PUBERTY Understand your changing body

Here we will talk about:

What is puberty?
When changes happen to girls?
What are the sex organs?
What are periods and why do they happen?
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Whats Happening?
What is Puberty?

It is the time when our bodies change toward an adult body.

Start to develop new eelings and interests

Start to make sperm cells or start to make egg cells

!he cells necessary to make a new human:

"gg # Sperm $ %aby
We will talk about the changes that
happen that others can see.
&nd changes that are private.
When we talk about these things
it is normal to eel curious' disgusted' comortable' shy' embarrassed' excited
When do changes happen?
&nywhere between ( and )*.
+ost people begin between the ages o ), and )-.
When you start makes no dierence to how you develop.
.o age is better than any other one.
/or some' most o the changes happen in a ew years.
/or some' changes happen slowly over lots o years. THIS IS NORM!
What changes happen to girls?
0et taller and heavier
%ones grow bigger and heavier
Hips get wider and more curvy
/ace changes shape
Voice gets a little deeper
Hair grows under the armpits' around the
genitals 1pubic hair2
Hair on arms and legs grows darker
%reasts and nipples get larger
%ody sweats more
Internal and external sex organs grow
+ay have mood swings' sexual thoughts and eelings
What causes these changes?
Hormones 3 chemical messengers that travel in the blood stream rom the place where
they are made 1called glands2 to the place where they do their work.
"ach hormone has a speciic 4ob.
!he pituitary gland' deep inside your brain' gets things started. It sends out hormones
to our sex organs to get them to start making se" hormones.
It is the sex hormones that make the changes that cause children5s bodies grow into
adult bodies.
%oth boys and girls make the same sex hormones. !he main ones are testosterone and
estrogen.
%oys make lots o testosterone' not so much estrogen.
0irls make lots o estrogen' not so much testosterone.
What #ill I loo$ li$e #hen I gro# up?
!hat depends mostly on your heredity' the genes you got when an egg cell and a sperm
cell rom your birth parents came together to make the cells that developed into you.
0enes mostly determine how tall you will grow' the colour o your hair' the si6e and
shape o your breasts and your overall body shape.
7ther things that aect our body are the oods we eat' how active we are and how much
sleep #e get%
What are the se" organs?
!hese parts are also called the reproducti&e organs and genitals.
The parts on the outside are:
Vulva
The area of soft skin between a females legs.
Clitoris
Small organ made of nerves and tissue.
At the top where the lips join.
Only the tip is on the outside, the rest is hidden
inside.
Sensitive to touch. an feel tingly and
pleasurable.
Urethra
!ot a se" organ.
Tiny opening that urine comes out from the
bladder.
Inner and Outer Labia
Soft folds of skin that cover the inner parts
#row darker and bigger at puberty.
Anus
$etween the two cheeks of the buttocks.
%t is where bowel movements come out.
Vaginal opening
&ntrance to the vagina.
Hymen
Thin piece of skin that may cover part of the
opening to the vagina.
Often small or missing.
The parts on the inside are'
So #hat are periods and #hy do they happen?
0irls are born with hundreds o thousands o tiny eggs' called ova 3 one is called an
ovum.
!hese egg cells are only hal ormed.
&t puberty' hormones tell the ovaries it is time to start releasing ova.
8sually one egg at a time matures 1develops2 and is released rom an ovary.
&t the same time' the uterus starts to grow a thick lining on the inside wall.
!he lining has lots o tiny blood vessels.
!he lining is there to protect and eed an egg that has combined with a sperm to orm a
ertili6ed egg.
When #ill I get my period?
.o one can tell exactly when it will start.
+any girls get some white or yellow stu on their underwear.
It is mucus and tells the girl that her period is coming sometime within the next year.
Ho# long #ill the bleeding last?
"ach emale is dierent. It can vary rom 9 3 ( days.
:uring a period we only lose a ew tablespoons to about hal a cup o blood in that time 3
not a lot.
Fallopian tubes
!arrow tubes between the uterus and the
ovary.
Ovaries
#lands that make egg cells and female se"
hormones.
Uterus
Sometimes called the womb.
'uscular organ about the si(e of a pear.
)here developing baby, called a fetus, grows
and is fed.
)here the period comes from.
Cervi
The lower part of the uterus.
