What To Expect The First Time You Have Sex

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What To Expect The First Time You Have Sex
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For one thing, know that sex is awkward, and that’s okay.
Before we dive into all things first-time sex, let’s get one thing super clear: There is no “normal,” one-size-fits-all age, relationship, or situation in which to experience sex for the first time . Everyone has different comfort levels, life circumstances, and experiences, so however you’re doing it, trust that it’s what’s right for you as long as it’s all consensual. It’s also way past time to get rid of the whole “losing your virginity” narrative that’s been thrust upon women by society for hundreds of years (virginity is a social construct!), so let’s put that phrase to bed, like, right now.
“We have a lot of hype around penetration (especially first-time penetration ). We call it ‘losing one’s virginity’ or a more sex-positive spin, ‘making one’s sexual debut.’ However, making this the big event is both penis-centric and not inclusive of non-heterosexual sex,” says Lelo sexpert Laurie Mint, PhD , author of Becoming Cliterate . “I suggest instead we define one’s sexual debut as their first orgasm with another person .”
As Mint says, your sexual debut could be your first orgasm with another person or it could be anything you want it to be! Whatever sexual experience you have with someone else that you want to define as your “first time” is A-okay. You—and no one else—get to define it.
Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s talk sex. If you are nervous, confused, or anxious about the whole thing, know that it’s totally normal to feel all the things and that you’re in the right place. It’s your first time, so try not to put too much pressure on yourself to make it “perfect.”
“First-time sex does not need to be great,” says sex and intimacy coach Irene Fehr, MA, CPCC . “You don’t need to be great at it. It’s the first time of many experiences where you’ll learn about your body and making sex work for you. The key going into it is framing it as a learning experience and giving yourself grace and space to screw it up. Forgive yourself ahead of time for not knowing what to do. There is no way you will know how it works, what you want and what you like until you do it (and many times too).”
Remember, you’re not “losing” anything. You’re gaining an experience and learning about yourself, says Fehr. “And most importantly, focus on honoring yourself—which encompasses listening to your body and what it needs moment by moment—and asking for what you need such as slowing down, more lube , or more touch and kissing beforehand.”
So relax, breathe, and enjoy the process. To clear up any and all further confusion, we’ve enlisted the help of some amazing experts who will guide you as you navigate sex for the first time. You’ve got this.
It really depends. “When it comes to the first time, it is certainly common and normal for intercourse to be uncomfortable, and even painful—because it is the first time,” says Fehr, who compares pain during sex for the first time to pain in your body after trying a new sport, like running or weight lifting. “Your body naturally hurts the first time and it needs time to adjust to the new movement and experience. Having penetrative sex is just another way that you need to learn to use your body, and there will be an adjustment period.”
Psychotherapist Nicole Tammelleo says “hundreds of people” have told her that, when they had penetrative sex for the first time, it felt like their partner was “hitting a brick wall,” which isn’t what sex should feel like. Lube can help with this (more on that later), but if that doesn’t help get things running smoothly, you should consult your doctor or a gynecologist to see if you may have a condition called vaginismus , which makes it really hard for anything to enter the vagina.
“What is important here, however, is the distinction between short and long-term pain,” says Fehr. “Short-term pain is a sign you’re having a new experience and your body is not used to it. You might be sore. This kind of pain typically goes away after a few days. But long-term pain during intercourse signals that there are missing ingredients that your body is not getting to make sex work for you. It may be too fast and done too soon, before the body has time to get fully engorged on the inside. It may be that there is not enough foreplay or connection time together before sex and that the body is simply not ready. None of this means that you’re broken. It does mean that there is a missing ingredient, or potentially something that is causing discomfort from the inside.”
She suggests asking yourself what you need to make the experience safer, more relaxing, fun, enjoyable, and stimulating. What might your body be missing? Going slower? Being touched more sexually? Softer strokes? “All of this is part of self-discovery that takes time,” says Fehr.
However, if your vagina is burning , itching, or in serious pain during or after sex, talk to your doctor, especially if the sensation doesn’t go away quickly on its own or gets worse over time.
The myth that everyone with a vagina bleeds the first time they have penetrative sex is, as it turns out, very much not true. In fact, it’s very incorrect and pretty problematic.
Sure, some people do bleed the first time , and that bleeding is usually caused by the stretching of your hymen —a thin, delicate piece of tissue located just a couple of inches inside the vagina. But more than 50 percent of people don’t bleed their first time because the hymen can be stretched during regular, non-sex activities like jumping on a trampoline, riding a bike, or running around.
Also, bleeding after sex can happen any time in your life—not just the first time. Once again, you should definitely invest in some lube to make the experience just a whole lot more enjoyable.
Moving into penetrative sex, you might be wondering how something that size could fit inside you. The truth is, most vaginas are between three and seven inches long , but they’re actually super stretchy and can expand much longer and wider during sex (and childbirth). Very rarely, some penises won’t fit, but that’s why taking it slow is important.
