Like everyone else on this website, piercings absolutely fascinate me! I had been contemplating getting my navel done for the past couple years, but unsure as to whether I should get it. It was a foreign item in my body, one could get an infection, and one could get other diseases. Nevertheless, eventually, my attraction for piercings won out and I decided to get it done. Of course, I had to wait being as how my father is a bit on the "Don't pierce yourself or you'll look trampy" side and my mom was too nice to just sign the consent form for me. Therefore, I decided that as soon as I turned 18, I would get it done.
At A Glance Author Morbid Morsels Contact CrichtonFan1@yahoo.com When It just happened Artist J.C. (Or something like that. HaHa!) Studio The Electric Chair Location Huntington Beach, CA Meanwhile, my mom was still struggling with her weight. She felt ugly, fat, and just unappealing in every essence of the word. However, like the brilliant people we are, we came up with an idea. To encourage her weight loss, we agreed that she would get her navel done on the same exact day as me. To help justify the two piercings on the same day, she said it was her Mother's Day gift and mine was my birthday present. It was to be our bonding time!
Unfortunately, my mother had been battling with spouts of diverticulitis, which, if you do not know, means she got little pouches in her colon and they became infected when she ate things with small seeds. Around Christmas, my mom had to go in for surgery, to remove the damaged part of her colon. She was not allowed to eat any food days before the surgery and, because they kept pushing the date to a different day, she lost weight quickly. When she went in for surgery, they removed 18 inches. This surgery, in the end, helped her lose over 50 pounds! (Note: I am not condoning surgery or starvation in order to lose weight. Just merely stating that her surgery made her lose the weight that she had desired.)
On May 21, I turned 18. On May 22, my mom and drove to The Electric Chair with my little sister in tow. We had done research, we had gotten advice. We could have gone to the place where my stepfather got his tattoo done, or we could have gone to the place where my friend had her multiple piercings done. One offered a numbing solution, but the other one was cheaper. We settled for the numbing place, so we had a parlor to get the piercings done. We were prepared. (Let me state at this moment, I was so nervous about the piercing, I had to take a relaxant or I would have passed out WAY before all of this occurred.)
We went in, told them we wanted two navel piercings, paid for the two titanium rings, and went to the back. My mom was beginning to feel nervous and I was too, but not to the extent she was feeling. We had to wait in the back for a couple minutes while we filled out the forms. Ironically, despite my age, I had no ID so my mom had to sign consent on my papers to say that I could have this piercing. Ha! I found it comical that I had waited so long to get this done so I would not upset my father but still had to get parent permission in the end. The person who was piercing us was one of the longest working people there and owned the salon! Lucky us! There was another guy in there who was getting his lip done so we chatted with him until they called us behind the curtain.
Having discussed this earlier, my mum knew she was going to go first in the piercing. The cleaned her up, lined up the piercing (which took long due to scars from the diverticulitis surgery and her ovarian cancer surgery), then had her lay down. My sister whipped out her phone and began taking pictures. That was her job. HaHa! They clamped the skin, sprayed some numbing spray on her, and, right when I turned my head, the lady said, "Breathe in and out. Ok! You're done!"
I was so shocked when I turned around that my jaw had literately dropped! She put in the jewelry then, after making sure she was ok enough to stand up, let my mom inspect the piercing in the mirror.
"My botox hurt more than that!" I remember my mom saying!
Next was me.
She cleaned me up, lined me up (which did not take long because apparently I had "the perfect flap"), then had me lay down. I gripped my mom's hands tight while my little sister, Bekah, started the video. The lady clamped me, sprayed the numbing stuff on me, said the cliché phrase "Breathe in and out" and then I was done! I'm not going to lie and say it was completely pain-free. The clamp was a bit of pressure and I definitely felt the needle going in, but it was only a couple seconds of pain. It took me a little longer to just lay down because I felt dizzy, but stood up after a minute. When I inspected the piercing, I fell in love! I have heard how amazing a little jewel can make you feel, but in that second I saw the ring in my navel, I felt spectacular! I felt sexy, confident. I felt so positive about myself! I had waited so long to get this done, and it was finally over with.
We got the paper on after care, paid for the piercing, then went to the store to pick up the cleaning solution.
It's been two days exactly now and I have had no soreness whatsoever. It looks phenomenal! My mom's looks great too!
So, if you want to get your navel done, just do it. It really is nothing! (This coming from a pansy.) It was over quickly and I have not regretted it since. I love it and I love how it makes me feel.
Mom during piercing:
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n289/FrenchLollipops/IMG00117.jpg
Me (Clamping and after):
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n289/FrenchLollipops/l_d4700186497c43a5adda7810c9cd9037.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n289/FrenchLollipops/l_c8782edeadff4502ade2d0685e89076b.jpg