So, last night (Friday), Michaela gave me an apadravya. Upon arriving at Gauntlet, I met r.a.b.'s very own Anne Greenblatt, along with two other r.a.b.'ers, Emily Breed and Pirate Nick. That raised the number in attendance to 6, as my SO and our San Fran. hosts Paul and Sarah were also in attendance. Neither Paul or Sarah or of the pierced ilk, and this was their first piercing-viewing experience. A helluva one to be your first, that's for sure.

We all entered the large piercing area and I dropped 'em. That's one great way to break the ice when you've just met someone. As Michaela noted, the whole "scene" somewhat resembled a cocktail party. Anne, Nick, and Emily were in one area and Jess (my SO), Paul, and Sarah were in another area, as Michaela removed my ampallang and PA jewelry, cleaned the area and talked about placement.

As I had no specific visions for the placement of the piercing, I left most of that up to Michaela. She marked a place, decided she didn't like it, and changed it. She then remarked it and I examined it in a mirror. I didn't think it looked quite centered, so we moved it to where I suggested. But then, upon further examination, that spot didn't look right. So, we "split the difference" and everything looked great.

Micheala then placed an insertion taper in my existing ampallang piercing just to be sure that there would be no pinching or rubbing between the two piercing. At that point we were ready to go. We talked about what position would be most comfortable (physically and mentally) for me. I then hopped onto the table.

At this time, my SO stood by my shoulder and rubbed it gently. At Michaela's recommendation, I opted to have someone stand at the end of the table and gently rub/stroke my ankles. Anne opted to do this, and did a great job. It felt great, and was incredibly relaxing. It was now time to have at it.

Michaela inserted the needle gently through the PA hole and I could feel it just touching the underside of my glans. She said when I was ready, inhale a large breath, and she would begin the piercing when I exhaled the breath. I wanted to watch the piercing, but knew in reality I couldn't. So, I closed my eyes, took a 2 or 3 small breaths, and then took the big one. I let it out, and then came the pain. I exhaled all of the first breath and inhaled and exhaled a small portion of another breath, and then it was done. We waited a few minutes, while I sipped on some water and Michaela and Anne enjoyed the contact buzz, and then inserted the jewelry. That also hurt a bit.

Painwise, it really wasn't that bad. It hurt, obviously, but was very manageable. Michaela did an amazing job of not only doing the piercing, but also helping me relax and finde a good frame of mind to be in. Even though I have a rather high pain tolerance and made it through an ampallang with realtive ease, I was still a bit nervous (Hey, piercers can be the biggest babies sometimes when it comes to getting pierced). Michaela was a true professional and very soothing and gentle throughout the whole procedure.

The only concern, or doubt, I had about the piercing was that I had to sacrifice my 6a PA. However even now, I think I'm glad I made the decision I did.

After the piercing, we went for some food and some talk. All in all, a very good evening. I only wish I would have gotten to spend more time with Anne, Emily, and Nick. Oh well, we are now planning to reconvene in San Fran. for the National Tattoo Tour convention.

The day after having the piercing done, I a total of about 5 hours on an airplane and about 3 hours on a bus, in addition to a large amount of time trekking through airports. The piercing caused no major discomfort. The most inconvenient thing was the sensation that my bandaging was slipping off, and a fear that I was going to begin spewing blood everying.

[NOTE: I edited this since it's original appearance on r.a.b.]

The truth though, is that I only had any "spotting" for 24 hours, and then a little dried blood during cleaning for the first week. It's now been a little ove a week since having the piercing done. It seems to be doing great. The soreness is, and was, very minimal. I should be ready to re-enter the intercourse arena soon. Masturbation has produced only minor discomfort with increased intensity of orgasms. Hopefully the SO will like it as much as others have reported.

All in all, the piercing experience itself was amazing, and the post-piercing experience has been one of much ease. Again, major kudos go out to Michaela Grey for a great job on the piercing. Also many thanks to Anne Greenblatt for great ankle-storking, and thanks to Nick, Emily, Paul, and Sarah for creating a friendly environment.

--
Derek Lowe (member, APP)
Steve's Tattoo and Body Piercing
Madison, WI
Tel: (608) 251-6111
http://www.inxpress.net/~piercer