Having my belly done was one of those things I have always wanted to do, but I thought I never would, My parents would say no or I would just chicken out so I pushed it to the back of my mind and accepted it would never happen. Then the possibility popped up again when my friend Becca wanted it done. Things moved quickly on from there and before I knew where we were we were standing outside Taylors taking a deep breath.
At A Glance Author Naomi Contact Naomi@bme.anon When Three months ago Studio Taylors Location Basingstoke We had originally wanted to go to Area 51 a piercing studio just down the street, however the age limit was 14 for navel piercing and even thought I would have just been old enough (by 3 days!) Becca wouldn't have been. Taylors was actually a salon but never the less was very nice inside. I would recommend Taylors to anyone, they where really nice and very professional. At this point we did not know where the piercing room was...
I agreed to go first, needless to say I was sooo nervous but my Mum was more nervous then me, she got my date of birth wrong on the sheet! JEEZ! Anyway every thing was going smoothly while they set up the room. One of the ladies told me the room was ready so I nervously trotted to the back room.
The actual room was small and cute and very clean. I stood up while they put a dot on my belly button, then they asked if the position was okay to be honest I was to busy crapping myself to have said anything if the dot was in the wrong place anyway...
I lay down on the table and they cleaned by tummy and asked me if I wanted it numbed, and I jumped at the chance! The piercer sprayed my tummy with something (No idea what it was!) and I could feel it fizzing away :D my belly button did feel numbed.
I was shown then needle so that I knew that it had come from a new packet, jeez the needle was quite big... I would say the thickness of a pencil and about 3-4in long. (heh my Mum winced when I told her that) I lay there staring at the ceiling trying to find some thing to look at while they pierced me. I didn't want to look! I felt the clamp go on, however this didn't hurt at all even though I had been told that the clamp was the worst bit! Then the needle followed. This bit DID hurt. People asked me afterwards how much it hurt and how to describe it. The only way to really describe it is a needle going through your belly button. All pain is different. I personally thought it hurt more then I thought it would. After all everyone had told me it was a pinch! I could feel the needle being dragged through but it was over in half a second. I felt the belly bar being pulled through and then done up. I can honestly say the only thing for me that hurt was the needle, how ever Becca said the clamp hurt and it hurt a lot when they screwed the ball on. I glanced down at my new belly! She did say it was bleeding a bit but that was totally normal and so I didn't think much of it. They put some menoline over it then I slowly got up. I was sorta worried I might suddenly faint... I was totally fine though as I bounded out of the room and past Becca who was looking increasingly nervous.
I went and sat down with my Mum who was looking rather worried. At this point my tummy was just hurting slightly. The main pain was getting it pierced, the rest was easy. A little after Becca came out looking rather pale. The Piercer started to talk to us about after care then Becca announced that she felt faint and she quickly sunk into a chair. Everyone ran off to get water and biscuits and a cold flannel. Becca's sight then went blurryfied while we all sat there being very worried... I honestly thought she was allergic to the metal and that soon I would go dizzy. I think Becca blacked out for a while, she just stared into space. This only lasted for about 10 minutes thankfully! After that we got our cleaning sprays and went our separate ways.
So when I got home I took of the plaster I was given, there was only a small amount of blood on the plaster, and the actual piercing was bleeding a small amount so I just cleaned it up and left it. It slowly carried on bleeding but I just cleaned it out and by later on it had stopped bleeding and I assumed that would be the last of it.
I carried on looking after it, cleaned it, and then went to bed. I woke up in the morning to find that it had started bleeding again in the night. I got up and cleaned up my belly, which carried on bleeding through the morning and I UNWISELY went to school knowing it was still bleeding. It went through a vest top, and my school shirt. As I went through the morning I began to feel worse, I felt like I was going to be sick. After many trips to the ladies room to clean up my belly I gave up and just went home. At this point I really did feel awful. I was pale and woozy. Everyone said it was loosing the blood, but I think it was the combination of not sleeping 'cause of the bleeding, not eating that morning, and having to stare at my own belly dripping blood all morning. I got home and pulled off my school clothes, by this point looked like I had been shot through the stomach! It was still bleeding quite a lot, I admit I under estimated the amount it was bleeding! I thought the only way to stop it would be to just lie down. So I lay on the sofa watching kids TV all day until I dragged myself off the sofa to check my belly.
It finally stopped bleeding and I cleaned it up. After that it has not bled since, and this was nearly 3 months ago. My piercing has actually healed quite well and I have had no problems with it since then. The only complaint I have is that the bar constantly turns around, so that the jewel faces the wrong way, but I can live with that. ;-)
I am waiting to find out if it was worth it, when summer comes along. I admit, if I had known it was going to bleed I would have had it done, I just would have avoided school! Any way, my advice to anyone who wants to get it done is make sure you are sure before you do, cause I admit for a split second I regretted having it done when I thought about all the after care (cleaning 2x a day for 6 months). And go with a place that some one else has recommended. I recommend Taylors /Area 51 if you live in or around Basingstoke. Don't be put off by my experience however; as this has not happened to anyone else that I know, it's probably Smiths luck! (My mate Becca is a Smith too...)
:P
Good luck to you all.
x Naomi x