'akes mucus to keep sperm alive.
*as opening where sperm enter uterus and
where the baby comes out of the uterus.
Vagina
)arm, soft, moist passageway joining outside and
uterus.
Ho# o(ten #ill I get a period?
&t irst there may not be any pattern to when you will get your next period.
Some women never have a regular pattern.
+ost women eventually have a regular cycle 3 they know approximately when their next
period will happen.
!he length o a cycle is rom the irst day o bleeding one month to the irst day o
bleeding the next time it happens.
"ach person is dierent so some women may have a period every ;9 days' some every
;( days and some every 9< days.
Will it hurt?
!he bleeding is like a nosebleed 3 we don5t know it is happening until we become aware
that we have blood on our underwear.
Some girls get cramps 3 tight pains around the uterus 3 beore and or a day or two
during their period.
Some girls get cramps every period' some once in awhile and some never.
I you get them' talk to your mom or another woman about what to do or them.
Will people $no# #hen I get my period?
.ot unless you tell them.
!he blood usually dribbles out a bit at a time' it
doesn5t gush out in a puddle.
What do I do #hen I get my period
/emales use pads or tampons to catch the blood that comes rom the vagina.
Sanitary pads are made o material that absorbs the blood.
+ost have a sticky strip on one side to hold the pad to the underwear.
=ads come in a variety o si6es and shapes.
& tampon is a small plug o material that its inside the vagina to absorb the blood.
Some girls like to use tampons' especially i they are doing physical activities.
Some girls only use pads.
People say you get PMS #ith periods% What is it and #ill I get it?
=+S stands or premenstrual syndrome.
Some emales start to eel weepy' >headachy? and bloated.
%eore and when their period comes. It happens because the hormones are changing.
Some emales never have =+S.
"veryone is dierent@
I this happens to you talk to an adult you trust.
So #hat about )reasts?
Aots o girls eel nervous when their breasts start to grow' other girls are
thrilled.
Bour genes determine the si6e and shape o breasts.
!he si6e does not aect how much milk a mother can make to eed a baby.
!he irst thing you may notice is a bump behind the nipple.
!hen there will be swelling underneath
!he nipple are gets darker.
%reasts grow slowly and one side may be bigger or awhile.
!hey may eel sore at times while they are developing.
*o I ha&e to #ear a bra?
!hat is up to you.
Some girls never wear bras.
Some girls eel more comortable wearing one.
Im #orried that I #ill get (at #hen I go through puberty% +an I stop it?
/emales5 body shape changes and hips widen to make more space or a etus to
develop.
&t puberty' both guys and girls gain weight and develop dierent strengths.
0uys put on more muscle. Compared to a girl o the same height' weight and build' the
guy may be able to lit more weight and run aster.
0irls build up >adipose tissue? 3 at' which is energy stored in our body in our upper
arms' breasts' thighs and buttocks.
"nergy is needed or breast eeding and looking ater a newborn child.
0irls can survive things' like hunger and extreme heat and cold' better than a guy o her
si6e.
What about (eelings?
Bou may have mood swings 3 happy one day' sad the next.
Bou may love your riends or amily at times and not want to have anything to do with
them at other times.
Sometimes you may eel grownDup' other times like a kid
!here may be lots o tears and arguments.
Changing hormones cause some o these eelings.
Se"ual (eelings
Bou may think about or have dreams about things such as:
Eissing someone
.aked bodies
%eing touched
/lirting
/alling in love
It could be someone your age' someone older' someone you know or someone you don5t
know like a celebrity.
It might be someone o your sex or someone o the opposite sex or both.
When emales get sexual eelings they can have a tingly eeling around their sex organs.
!he vagina gets wet.
Some emales touch their sex parts to get the intense eeling called orgasm. !his is called
masturbation. Some girls do it' some don5t.
Vocabulary
Puberty
Sex organ
Period
Sperm cell
Egg cell
Hip
ur!y
"rmpit
#enital
Pubic hair
Breasts
$ipples
%ood s&ings
Sex hormones
Pituitary gland
Testosterone
Estrogen
Heredity
#enes
Reproducti!e 'rgans
Vul!a
litoris
Urethra
(nner and outer labia
"nus
Vaginal opening
Hymen
)allopian tube
'!aries
'!a*'!um
Uterus
er!ix
Vagina
Blood Vessels
)ertili+ed egg
ramps
Pads
Tampons
P%S Premenstrual Syndrome
Bra
)lirting
'rgasm
%asturbation