When the Flow Came: My First Period Story

Like many girls in my country, my first encounter with menstruation was not a celebration. It was confusion. I was in the restroom when I saw blood. I thought I was injured. I quickly cleaned up and went back into the house, hoping it would stop but it didn’t, it kept flowing.

It wasn’t until my older sisters noticed and told me, Gold, “You’ve started your period,” that I understood what was happening. One of them gave me a sanitary pad and showed me how to fix it inside my underwear. She said, “When it gets full, change it” no further explanation.

No talk about mood swings. No talk about how I might cry without reason, feel tired, angry, or just blank.

No one told me that menstruation isn’t just blood. It’s emotions. It’s discomfort. It’s change.

The flow was heavy, i stained my dress one day at school and someone had to call my attention to it, i felt embarrassed.

Later, my sister gave me a different type of pad, one meant for heavy flow.

And slowly, I adjusted.

Still, I had questions.

Why was I suddenly so emotional?

Why did I feel like crying at odd moments?

Why did I crave silence or suddenly become sensitive?

So, I went online as usual with my small phone , i googled it and read somethings about it but then there was no app to track my menstral cycle so i used our calendar on the wall😄

And I began to watch myself and that small act changed everything.

I started tracking how I felt during each cycle.

I noticed the patterns.

I realized when to step back, rest, and be kind to myself.

Soon, I began to teach my cousin and then three other younger girls who had just started menstruating too as i was their lesson teacher. I love teaching 😄

I told my cousing about pads, mood changes, dressing choices, and hygiene.

What no one explained to me, I decided to teach her and the two other girls using my small chalk board because girls deserve to know that menstruation is not something to be ashamed of, it’s something to understand.

In Nigeria, period poverty is real as some girls still use clothes, some skip school when they’re on their period and some have never had anyone tell them, “You’re not dirty. You’re just growing.”

Menstruation isn’t a curse. It’s a sign of strength.

And every girl deserves to walk with confidence, even when her body is learning a new rhythm❤️