship with my mom wasn't really open, so I just put on a pad and went to school. I wasn't scared or anything since I went to all girls school, and most of my friends already got their periods. When I got home, my mom found stain on my bed sheet, and she told me how I'm a woman now, etc. But, I've had experiences of using tampons in a wrong way thinking they are horribly uncomfortable and also staining my skirts and panties. I used to think periods were the most horrible and the most uncomfortable thing, but now, I'm used to it - except a couple of zits before the period, it's not so bad anymore.

I had friends who had it WAAAYY before before me (9 vs.13) so I kind of felt left out and wished it would come already. I got it the summer before high school started and remember going "phew, I'm normal."

feb 15th in the 9th grade. it came out of no where, obviously. and i didnt have any supplies, but i didnt realize i got it until i got home. i told my best friends and thats it. i was very relieved, best day of my life.

and Hiding55, we are like twins ahha