Understanding your cycle

Your cycle is more than the days you bleed. It runs from the first day of one period to the first day of the next, and most of what matters happens in between. Length varies between people and between months, and a cycle that is not exactly twenty-eight days is not a problem on its own. What is worth paying attention to is your own pattern: how long yours usually runs, how heavy the bleeding is, and whether that has changed. Tracking a few months gives you something concrete to bring to a midwife or doctor, which is far more useful than trying to remember.