One day you wipe after using the toilet and see blood on the paper. Or you look down at your underwear and notice a brown or red stain. Whether you were well informed or educated, your heart races. You think "did I hurt myself?" or "is something wrong with me?" Nothing is wrong - you just got your first period.

Your body has been preparing for this since puberty started. Hormones told your uterus to build a thick lining inside. The lining is there to support a pregnancy if that ever happens. When no pregnancy happens your body sheds the lining. That shedding is blood and tissue leaving through your vagina. It sounds dramatic [and it is]

When Will It Happen

Menstruation is a normal healthy biological process during puberty. Moreover, every girl develops differently and cycles vary from person to person.

Most girls get their first period between ages 12 and 15. However, some start at 9 or 10 and others not until 16 or 17. All of these are normal.

What The First Period Feels Like

For some girls there is no warning whereas for others there are signs. You might feel cramps in your lower belly a day or two before or your lower back might ache.Your breasts might feel tender or you might feel more tired or emotional than usual. Alternatively, some girls exeprience high energy burst and change in appetite before and during their period - some have very particular cravings and other lose their appetite completely and just feel like throwing up.

The bleeding itself is usually heavy on the first day and heaviest on the second. After that it gets lighter. The colour changes from a dark red to pinkish - not bright red and then brownish or towards the end. It might last two or seven days and for other four or five days. It might also be irregular for the first year or two. All of this is normal.

What You Need To Have Ready

Keep a small bag in your school backpack with two sanitary towels and a spare pair of underwear. This isn't because you are expecingt your period but because being prepared reduces the panic at the school disco.

When your period starts, take a sanitary towel, unwrap it and stick it in your underwear. Change it every 3 to 4 hours or whenever it feels full. Be sure to wrap used pads in tissue or their wrapper and throw them in a bin - never down the toilet because they block pipes and cause overflow.

Remember menstruation is a normal healthy biological process during puberty.