From the time I was 14, I have wanted my nipples pierced. It was influenced by someone who means a great deal to me, and it is something that has stuck with me for the past almost 8 years.
At A Glance Author she_could_choke Contact she_could_choke_@hotmail.com IAM she_could_choke When It just happened Artist Smitty Studio Big Brain Productions Location Omaha, NE As of January 20 of this year, I will have had my horizontal nipple piercings for a year. Shortly after getting them done, I got the overwhelming urge to have them pierced vertically, too. I reviewed experiences, browsed pictures, did loads of research. I had decided that for my 21st birthday, I would get them pierced. Under the circumstances, things didn't work out the way I had hoped. Friends asked me repeatedly what I wanted for Christmas, and I told them all the same thing: I want my vertical nipple piercings. Now, some friends would be a bit put off by the subject, but not mine. They just rolled their eyes and would say "Figures".
Christmas came and went, and still no vertical nipple piercings. I'd had both my nostrils pierced a few months prior, and was itching for some new metal. I hadn't gone to work this past Friday, and was at home, waiting to hear from a friend about plans for the evening. my mobile rang, and upon answering, I was greeted with "Is Smitty working tonight?" this question caught me a little by surprise, seeing as how I hadn't been to see him in a few months. I replied with an unsure tone and was told to call the shop and check. So, tentatively, I rang Big Brain and asked if Smitty was in. after some confusion with the counter girl, she told me that yes, he was working, and if that was all. I told her no thank you, and hung up. Rang my friend, James, back and told him that yes, he was working, what was he thinking about doing? That's when he told me to get ready; he would be picking me up in about fifteen minutes. Puzzled, I donned my hoodie, coat, and scarf, and walked out my front door as he pulled to a stop in the driveway. I opened the door and got in the car, putting my seat belt on. I said hello, and asked what was going on. He smiled, and told me that I was "Getting my damn Christmas present". I sat there, a little shocked, and a smile spread across my face. This was followed by the butterflies I always get in my tummy at the knowledge that I will soon have a brand new piercing.
We motored down the icy street, our breath coming in puffs of white in the dark interior. I selected Every Time I Die 'Hot Damn!' from the black nylon CD case, and pushed it in to the stereo. My feet were going, non-stop, bouncing with the beat. My jaw clenched and unclenched between lyrics, and my mind was all a buzz. I tried to recollect the feeling of having them pierced the first time, but nothing came to mind, I drew a complete blank. James laughed and asked if I was ok, I was rocking the car back and forth. I smiled, assured him this was normal, and continued to gaze out the window.
We crossed the bridge, Omaha coming in to plain view, the buildings in the Old Market rising up against the black. We took the turn off, turned left at the stop light, down a couple blocks, then a right on Jackson. My heart began to hammer in my chest as we looked for a close parking place. Anyone will tell you that on a Friday night in the Old Market there isn't exactly an open parking place near ANYTHING. We motored around the block once, and upon our second trip down Jackson, a car was pulling out of a space, right across the street from the shop. We waited, parked, and I took one last, deep breath before opening my car door to fill my lungs with the icy air.
We nipped across the street and in to the shop, my teeth chattering. The shop had changed since the last time I was in. before, they had books and posters for the tattoo art work and piercings, a couple couches, and paintings. The one that had always been my favorite, a 2-piece blue and white painting that had hung by the front door was gone, replaced by one large canvas in dark shades. The walls were lined with computers and bar stools, each computer housing the plethora of pictures and information that their books used to provide. The one remaining sofa, which looks oddly like the one in my living room, was vacant, so we took our seats. There were a few new people behind the counter, and a dozen or so customers lined up to be helped. We sat, observed the new look of the place, and chatted a bit. A few more people walked through the front door and joined an already large party of waiting customers. Smitty came out to the counter, asking his crew who was next. They pointed out a girl standing nervously by the counter, and he told her to come on back. He looked over and caught my eye, smiling, signaling that he would be back up. We looked at the new collection of paintings on the walls, me wanting just about all of them to hang on my own walls, and talked some more. James wanted my opinion of him getting a medusa or a horizontal lip piercing. I recommended the medusa, as he had already had a failed vertical lip piercing some months earlier. Smitty collected another group of awaiting patrons, and disappeared in to the back. My tummy had started rumbling, and it was then that I realized I hadn't eaten all day. James mentioned something about being hungry, too, and we discussed where to eat after we left the shop. Smitty appeared again, and took a seat at the counter, asking his counter help who was in line next. One of them pointed to us and told him that they thought we were waiting for him. He laughed and beckoned me over. "What are you thinking about doing?" he inquired, as per usual. I told him that I was looki "\Ãw€ë ng to get my nipples pierced again, but vertically. He smiled and said no problem, but he had a girl wanting her tongue pierced, and he wanted to get that out of the way first. I told him no problem, and he said he would be right back. James had walked over to where Smitty and I were by now, and we took seats at the counter. Smitty took the soon-to-be owner of the new tongue piercing and her gaggle of onlookers to the piercing room. Then my mobile started ringing. It was another friend of mine, Adrian, wanting to know what was going on. I told him that at the present, I was engaged, and would have to let him know after. Smitty reappeared yet again, handed the very shocked looking girl off to the people behind the counter, asked Colin to hand him two 14g barbells, and told me to come on back.