As mentioned above, if intercourse feels uncomfortable (or like the penis is hitting a wall in your vagina), try a different position, slow things down, or try some manual or oral stimulation to increase blood flow to the vagina.
Nothing is more distracting than worrying about STIs and pregnancy during sex. Even if it feels awkward, it is so, so, so important to chat with your partner beforehand about what you’ll do to protect yourselves. Use a condom even if you’re on another form of birth control to protect you both from STIs. Feel free to check out local clinics like Planned Parenthood for free and affordable testing.
If there’s even the slightest possibility of sex potentially happening, you should already be prepared with a condom, suggests ob-gyn Tamika K. Cross, MD . Since condoms help prevent unwanted pregnancy and STIs, take responsibility into your own hands and don’t expect your partner to provide them. “Why put your faith in someone else’s preparedness?” says Dr. Cross.
So if you realize you need to order some, here are a few of our favorite condom options .
Sex is not synonymous with penetrative sex, and first-time sex does not have to be the first time your vagina is penetrated by a penis. The reasons this is such a common misconception is rooted in patriarchy.
“Keeping virginity has long been seen as the virtue because we’ve positioned sex (and our availability for sex) specifically for women as something that we do for men—and that includes safekeeping it for them,” says Fehr. “It naturally follows that maintaining your virginity for a future partner is valuable and desired. Shift this perspective to engaging in sex for your own experience and pleasure and having sex become something that you gain—an experience for yourself, your body, your intimacy with yourself and another person, vulnerability, pleasure, and so on.”
Mint says her favorite definition of sex comes from the Go Ask Alice! site , which is run by a team of Columbia University health professionals. Their definition of sex is:
“Ultimately, sex should leave you feeling like you gained something for yourself,” says Fehr. So yeah, it can look however you want it to look.
Despite what you might have seen in media, a P going in a V isn’t what sex is , and Mint says thinking that is actually pretty problematic for a number of reasons.
“The vast majority of people with vaginas don’t orgasm from intercourse alone, so this definition is very penis-centric,” she says. “Second, this definition is not inclusive of non-heterosexual sex.”
If you build up penetration so much, there’s a good chance you’ll be extra anxious heading into the experience. Instead, try to reframe your mindset, which might help you feel a little more at ease before trying any new type of sex.
Also, there’s no sex hierarchy where some acts are considered more “real” than others. One type of sex isn’t “more special” than other types. If you never want to have penetrative sex or oral sex or anal sex or whatever sex, don’t! There’s plenty of other types to experiment with, if you want to at all.
The best part about getting a gynecologist is you have someone to bounce sex-related questions off of, so utilize their knowledge. “Sex and sexual function are such big topics, and there’s often a lot of shame around them, but we can cover anything that’s going on,” Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, MD , an ob-gyn in Beverly Hills, previously told Cosmopolitan . “You deserve to understand your body, get good information, and have fun and enjoy sex.”
Plus, this is your go-to person for things like birth control , sexually transmitted diseases , and overall reproductive health, so you might as well get comfy with them. If you’re worried about them reporting to your parents, know that in most states, it’s illegal (even if you’re underage), but you can ask your doc before disclosing anything you don’t want to get back to your fam.
For people who are newly sexually active, know it’s an issue of a urinary tract infection (UTI) . “Sometimes there’s not enough lubrication, which causes irritation to the urethra, and intercourse pulls bacteria up into the urethra,” Felicia Lane, MD , director of female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery for the University of California, Irvine, previously told Cosmopolitan .
So yes, whether you use fingers, toys, or a penis for penetration, peeing cleans out your urethra after sex . As time goes on, your body becomes more used to fending off external bacteria, but it’s still a good idea to pee within an hour or two after sex, no matter how experienced you are.
Using lube sometimes gets a bad rap as a sign that you’re not turned on enough, but even if you and your body are saying “Okay, let’s do this!” a little lube can make sex s o much more pleasurable. Another benefit of using a water - or silicone-based lube with a condom (by the way, avoid oil-based lube, which can degrade latex) is that less friction means the condom is less likely to tear.
It’s important to practice good hygiene, especially if penetration is involved since bacteria can easily make its way up the vagina or anus. Always wash your hands before and after touching another person’s genitals. If this is your first time having penetrative sex, taking a bath or shower beforehand can help soothe you since the warm water can relax muscles. Additionally, afterward, you might feel like cleaning up to remove any condom residue or body fluids, but it’s a personal preference, so don’t feel like you have to.
The best thing you can do before you have sex for the first time: masturbate . “Take time to explore your own body and find out what you really like when it comes to how you like being touched, what areas feel pleasurable to you, and what areas don’t,” says sex and relationship coach Azaria Menezes . This can be super empowering and make room for lots and lots of pleasure when it comes time for partnered sex, she confirms.
