I'm only 15. My period has been irregular -- sometimes for two days or seven, sometimes a month apart or two months. The doctor said this was normal. In December, my boyfriend and I started to have sex. and we don't always use a condom. Now my period is more irregular than ever. I had one in December, one in February, and one in March. Now I am discharging a lot of "gooey" liquid. It is white/yellow and just gooey, not at all like cottage cheese (so, not a yeast infection). My last period, in March, was a mixture of the blood and the liquid. What is going on? For a while I thought I was pregnant, but I have symptoms (such as breast tenderness).

--I.

NUMBER ONE: NEVER, EVER HAVE SEX WITHOUT A CONDOM, EVER! You are playing Russian roulette with two things -- pregnancy and your life. The group of people with the fastest growing rate of HIV infection are your peers -- teenagers engaging in regular heterosexual sex. Contracting HIV may still carry with it a sentence of eventual death from AIDS.

Number two: You may still be pregnant. Not all women who are pregnant experience breast tenderness, nausea or other symptoms. You need to have a pregnancy test.

Number three: That discharge may be bacterial vaginosis, or it could reflect a sexually transmitted disease such as gonorrhea or chlamydia. Either of these infections, if left untreated, could damage your tubes, making it difficult for you to become pregnant later in life. They can also cause you to become very ill now, perhaps requiring hospitalization and intravenous antibiotics or even surgery. You need to pay a visit to your doctor right away. He/she can test you for sexually transmitted diseases if you need to be treated.

Number four: Irregular cycles for the first year or two after you begin to have periods is very common. All the mechanisms that ensure monthly ovulation may not be in place yet, so periods may be irregular. Mother Nature, however, can be tricky -- you may ovulate sometimes when you aren't expecting it. It only takes one egg meeting up with one sperm to make a baby.

You need to see a gynecologist -- NOW. You also need to examine why you are engaging in such risky behavior. Your self-esteem must be low if you do not care enough about yourself to insist that your boyfriend use a condom every single time you have sex.