I got to my feet, taking a deep breath, and followed him to the back room. He asked what I thought about the new look of the shop, and I told him I loved it. He had talked about it the last time we were in, telling me that I was going to be enlisted to help when they needed it. We walked in to the little room, and a sudden calm took over me. He took his seat and I took mine, the dentist-esque chair looking so inviting. We sat and started talking again, about anything and everything, like always. He had closed the door and pulled the curtain for the added privacy, so it was getting a little stuffy in the tiny room. James asked him if he would be able to get some labret studs from him, so he could replace the CBB's on each side of his lip. Smitty said no problem, pulled the curtain, and hollered up to Colin, asking if he would get him a pair, then pulled the curtain shut again. We continued to talk, and a few minutes later, Colin's hand shot from under the curtain, dropping the studs in Smittys's hand.
We talked for a good 15-20 minutes when he pulled on his gloves and scooted as close to me as he could. "Alright, let me see, baby," he said. Smitty hadn't done my first nipple piercings, and the experience was pretty much entirely uncomfortable. The guy who did them was very quiet and it just made for an entirely undesirable situation, especially when having to take my shirt off in front of him. This time however, I had no problems with it. I asked to leave my hoodie on, because I was freezing. He laughed and stated "That's ok, you are about to get colder. Besides, that makes my job easier!" I laughed and was put at ease. I lifted my shirt, unhooked and lifted my bra, leaving my hoodie partially zipped. We continued to talk, which is an odd sort of thing to do with a guy who has his face just inches from your breast while drawing on it with a purple pen. He made the marks, starting with the left one, and recommended that I get new jewelry for my left horizontal. I discussed with him the issue I had with wearing a barbell in it, and he told me to try it and come see him if I had problems. He then marked the right one and sat back took make sure everything was as it should be. He reached over to pick up the barbells and sighed. "Hrmm, I'll be right back, he gave me curved ones. Here," he tore of a piece of paper towel, "cover up." he smiled and went up front. I laughed and sat back, relaxing even more. There is just something about him that puts me at complete ease when I go see him. Even the very first piercing of mine that he did was completely comfortable.
He returned, sat down, changed his gloves, and measured the straight barbells he brought back against my nipples. We talked a bit longer, he got the clamps, needles, and jewelry all set out and ready. He rolled the needles in the petroleum jelly I have come to appreciate with piercings, and changed his gloves yet again. He took out my horizontal jewelry and clamped my left nipple, tediously placing it just perfect over the marks. I've been told, over and over, that the second time you pierce your nipples, you feel it a lot more than the first time. I took a breath and he pushed the needle up through my nipple from the bottom. I squinted up my face and my breath caught, but it didn't hurt. It was an odd feeling; it was like I actually FELT it that time, where as last time, it didn't feel like much of anything. He put the jewelry in the end of the needle (thank goodness, since it was externally threaded) and pushed it through, which produced a small pinch. "Awesome, baby." he assured me as he put the ball on the end. I exhaled and looked down. "Wow, that's my blood..." I said, kind of dazed, and looked away. He laughed and cleaned it up a bit for me. The top was bleeding, but not the bottom. Then he took the horizontal jewelry and tried to slide it back through. This was a VERY uncomfortable thing. It just didn't want to go back through. He put the petroleum jelly on it and tried again, and I could feel it against the vertical one. That was an extremely odd feeling, not bad, just strange. This produced some blood from the horizontal one that he carefully cleaned off for me. He asked if I could feel them rub together when he put it through. I told him yes, I could, but it didn't bother me. I could just feel it, it didn't hurt. He told me that he has a couple piercings that he can feel rub together under his skin, so he knows how odd it is, and told me to watch it, and that if it was sore then to come have him look at it.
He then moved to my right one. Removed the horizontal jewelry and tediously placed the clamps over the marks, adjusting and readjusting so it was just perfect. When he slid the needle through this time, I definitely felt it. I took a sharp intake of breath and held it. It throbbed somewhat, but there was no red with this one. He pushed the jewelry through and put the ball on the end. "Good job, baby, awesome" he said, smiling up at me. I smiled back and licked my lips; my mouth had gotten very dry. He pushed the right horizontal back through with no problem and put the end on that, then sat back to look at his work. He smiled at me, "They look fantastic!" I smiled and looked at them, falling totally in love with them all over again. I messed with the new barbells a bit, wiping some blood from the top of the left one. I stood to look at them and just smiled. I put my bra and shirt back on, the pressure against them feeling wonderful.
He then called James over and told him to sit down. He took the ends off the labret studs and pushed one through James lip. When he went to put the end on it, he laughed and handed it to me. I looked at it and laughed. It had a little multi-colored jewel set in the end of it. He opted them out for plain ones and told me to toss the other one. I asked him if he had any 8g septum retainers that I could purchase, and he told me that he wasn't sure, he would have to look. Colin came back and told him that he had another line formed up front. We walked up front and he asked Colin to look for an 8g septum retainer for me. He told me he wanted to talk, but he did have a line going again. We said our goodbyes and told him that we would be back in soon to chat.
He was on the way to taking another person to the back room and Colin asked me if he had given me a price. I laughed and told him no, he never does till the last minute. He hollered back and Smitty smiled, saying "oh yea..." he stood, looked at me, then at James, then at me again. He told Colin the price for each of us, smiled and disappeared in to the back room. We paid, thanked them again, and left the warm of the shop for the icy air of the street.
It's now two days after and they are doing wonderfully. The left one bled a bit now and then up till the next afternoon, but hasn't since. I even took the horizontal out and put it back in with no pain. I'm going today to get a straight barbell for it. I've just been doing my normal routine of cleaning with soap and water and soaks, and they are doing fantastic.
I say this every time, and I will continue to say it. Anyone in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area looking for a place to get a modification, stop in and see the folks at Big Brain Productions on 13th and Jackson in the Old Market. Everyone there is great. I have 10 beautiful piercings from there, and intend on having more. The shop is always clean and inviting, and now they have an even easier way of looking at their work. It's a great place, awesome people, and wonderful work. You can't ask for much more.