When I was 15, I had no greater enemy than the godforsaken tampon.
No matter how hard I tried, it just wouldn’t go in.
Everyone else seemed to use them with such ease – and while they swam, I spent summer days stuck inside, missing swimming carnivals and trips to the beach.
And then one day, I decided I’d had enough. I would NOT be limited by my bleeding vagina. I was a new-aged woman. I should be able to swim and wear dresses without fear of the wings on my pad showing.
So I went into the bathroom and spent at least half an hour attempting to insert it into my vagina hole. There were diagrams. There were legs on toilet seats. There were at least 13 failed attempts.
Watch: Mamamia staff reveal our most awkward period stories. Post continues below.
Then finally. BOOM. It was in. I walked around the bathroom for a minute and it seemed pretty, er, sturdy.
“This is what freedom feels like!” I thought as I strutted pad-less through my house on a scorching hot day. I chucked on my bikini and a few moments later jumped in the pool.
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I was at work and had just been to the toilet to change a tampon. I felt something sticky/wet on my back and touched it. I was horrified when I looked at my hand and it was covered in smeared blood. I was just about to run to the toilet to investigate and fix myself up when my boss saw me and told me not to go anywhere. I had to stand and talk to him with my hands behind my back. When he finished talking I ran to the toilet. What I think happened was a big clot dropped into the waist band of my pants when I took the used tampon out and then the clot smeared up my back when I pulled my pants up. I was such a mess I had to go home and change.
I have a lot of horror stories. But I'll start with the very first. I was 11 when I got my period, My mother hadn't told me ANYTHING! We were at movie world and I was wearing white shorts. I thought I'd been hurt from one of the rides and that it was coming from my butthole. I bled for a week not knowing wtf was even happening. It wasn't Until the holiday was over and we returned home that my mum found all the underwear I was trying to secretly Throw in the bin that she realised what was happening. She gave me a stupid book called "where did I come from" that didn't actually explain periods, just sex. So I was left even more confused and scared! It took 5 years for me to figure out tampons!