Ever since I was little I wanted to get my belly button pierced. After begging my mom for a couple of years, she finally let me. I was so excited and decided to go to Libertyville Tattoo Studio, since it is nearby. One Friday me and my mom stopped by and they took one look at my belly-button and said it was too shallow, and they couldn't pierce it because it might reject. They even showed me nasty pictures of people with scars and big red marks on their belly buttons. I got really upset, but my mom said that she promised to take me and she did, so I would just have to be without it.
At A Glance Author anna Contact p_anna_1@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Tom Studio Jade Dragon Tattoo Location Chicago, IL Two weeks later I was looking through magazines and it had pictures of Britney Spears and Beyonce in it. Their belly button piercings looked so pretty and I decided that I am going to pierce mine by myself. So I the next day I took a needle and a regular earring and started piercing. My belly button got really red and started hurting more and more as the needle got farther in. I didn't give up though and kept on pushing the needle in until the pain became so sharp that I couldn't take it anymore. My stomach was also making this buzzing sound that was really scary. I just took the needle out and went to sleep. The next day I found this hard lump in my stomach.
A little after my self-piercing experience, which was the stupidest and most painful thing ever (don't ever do it!!!) I started asking my mom to take me again and after pleading with her she finally agreed. This time I picked a place in Chicago called Jade Dragon Tattoo, because a lot of my friends got their piercings done there and didn't seem to have any problems. My mom drove me over there and right away I started feeling sick. I was really nervous and told my mom that it's better to eat before you get it done. We stopped by McDonald's on the way and started driving again. I was sort of scared that they wouldn't let me do it just like Libertyville, but mostly I was scared about the pain factor. As soon as I got there I asked to go to the bathroom and this guy was just smiling at me. There I wanted to find a way to stick my stomach out so my belly button would look bigger. Five minutes later I came out, but they didn't really look at it before they pierced it so it was all good.
While I was in the bathroom this guy told my mom to fill out a form while he made photo copies of our ID's (in case there are any problems he could prove that our last names and addresses match). Then I picked out a barbel (a silver one with little diamonds on each side) and they told me to go sit down. I was sort of surprised that they didn't take me to a different room to pierce it, but didn't say anything. My piercer, Tom, told me to lie down in this "dentist chair" put my feet behind the bar and to stand up again. Then I had to tuck my shirt under my bra and get comfortable. While lying there I was watching him put on gloves take out a thick needle, and spray this paper towel with something. Then Tom rubbed this liquid on my stomach and I closed my eyes. I felt the needle go in (it felt like a sharp pinch), then he tugged on my belly button, put the barbell in and tightened it.
I was really surprised because he didn't mark my stomach and asked me where I wanted it. Tom didn't use the clamp either. As soon as he finished he told me to look at my new piercing and covered it.
We paid $95 and I also got an extra barbell and a Jade Dragon Tattoo cup with antibacterial soap, iodine, Bacitracin ointment, and alcohol swabs in it.
The thought of leaning the piercing really scared me, because I thought moving the barbell up and down would hurt a lot. It looked sort of weird moving it because you see this thick metal object in your stomach. Cleaning it did sting a little, but no big deal.
If you guys live near a Jade Dragon Tattoo studio I recommend you to go there, because they are really professional and the pain factor is minimum. I am even kind of glad that they didn't use the clamp because I heard that it hurts the most.
This was a great experience and if I had to I would do it all over again. I can't wait until I could switch rings because there are so many different ones I could wear. I just hope it doesn't take to long to heal and I can't wait until summer comes, so everyone could see it!