Although I've been interested in piercings for about the last eight or nine years, it was a little less than two years ago that I started really into them (mostly because, as of two years ago, I was finally over 18 : ). I had eight piercings, not counting my earlobes, and absolutely loved them to death. My boyfriend at the time was also really into piercing, and we got along great. Unfortunately, after our relationship of more than a year ended pretty abruptly, I became sick of my piercings. They only reminded me of him and how much I was loving/hating him at the same time. So they all went, except for one. My nostril, my snakebites, my septum, my eyebrow, my two cartelidge piercings.. all gone. I kept my navel only because it was so unnoticeable.. I don't find myself looking at my belly button a lot : ).
At A Glance Author Kittiann Contact Kittiann@bme.anon IAM kittiann When It just happened Artist Monte Studio Dr. Jack's Ink Emporium Location Omaha, NE Well, after I got over the whole breakup, I started to feel pretty stupid about removing all those piercings. I had loved them so much, (and paid quite a bit of money for them!) and yet I took them out with hardly a thought. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I still had a huge love for body piercings, and wanted to get some back. But I also wanted to wait until I was completely over this breakup, just to make sure that I didn't make any more stupid mistakes. I've been dating my current squeeze for a little more than eight months, and he's made me feel totally at home with myself, and at peace about my bad breakup. I felt that I was finally ready to take the plunge and reclaim something of myself that I had lost to the former boy.
So I began planning. What did I want done? I surfed BME for days and drew up my list.. everything I wanted and when I'd like to have it done. Originally, I planned on a double nostril piercing, but mentioned to my bf that it would be pretty awesome to get my nipples done. Of course, he immediately jumped on the idea. I still had every intention of getting my nostrils done when I set up a date for my piercing - the third of November. Unfortunately, funds and timing just wouldn't work out, and I ended up being unable to get to the studio until November 26th. By then, he'd managed to change my mind, and I was all set on getting my nipples done.
I've been to a few different piercing places before - the first I just went to with my ex when I didn't know anything about piercings, and it was pretty shady. After that, I started going to Big Brain because it was so highly recommended. Unfortunately, the place just feels awkward now since my ex and I spent so many piercing moments together there. So I had to decide upon a new studio. After realizing that Monte, one of the QOD staff members, had a studio right here in Omaha, I was pretty much decided. After reading a few experiences where he'd been the piercer, and checking out his IAM page, it was for sure. His old studio, Body Mods, and just recently closed down to free up his time, and now he's working at Dr. Jack's Ink Emporium. So I called up Saturday and made an appointment for the following day at 4pm.
I have a tendency to forget things and to mix up information when I'm excited. See, Monte works at two different locations, and I managed to get them mixed up. And so my bf and I went to the wrong one at 4 o'clock. After waiting around for awhile, the desk guy told us that Monte was down in Millard (a 15 minute drive), so we'd have to run down there. It was already 4:10 by then, and 4:25 was pretty late for my 4 o'clock appointment. So I called Monte and told him I'd be a little late, explaining my mistake and apologizing profusely. We drove down to Millard.. and god, Millard is confusing. We drove around trying to find the studio for about another ten minutes, finally locating it at about 4:35. When we got in, he was doing another piercing, so I filled out my paperwork and sat down in the lobby for a bit. Until then, I'd been too confused and excited and apologetic to get too nervous, but now that I was here and there was nothing left to do, the reality of my situation dawned on me. I'm going to have a needle shoved through my nipple, I thought. Holy crap.
Before I had time to change my mind, Monte was back out and talking to me. I just kind of nodded and let the desk guy tell him what I wanted done. Monte led my bf and I to the back room. I took my shirt off (I'd worn a halter top on purpose.. just untie the top and flip it down) and Monte cleaned and marked my nipples. He asked if they looked alright and I went to check.. I looked and realized I'd forgotten to tell him that I wanted diagonal nipple piercings. Yet another example of my crazy nerve-induced forgetfulness. He needed different jewelry then the rings he had with him, so I put my shirt back on and Monte ran out to his truck to grab his case full of jewelry. He came back and we discussed gauges.. he didn't have any 14g in the right length, and I didn't want to go with a 16g, so we settled on 12g. I was once again distracted by all these problems, and had forgotten that I was actually getting a frickin' 12g needle shoved through my nipples! Of course, once I thought of that, I was all nerves again. Monte cleaned and marked my nipples again, and I checked them.. they looked good to me, but in my state, how was I supposed to tell? I decided to trust his judgement. Then came the fateful moment. He asked me to lie down on the piercing table. I did, my face probably getting whiter and whiter the whole time. He asked if I'd had anything to eat that day.. which I had just an hour before, but I'm sure I didn't look like it.
He started to adjust the clamps, which seemed to take forever. Probably because I was dreading that needle getting closer to me. I didn't see the needles at all, thank god, or I probably couldn't have gone through with it. I hate needles, and 12g looks awful big when they're going to be going through your nipples. At last, he was ready. He told me that he had a very fast technique, so that it would probably be more startling than anything else. I was a little heartened. He asked me to take a deep breath in, and then a deep breath out, and all of a sudden this really sharp thing was pinching my nipple.. at least that's what it felt like. After the needle was through, it stung a little bit, but didn't really hurt that badly. I was rather pleasantly surprised by how little the whole thing hurt. He put the jewelry through, and it felt just like the initial piercing had.. a sharp pinch and then some stinging. Of course, there was still one more to go. He had me get up and switch to the other side of the table so that he wouldn't have to reach over me, and the whole process started again on my left nipple. This one hurt a lot more when the needle went in, but I didn't notice the jewelry going in at all. After that, I was all done. I was amazed. I hadn't even made a sound the whole time! I was at once proud of myself and in awe of Monte. I got up and looked in the mirror.. wow. It was a dream come true. I had always appreciated my breasts.. they're pretty small, but I'm okay with that. Big breasts are such a hassle : ). But now.. they just looked beautiful. I made a little squeal of happiness and turned away from the mirror, afraid to ruin the moment by picking out imperfections, like I tend to do. So I put my shirt back on, and headed back out to the lobby to pay.
Monte talked to me about aftercare.. he recommended H2Ocean, and included a bottle in his piercing price. I'm usually a LITHA girl, but I took it anyway. He rang up the price.. turned out to be $110 overall, which is pretty expensive.. but Monte's a great piercer and uses internally threaded jewelry, so I consider it to be worth it. I tipped him $10. I probably should have tipped more, but I still had groceries to buy that week. By the time we were out of the shop, it was probably about 5:20.. twenty minutes past usual closing time. I'm so thankful to Monte for being so understanding and allowing me to get my piercing even though he didn't really have time :).
So my bf and I began the fairly long drive home. For the first twenty minutes or so, every bump in the road was fairly painful, but after that the pain kind of disappeared and I drifted off to sleep. That night I slept in a bra like Monte had recommended, just to keep the barbells safe from snagging on things. It's been smooth sailing for the last few days, although I've got a long time yet to go before they'll be healed. I'll write another experience about the healing process, I promise, but I wanted to get all this down while it was still fresh in my mind. Thanks for reading, and happy piercing :).