We Learned How to Hide Our Periods Before We Learned How to Understand Them
There’s something strange about the way many of us were introduced to our periods.
We learned how to wrap a pad in toilet paper so nobody would see it.
We learned how to quietly ask another woman, “Do you have a tampon?”
We learned how to tie a jacket around our waist.
We learned how to push through cramps, go to work, sit through class, take care of everybody else and keep moving.
But somewhere in all of that…
Did anyone actually teach us how to understand our bodies?
Not just when our period was coming.
But why we bleed.
Why we cramp.
What happens throughout the rest of the month.
What’s worth paying attention to.
And when pain stops being “just a bad period” and deserves medical attention.
That’s the conversation I want to have here.
Welcome to The Womb Edit.
THE WOMB EDIT 001 🌺
Your period is more than bleeding. It’s the beginning of an entire cycle.
Most of us were taught about our periods as if bleeding was the whole story.
Your period comes. You deal with it for a few days. It goes away. Then you wait for it to come back next month.
But your body is doing so much more in between.
The menstrual cycle is a continuous hormonal process. Throughout the month, your ovaries, uterus and brain are communicating with one another as your body prepares for ovulation and the possibility of pregnancy.
We commonly talk about the cycle in four phases:
Menstrual. Follicular. Ovulatory. Luteal.
And understanding these phases can help you better understand the patterns happening in your own body.
🩸 THE MENSTRUAL PHASE
Day 1 of your period is Day 1 of your menstrual cycle.
When pregnancy doesn’t occur, estrogen and progesterone levels fall. This hormonal shift signals the uterus to shed the lining it built during the previous cycle.
That’s your period.
Your body also produces compounds called prostaglandins. They help the uterus contract so it can shed its lining.
Those contractions are part of the reason you may experience cramps.
You may also notice changes in your energy, digestion, mood, appetite or sleep around this time.
Everyone’s experience is different.
What’s important is learning your normal.
How long do you usually bleed?
How heavy is your flow?
What does your pain typically feel like?
Does your period interfere with your ability to work, sleep, attend school or participate in your normal activities?
Your period gives you information. Pay attention to it.
🌱 THE FOLLICULAR PHASE
Here’s something many of us were never taught:
Your follicular phase actually begins on the first day of your period too.
So the menstrual phase and early follicular phase overlap.
During this phase, your brain releases follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).
FSH encourages follicles in your ovaries to develop. Each follicle contains an immature egg.
Eventually, one follicle usually becomes dominant and continues developing toward ovulation.
As that follicle develops, estrogen begins to rise.
Estrogen also helps rebuild the lining of your uterus after menstruation.
As you move through the follicular phase, you may personally notice changes in things like energy, mood or cervical mucus.
But there isn’t one universal way every woman is supposed to feel during each phase.
Your body is not a cycle-syncing infographic.
Learn your patterns instead.
🌸 THE OVULATORY PHASE
As estrogen rises, it eventually helps trigger a surge of another hormone called luteinizing hormone or LH.
That LH surge signals the ovary to release a mature egg.
This is ovulation.
The egg then enters the fallopian tube, where fertilization could occur if sperm are present.
The egg itself generally remains viable for only about 12–24 hours, but sperm can survive for several days in the reproductive tract. That’s why the fertile window extends beyond the actual day of ovulation.
You may notice cervical mucus becoming clearer, wetter or more slippery around this time.
Some women experience mild pelvic discomfort around ovulation.
Others don’t notice ovulation at all.
And that’s okay.
🌙 THE LUTEAL PHASE
After ovulation, the follicle that released the egg transforms into something called the corpus luteum.
The corpus luteum produces progesterone, along with some estrogen.
Progesterone helps prepare and maintain the uterine lining in case pregnancy occurs.
If pregnancy does not occur, the corpus luteum breaks down.
Progesterone and estrogen fall.
That hormonal decline can contribute to the symptoms many women associate with PMS.
Then the uterine lining begins to shed.
Your next period starts.
And you’re back at Day 1.
The cycle begins again.
🌺 HERE’S THE PART I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER
Your menstrual cycle isn’t something that happens to you for five days every month.
You’re cycling all month long.
Your hormones are shifting.
Your ovaries are responding.
Your uterine lining is changing.
Your cervical mucus can change.
And your body is constantly communicating with you.
That doesn’t mean every headache, craving or bad mood needs to be blamed on hormones.
It means there is value in becoming familiar with your own patterns.
📝 THIS WEEK’S WOMB NOTE
Instead of only tracking when your period begins, try tracking your whole cycle.
Write down:
When your period starts and ends.
How heavy your bleeding is.
When you experience cramps.
Changes you notice in cervical mucus.
Changes in energy or mood.
Any pelvic discomfort.
Anything that feels noticeably different from your normal.
After a few cycles, you may start seeing patterns you never noticed before.
And if something doesn’t feel right, having that information can make conversations with your healthcare provider much more useful.
Knowing your body doesn’t mean diagnosing yourself.
It means becoming an informed participant in your own care.
This is what The Womb Edit is about.
Learning the body we were taught to hide.
Understanding the things we were told to simply “deal with.”
And creating a new relationship with our cycles based on education instead of embarrassment.
Know your body. Learn your patterns. Advocate for yourself.
— The Womb Edit 🌺
Womb Wellness Wednesday by Prism Juice Bar