Phases of Your Cycle

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The idea of getting your first period may be a little scary. When will it happen? Where will it happen? Will I know what to do? These are very normal questions. Don’t worry, knowing about why it is happening and how to prepare for it is the best way to deal with it. Every woman has worried about being caught off guard by her period. The best way to avoid this is to learn about your cycle.

Once your period begins and becomes regular, keep track of the cycle on a calendar. Mark down the day it begins, how heavy the flow is each day, how many days it lasts, and how many days are between the beginning of one period and the beginning of the next. The entire menstrual cycle is, on average, about 28 days long. But some are longer and some are shorter.

Your period is the beginning of the menstrual cycle. Keep track for a few months. Pretty soon, you will know about when your period will start and you will know how to prepare for it. You’ll also get a better idea of what kind of flow (heavy or light) to expect each day of your period.

What Happens Each Month

Every month after you have your first period, a part of your brain called the pituitary gland releases a hormone that sends a message to the eggs inside the ovaries. The message is, “grow!” Every month, only one egg among all those stored in your ovaries develops fully. When that egg is fully developed, the brain releases another hormone that causes the egg to leave the ovary. When the egg leaves the ovary, that is called ovulation. Ovulation usually takes place about 13–15 days before your period begins. Count the first day of your period as the first day of your cycle.

While all this is happening, the body is preparing for a possible pregnancy. The body produces a hormone called estrogen. Estrogen’s job is to make the lining of the uterus ready for a pregnancy by becoming thicker with tissue and blood vessels that help the fertilized egg develop. This stage happens before the egg has left the ovary.

Progesterone, another hormone, causes the lining of the uterus to become even thicker in preparation for a possible pregnancy.

Meanwhile, the egg travels down one of the fallopian tubes that lead to the uterus. While in the fallopian tubes, the egg could join up with a sperm as a result of sexual intercourse.

The process in which a female egg joins a sperm is called fertilization. The fertilized egg will continue its journey down the fallopian tube to the uterus, where it will attach itself to the lining of the uterus, which is ready for its arrival. When this happens, a woman is pregnant. The fertilized egg will continue to develop into a baby.

If the egg does not meet a sperm by the time it reaches the uterus, it will dissolve and there will be no pregnancy. Because there is no fertilized egg needing nourishment, the excess lining of the uterus (extra blood and tissue), called the endometrium, is no longer needed. Your period happens when the endometrium leaves the body through the opening of the vagina.

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