and you are a small part of it, but an important part that can help make it a
Another area of your brain that is growing the fastest in adolescence has to do with emotions. That part also reacts to most of the hormones that are surging through your body. It’s what makes you have lightning-fast emotions like we talked about in chapter 2, but it also makes you look for activities and experiences that give you an emotional “high.”
What do we mean by “high”? Most people are talking about drugs when they use that word, but here it means when you get an amazingly awesome feeling from something.
Emotional highs come from all kinds of things, like singing, playing or listening to your favorite music, riding a dirt bike over a big ramp and catching a ton of air, rock climbing to a major height, galloping on a horse, Rollerblading as fast as you can go, riding a roller coaster, drawing a picture you love, laughing as loud as you can with friends who “get it” or writing a poem that other people appreciate.
Having an experience that gives you that awesome feeling doesn’t have to be dangerous, but it usually does involve some risk . . . taking a chance either emotionally or physically. When you do that and succeed, you feel great. When you do that and don’t succeed, it can hurt—either physically or emotionally.
Once you find something that gives you that great, awesome feeling, practicing or spending time with that activity becomes important, especially in adolescence. You become more skilled and familiar with the things that give you those awesome feelings. It’s an important thing to experience in adolescence, and it’s good for your brain development. Find something that makes you feel that way—a passion, a hobby, a challenge—and have fun!
Think of the things that give you that “emotional high” or make you feel good about yourself. Answer the questions below to help you figure out what these things are.
Things I love to do:Things I do well:Things I want to try or do more often:Challenges I enjoy:
That’s a Wrap
So can we quit with all this body talk? It’s a ton of information. Promise—no quiz, but do you get it? This is a tough chapter, full of facts and new words. Feel free to move on. Come back to this chapter when and if you need to or if you ever just want to. It’s here to help remind you about all the amazing stuff that is changing in you right now. It’s also here to reassure you that a lot of the “weird” stuff going on with your body is common to all preteen and teen girls.
Just remember, all these changes in your body and brain take years to unfold and take hold. It’s normal to feel totally freaked out, amazed, grossed out or excited by your body changes. Some changes you will like; some you won’t. Over the years, your body will become comfortable again for you—like a pair of comfy, worn-in jeans. Appreciate it for what it can do and what it will be able to do in the future. It’s an amazing, miraculous, awesome thing—you are wonderfully made, whether
6
Periods, Period
It’s no secret that the whole reason we have periods is so that one day we can have babies. And having babies happens because of sex. So if we are going to talk about sex (which we are a lot), we have to talk about periods, first.
Having periods doesn’t have much to do with sex, but if you decide to have sex, and most people do eventually, you better understand your periods very well! Even if you are not having sex for a long, long time, it’s still important to understand the amazing events going on in your body that give you your little monthly “friend.”
Blame It on Your Hormones
We bet you’ve heard women or girls complain about being “hormonal” or turning “emo” (emotional), or maybe you’ve heard your mom blame your moods on “raging hormones.” Guess what? Hormones are good things, not bad things. They are chemicals made in our bodies that send messages or signals from one part to another. There are many, many different hormones circulating in each person’s body. Two in particular are very involved in your menstrual cycle: estrogen and progesterone. Heard of them?
Like to Cycle?
Your monthly cycle begins on the day you start your period. Hormones from the brain tell the ovary to start getting an egg ready. In the ovary, the egg grows in a little sac of fluid called a follicle. The follicle makes estrogen that causes the endometrium to grow a thick and lush lining. When the egg
Want the short report? Egg matures > egg ovulates > egg travels down fallopian tube and into the uterus. No pregnancy? Then the uterus recognizes that and sheds the old lining, which starts a period. Now that’s an easier story to follow!
Another way to say it: It’s kind of like a bed is made in the uterus for a baby to grow in. If there’s no baby there, the uterus decides it’s time to change the “bed,” sort of like changing the sheets. How often do you change your sheets? In your uterus, it’s once a month!
And even if you don’t want it, here’s the long report.
Cycle day 1. The first day you have menstrual bleeding is always considered day 1. It’s usually anywhere from 25 to 35 days after your last period. Everyone always seems to think that period cycles are always 28 days or one month . . . but everyone is a little different, and cycles can be longer or shorter (anywhere from 21 to 45 days) and still be normal.
Cycle days 1–7. Periods usually last anywhere from three to seven days, but you only lose about two tablespoons of actual blood in all that time. It seems like more doesn’t it? That’s because of the other fluids and tissue that are released (think of them as the pillow cases and bedspread that need to be cleaned, too). Your bleeding is happening because there is no pregnancy, and the uterus has decided to release the old lining and begin a new lining (change the sheets!).
Your uterus pushes out the period (old sheets) by contracting its muscular walls. Some girls will feel these
