My first period! I panicked.
Caught by surprise at school, I sat in the office while a school nurse called my mum Sharon, then 42, to pick me up.
Aged 14, I felt embarrassed to talk to my dad Brett, 40, and older brother Scott, 17, but I confided in Mum about everything.
A year or so later, I wanted to switch from pads to tampons, but trying to use them, I found it incredibly painful.
‘Maybe you’re just not ready,’ Mum soothed.
At 16, I left school and got a job in