Each person is different and preferences may even vary from day to day or mood to mood, says sex therapist and founder of Modern Intimacy Kate Balestrieri . “Don’t try to force anything just because you read about it in an article. Trust your own erotic truth, and let it be your guide to authentic pleasure.” Pay attention to what feels good over what you think is supposed to feel good.
Whatever face you’re making or how your stomach looks in any particular position literally does! not! matter! Focus, instead, on what you’re experiencing, what feels good, and the sensations of how exactly your partner is touching you. “The best thing to do is to ditch the idea of performative sex so you can make room for what really turns you on,” says Menezes.
Hopefully this goes without saying, but no need to schedule this like an appointment. Allotting only a certain amount of minutes in your day for first-time sex sounds like an unnecessary stress you shouldn’t pang yourself with.
“Give yourself time and go slow,” says Menezes. Have sex when you know you don’t have any plans afterward to make room for not only the sex itself, but cuddling. You may want to engage in some pillow talk too.
The sole purpose of sex does not need to be experiencing an orgasm, says ob-gyn Angela Jones, MD . Especially the first time you do it.
Sure, it’s great, and it should be something both partners actively work toward as they become more familiar with their own needs, but take the pressure off. Think about sex as a way to connect with your partner on a deeper level, via all its emotional and mental benefits. “An individual’s worth is not tied to whether or not they climax during sex,” says Dr. Jones.
Plus, an orgasm will probably come with time as you and your partner get more comfortable together. “Generally, being able to orgasm with a partner requires a high level of safety, trust and communication—again, things that might evolve and build over time,” says Fehr.
I know pop culture has ingrained in us all the need to moan and writhe with pleasure at every single touch, but do yourself a favor down the line and don’t set the bar for this kind of acting. Tammelleo says this is especially important the first time you have sex with a new partner. You don’t want to create any unrealistic standards, especially since many people with vaginas don’t have orgasms the first time they have sex with a new partner.
“If you fake an orgasm or tell your partner you had one when you didn’t, it’s harder to communicate your needs in the future,” Tammelleo says. Plus, once you get into the habit of faking, it makes it that much harder to stop, take a step back, and be like, “Actually, what you’re doing doesn’t rock my world as much as you think, sorry.”
Talking about sex with a new partner is a must. “ In order to have good sex, you need to communicate your wants, needs, and desires to your partner,” says SKYN sex and intimacy expert Gigi Engle . This includes talking about what this sexual encounter will mean to you, if you are in a casual or serious relationship, if you and/or your partner are planning on being monogamous, and whether or not you are sleeping with other people.
And don’t worry, you don’t have to bring up this convo the moment you match with someone on Tinder, but you should bring it up before you take that trip to pound town, says Engle. Also, after having sex, it’s important to spend some time chatting, reconnecting, and reflecting on the experience.
Whether it’s your first or fiftieth time having sex, the worst thing you can do is go into it with the assumption that you know everything about what your partner wants. No amount of slumber party gossip about blow jobs and giving massive hickeys can prepare you for what your partner is actually gonna be into.
The only way to find out is to ask them: Do they like oral sex, or would they rather leave that off the menu? Would they rather have the music on or off ? Lights on or lights off?
Not only does asking questions show your partner that you care, but it may also encourage them to do the same, making the whole experience better for everyone.
Not only should you temper your expectations going into it, but also keep in mind that when you’re looking back on the experience later, don’t beat yourself up about it. If you waited to have sex for the first time with a long-term partner only to break up in the future, don’t feel bad for sharing that experience with that person as long as you had consensual, enthusiastic fun in the moment.
No new partner needs a full report of your sexual history . Whether you’ve slept with 50 people or 0, that’s your business. Seriously, no one is entitled to your “number.”
However, getting intimate for the first time can be, well, intimate. If you feel like you’re withholding something important to you, it could negatively affect your overall comfort level and vibe. So if it feels right to tell them, tell them. If you’d rather not tell them, then don’t.
But keep in mind that if you tell someone you’ve never had sex before and they freak, then they’re probably not someone you wanted to be with anyway. They should take that as their cue to be even more communicative with you.
That’s absolutely okay. Remember that just because you start an activity—for example, sex—you don’t have to finish or continue it. You have the right to pause or stop whatever it is. No. Matter. What. Same goes for your partner, of course.
“Make sure you enthusiastically consent to each and every thing the two of you do together,” says sex therapist Vanessa Marin . “‘Enthusiastic’ is a key part of that sentence. Don’t just go along with something. Make sure you’re excited about it.”
Check in with each other as things progress to make sure you’re both enthusiastic about what you’re doing every single time. Just because you had sex once doesn’t mean you have to say “yes” every time.
A big part of enjoying sex is focusing on the sensations you’re feeling instead of, for example, your nervousness (which is totally common to feel your first time, even if you know you’re ready to have sex).
“Deep breathing is a fantastic way to let go of distracting thoughts,” Marin points out. As you’re taking those deep breaths, focus on how different parts of your body are feeling and how your partner’s body feels against yours—not just the obvious part, but their fingers in your hair, hands
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