i feel dumb 😳😭😩

autumn
so, my periods are anything but usual in regulation, and my symptoms are usually mellow. but I want to get on birth control to regulate it, so that I won't have to wear thin pads everyother day because I don't know when it's gonna happen, you know? well, I'm going to see my doctor later this
Month, for my lady bits and other stuff, and she suggested birth control but my problem is, I have no idea what birth controls is and what kinds there is. 
I have never been properly educated on bc, and I want to know what my doctor is suggesting before I go back. I know the general sense of what birth control is but I don't know much about it. can someone maybe explain this all to me?