3 days ago it was my 14th birthday. For several months now, I had been begging my parents to let me get my belly button pierced. I had researched everything possible about navel piercings, and put it together in a report that I gave to my dad which finally convinced him (my mom didn't really care whether I got it done or not). I even knew exactly where I wanted to get it pierced at, because I heard an advertisement for Stacy's on the radio.
At A Glance Author Vivian Contact fridasmask@hotmail.com When N/A Artist Billy Studio Stacy's Exotic Body Piercing and Tattoo Location Albuquerque
On my birthday, my mom scheduled an appointment later that day at the parlor for my piercing. I wasn't all that nervous until we got there. That was when I started having a lot of second thoughts. I knew that I could handle pain pretty well, because I've pierced my own ear lobes and cartilage before, but I thought that it would hurt a lot more than an ear piercing. I was really scared, but I saw how many piercings and tattoos the people working there had and that calmed me down a little bit.
Anyway, when we went into the parlor everything was clean, but kind of disorganized because they were remodeling. The guy that was going to pierce me told me to lift up my shirt so he could see if my belly button could be pierced, and he said that it looked fine.
Well after that I picked out the barbell I wanted, and Billy took me back into a medium sized room with several mirrors and cabinets, a couch and a dentist's chair. He told me to lean back in the chair and then started explaining about what he was going to do and aftercare and such, but I was so nervous I started to tune him out --I just wanted it to be over with!
Next he cleaned off my stomach with this yellowy stuff, and then after that I grabbed my boyfriend's hand (he and my mom were sitting on the couch) and Billy took some stuff out of a sealed plastic packet..He told me that they never used the cork, and that he wouldn't actually pierce me with the toothpick that came in the packet that it was just to mark my bellybutton with some purple ink so that he knew where to pierce me. After he marked my stomach he put the clamp on (which tugged my skin a bit, but didn't really hurt) and he told me not to crush my boyfriend's hand, and to inhale and exhale.
I closed my eyes shut, because I really didn't want to see the needle, and breathed like he told me to. I felt the needle go into my skin, but it really didn't hurt. It hurt worse when I was pinching myself before I got there to see what it would feel like when the needle went in. He told me that he was going to put the barbell in after that, and that didn't really hurt either. I was so relieved! He took off the clamps and told me to stand up so I could see the piercing in one of the mirrors. When I sat up, I freaked out because I thought that he had pierced it crooked, but it was just the way I had been sitting (after I stood up it straightened out).
Now it's 3 days later, and I've cleaned it out with antibacterial soap like Billy told me to, and I've also been doing the salt soaks. It didn't bleed when I got it pierced, I was actually wearing a white shirt that day and there wasn't any blood on it. It hasn't been crusty or oozy but I guess that's supposed to start tomorrow or the day after. The only times it hurts is when I lay on my stomach or accidentally touch it. When I got it pierced I couldn't bend over very well that day but that's all. I didn't feel light headed or anything either, like I know some people do.
If you get your bellybutton pierced, don't touch it or clean it with alcohol or Neosporin because that's bad...my friend did that and her's got infected (not pretty!) Hers also bled a lot, so I thought that mine might too but now I realize that everyone's belly button is different..after all some people can't even get a piercing on top because of the way their belly buttons are shaped.
If you live in Albuquerque, I think that Stacy's is a good place to go to because everything is nice and clean and the people that work there are professional and really nice. The guy that pierced my navel had like 20 years of experience too or something...well anyway it's a good place to go to, happy piercings. If you want you can e-mail me, too.