Our SKY Girls and SKY Big Sisters Get Real About Getting

Girl, you got your first period! SKY Girls has partnered with Oky, the period tracking app designed by girls for girls, to share with you all things period. We want you to embrace your period and feel confident about it, so we asked our SKY community to share their first-period story!

Leona, 20

I was 13 years old when I first got my period; it happened in January. I remember I wasn't scared because a few months before, my Grandma sat my cousin and I down, talking about how changes will start happening to our bodies, like our boobs were going to start growing. She showed us a pad and said, “one day, you are going to need this”, so we started wearing pads to feel what it's like; we then stopped because it wasn't coming then; and when I stopped, it happened. I remember I was watching TV. I had just knocked off from school. I was in grade 8, and I remember my underwear feeling weird, and I went and checked, and it was my period, so I went to my room, got a pad, washed my underwear, showered, and changed. I was prepared. When my Grandma got home, I told her it had started. My first one was painful; my back started hurting, my stomach started hurting, and all that stuff. Now, I generally don't have painful periods, but that first one was the painful one. It lasted seven days, and my Grandma walked me through every step. And I was at an all-girls school, so they would have frequent hygiene talks about menstrual hygiene. So, for me, I was easily prepared because I had a grandmother and teachers to teach us, so it wasn't hard or scary.

Sally, 16

I was 13 years old when I started. I was at a boarding school, which kind of sucks, but that's life. So, I got up to use the bathroom, and as I wiped and then squinted at the tissue and saw: RED!? I cried in disbelief, but it was red. So I called my Grandma, and she seemed excited. I was still confused, but I asked my friend for a pad.

Mutale, 17

My period came unexpectedly. I was 10 years old when I got my first period, and by then, I hadn't been told about it, either from school or from home. I remember finding some blood on my underwear, and I was so scared I thought I was dying! That's when I went to my big sister, in tears, and no clue, she then tried to explain what was happening to me, but I was still confused. Later I was taken to visit my Grandmother, who explained it to me. I still had a lot of questions (and still do, lol), but at least it felt better to have someone take me through what it all meant and what to do.

Nicola, 16

I was just 10 years old when I started. I was just sleeping in the middle of the night, and then felt a sharp pain! "Ouch, OK, I'll sleep it off, I guess ."Then "Ouch," there it was again, getting worse. I thought I was being dramatic, so I went to tell my mum. She rolled over, a little annoyed but mostly concerned, and said, "I'll get you a painkiller." She switched on the light, looked at my bum, and said, "I think you've started your period." Oh, what a wild ride for the years to come.

Sarah, 18

I started my period when I was 13 years old and didn't know what to do. I felt so scared. I told my big sister about it, and she said to me that you have started your period and are now a big girl, aaahhh! I wasn't ready to grow up. The first thing she did was take me through the steps on how to keep myself, like how to put on a pad, wash my underwear, how often I should change my pad, and how to wrap it up and then burn it. I felt so lucky I had a sister to talk to about this.

Princess Natasha Chansa, 23

I got my period when I was in the 9th grade, and I was the youngest in my class most of the time, so I was aware of what it was by the time I was in grade 7 from other classmates because they had already got theirs. I was about 13. I just didn't know how much pain it would come with; it was excruciating, dealing with exams and trying to understand what was going on down there. You know, being a teenager and puberty, and everything was a bit difficult, you eventually get the hang of it. You are never really ready; you know about it and have an idea because everybody tells you what happens until you experience it for yourself.

I remember when I got it, I was even playing with boys. We were doing somersaults or something, and I went to the bathroom, and it was there. I wasn't scared or anything. I knew what it was, and I told my mum. My mum being the nurse that she is, was like you are going to learn everything. So she brought me charts of a vagina the next day to help me understand what was happening, why I was bleeding, what was going on, and what was being shed. That was my first period.

Natasha, 17

I was 13 years old when I got my first period. I remember it was a Sunday afternoon right after church. I came home and really wanted to use the loo. That's when I saw it. I was a bit scared but not very scared because I was taught about it at a school when I was 10 years old.

I hurried to my mummy and told her about it. She was very happy for some reason.