What is scarier than 30 missed calls from mom?
A late period.
Unless of course, you are trying to conceive. In which case a late period is an extremely positive sign.
But What If I’m Late and Don’t Want to Be Pregnant?
Here’s the thing with periods. Our anatomy doesn’t stop surprising us. You may have been menstruating for 15 years and could still experience an unexpected change in your cycle.
At 13, I expected to have regular periods sometime soon. At 25, I’m still hoping the same thing. So while some of us are never late, others are never on time.
There are quite a number of reasons for a late period that are NOT pregnancy so you don’t need to worry just yet.
Women can be days or weeks late without being pregnant. We can also completely skip one or two periods for no apparent reason.
But if you’ve had unprotected sex and the waiting time for your period is making you anxious my advice is go pee on a stick.
Or two.
And find out for sure.
One of the most common reasons for a late period – that isn’t pregnancy – is stress.
If you’re stressing out over a missed period you could be actually stopping yourself coming on. Seriously, our bodies are so weird.
Stress can dysregulate the balance of hormones in your body which often times results in your reproductive system taking a break.
There are many things that can disturb the balance of hormones in our bodies and cause a delay in ovulation and a late period.
Sometimes you may feel like your body is a little different.
Some woman can tell they are pregnant even before they have missed a period.
But it’s always better to make sure with a test if your period is late and not your intuition.
So whether you are just starting out on this magical journey of flowering and turning into a woman, or you’re 35 years old with the menstrual experience of a lifetime, know this.
Your period can surprise you by showing up late and when it does you’ll be able to be 100% certain you’re not pregnant. Until that point you won’t know unless you take a test.
Sources:
- https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/why-is-my-period-late
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stopped-or-missed-periods/
- https://www.webmd.com/women/why-is-my-period-so-random#1
- https://www.familyplanning.org.nz/advice/periods/late-and-irregular-periods