Note: This was not endorsed by my piercer, but I was given technique advice and a sterile packaged stud. My needle was bought from BME and was sterile.
At A Glance Author Emmie Contact calm_peer@yahoo.com IAM memmie When It just happened Artist Me Studio My Dorm Bathroom Location Buffalo, NY Today was the day! I randomly checked my mailbox for the millionth time this afternoon and there sitting in a little package was my piercing needle! I grabbed it, slammed the mail door shut and ran up stairs to tell Sarah. I was really hesitant about starting the procedure though, because I knew that Devin wouldn't like the outcome and he didn't approve of me doing this to myself anyways. But Sarah talked me into doing it anyways because screw it, this is my body, but if he really doesn't like it then I'll take it out, because relationships are all about give and take, right? So then I thought, should i wait for all the other hords of people who said they wanted to watch me do this? Nah, I decided because it might make me nervous.
So she and I gathered up all my supplies: clamp, tweezers, needle, jewelry, cotton balls, antiseptic liquid for the jewelry and clamp, Betadine, gloves, a pen and the surgical lube and trooped into the bathroom with my heart beginning to beat just a little faster. I laid out some paper towels and soaked a few cotton balls with the antiseptic liquid and rubbed down the clamps and tweezers, then wrapped the stud in a soaked cotton ball till I needed it. Then started the process of figuring out where I should put the holes. Using my piercer's advice, I lined up the front hole to the corner of my eye and at the point where lip turns to skin. That was no problem. The I blotted the inside of my lip dry, rubbed it with alcohol and examined for any major vessels. Detecting none, I tried using my tweezers as callibrators to see where the exit hole should be. We had to redraw the exit point so many times because first it was too low then too to the side, but then I used my clamps to help me and that worked. My clamps are NOT fun... I accidentally clipped them so tightly that it turned my lip blue and that was so painful, so I had to loosen it, but it still really hurt.
Ok, so holes drawn, trying not to drool, I squeeze out the lube onto the paper towel and roll the needle in it. I held the clamps parallel to the floor, pulling my lip out likewise and I held the needle against my skin and stared at myself in the mirror.
"Sarah, I can't do this."
I was beginning to really doubt myself. I wasn't afraid of the pain, but I didn't know if I was going to get the hole straight. But Sarah told me to tilt the clamp this way and that and helped me adjust my positioning of the needle to get it straight. I took a deep breath, and counted to three and paused. I balked again and Sarah was beginning to flip, but I was like, you know what, fuck this, this clamp is hurting my lip and i can always take it out if it's crooked, so I just shoved it part way through and encountered resistance. I paused to get a better grip on the needle, breathed again and shoved it the rest of the way through. I thought it was going to be easier to get it through, but oh well. I looked at myself in total surprise, half believing I just did that and Sarah was cheering. Mistake #1: I undid the clamp because it was hurting like a bitch at that point and the needle didn't even bother me half hanging from my lip.
Just then, the endorphine rush kicked in and I got REALLY lightheaded and I had to lay down on the bathroom floor because I was so nauseous, needle and everything, though I was holding it to make sure it didn't poke me anywhere. Sarah ran out to get something and I was just watching huge drops of blood drip onto an hand, so I snagged a paper towel to catch it as I lay there. It took several tries to stand up long enough without completely collapsing and to take the needle out. I tried to slip the jewelry in as I took the needle out but it just didn't work and the pain was causing more endorphines to be released and I felt even more nauseous so I had to lay down again. This went on for about a half an hour till I finally had Sarah hold a mirror for me as I lay on the floor and spent about 20 minutes tried to force the jewelry in through the hole, which was also tremendously hard and not that comfortable to do. Sheer will power got me through it, though. But I had to put it in backwards, so the plate was on the outside and the ball was inside. Later I took it out and switched it around, spending another 20 minutes to get it through the hole, but it looks good right now. Slightly swollen, but not red at all and it looks very clean. I'm quite pleased with the results, though I wish the ball were a little smaller. I will NOT DO THAT AGAIN!