Hey, all! I’m Saliha! I am going through something, something that I don’t usually share with other people, but I trust you girls here, so…

Recently my body has been changing. My boobs to be exact. They’re growing!

I wasn’t sure if that meant I was going through puberty.

So I asked my mum, and she replied comfortingly, “My dear, it means that you are growing up, you are now a teenager. Your hormones start to work, and when they do, your breasts will start to develop. You might feel kind of sore and tender around the area, but that’s normal. Once the budding begins, your breasts will begin to grow, which means you might need to start wearing a bra!”

Mum explained that every girl goes through this. And it’s only the start. Next you grow hair under your arms and around your vagina, your body shape changes and of course menstruation begins.

Mum told me that between the age of 8-13, our breasts will begin to bud slowly. Later, between 12-14 years, we may notice pain on or around the nipples, we might also be able to feel a firm bump underneath it. The bump is called a breast bud and it can be as small as a blueberry or a little bigger. At this stage, girls may start to wear a small bra.

Also, while menstruating, we might feel pain in our breasts, and that’s natural too!

Just like our fingerprints, our breasts are as individual as we are, they come in all shapes and sizes. Every girl is unique. So unique, that the right and left sizes can be different, some are big and others are small, and this is normal too.

Don’t take any notice of what you see on the television about the ideal body shape of a woman. We are all different and should be proud of that!

All you need to know is, all teenage girls will go through puberty. Some girls will experience this earlier than others, some might be late-bloomers. Don’t panic if you feel your breasts haven’t formed yet... And for those of you who have, don’t sweat if they’re mountains or molehills, what’s important is we grow healthy! Because we are all perfect in our own way!