| At A Glance | |
| Author | MinervaJane |
| Contact | MinervaJane@bme.anon |
| IAM | MinervaJane |
| When | It just happened |
| Artist | Self |
| Studio | Home |
Healing the Mess
Where the above experience leaves off is where I'll begin here. The healing process from the initial piercing was extremely rough but my continuous care and excellent cleaning habits proved to be more than a match for the infection that developed. The days after I wrote that experience were scary because the area was red, swollen, and pus-producing. The first sea-salt soak drew out so much nasty stuff I was both revolted and relieved at the same time. A few weeks after this horrible piercing occurred I began to feel more optimistic about its healing.
It was pierced with a 10-gauge needle but a 12-gauge CBR was put in due to the incompetence of the piercer. I soon noticed during my daily cleaning regimen that there was substantially more room than the 12g ring required. Once the infection had abated to my satisfaction I put the intended 10g ring in. No problems at all. It went in the space where it belonged like, well, it belonged there. Now I had two matching rings in my navel. It was good.
Not Stretching, but Getting Bigger
I continued with my soaking and cleaning for a month more and noticed that, through no effort on my own, there was still room for more ring. The 8g CBB went in with zero resistance. Followed by 6g and then a 4g. No resistance at all was experienced at this time. There was no pain, no "stretching," no problems. The amount of time between sizes varied from 2 weeks to 4 weeks.
During this entire process I never set any goal for myself for this piercing. My driving purpose was to fill in the gaps. Once I realized how easily I was able to stretch, and especially after the tough time I had with my lobes, I thought it would be a shame to waste this opportunity. After all, how often do we run into a situation where our piercings seem to stretch on their own?
The Stretching Begins
The real stretching began when I decided to try for a 2g. I borrowed a 2g CBR from my good friend Amber and started trying for this goal. I wasn't able to get it through right away and didn't want to force it through, which I really could have but didn't want to face the negative consequences (tearing, blood, infection, trauma ... ) so I decided to try something else. I was able to squeeze a 14g ring in the space along with the 4g ring. I was able to wear this for one day, rotating the small ring throughout the piercing so as not to stretch lopsided, and exchanged it for a 12g ring the next day. This wasn't entirely without pain but it didn't tear or really fuss at all. More of the typical burning sensation that accompanies stretching piercings. It was really interesting to see it stretching to accommodate the extra ring. It was very tight at first but by the time 24 hours had passed it had relaxed. After all of this, the 2g went in with no problem. I wore it without its ball and used 2 o-rings instead.
The Final Stretch(es)
The weight from the 2g ring was really quite annoying. While it looked nice, the ring pretty much lay on my inverse navel piercing (now at 8g) and it was not only irritating but it was painful. The constant rubbing and weight reminded me of their existence and I prefer to not feel parts of me moving around as I live my life. Another negative aspect of this situation was the loud clanging of my rings when I moved around, especially when I wore dresses to my conservative college job. I heard a few co-workers wonder, "What's that noise?" as I walked by. I decided soon enough to transfer my easily stretched 2g piercing to a 0g solid plug.
This was accomplished in the same exact way as the 2g was. This time, however, the going wasn't quite so nice. I did the same formula – 14g first, followed by 12g a day later. This proved to be too sore so I simply took it out and let it rest for a week. The next time I tried it, it worked. I was so happy to have a substantial piece in my navel. I was nearly euphoric at how far I'd come. This didn't compare to today, when I attained a 00g navel.
The Last Straw ... or Pen
Let's back up just a few days when one could find me hacking off the end of a ballpoint pen in my kitchen, desperate for a solid object to push through my navel. Wearing a plug, solid at that, wasn't enough to stretch anything, so there was no way I could get any other rings in the piercing itself. The 00g plugs I have are hollow. Rifling through my "junk" drawer one night, in the grips of the "modification bug," I came across an ink pen which would hopefully put me in the right direction. It was bigger than 0g but not quite as big as 00g.
After a little painful pushing, it went through. The site was bright red and very sore. I fixed it with o-rings and wore it for perhaps a day, then decided to give it up and resort to 0g for awhile longer. That's when I discovered I could slip a 14g ring in besides my plug ... and you can guess how it ended. Today was the last of my 12g + 0g activities. Just a few hours ago I got the 00g plug in.
Now that's elation!
I felt like I did when I graduated from college. Ok, not quite that excited, but I really feel like I accomplished something big. To some it may be just a navel, but if you could have seen the butchery that brought this to be in the first place you'd be amazed. It's really interesting to see through my navel; if I suck in my stomach (come on, I have 2 kids!) I can see the floor through my flesh. Now that's something to call home about.
