My cute lil 3-hour old pierced bellybutton :-)

At A Glance Author AlliCat Contact allicat@loveable.com Artist awesome guy Studio Eze Body Piercing Location Canberra, Australia

Hey there :-) Well, I've spent the past few days reading everybody's experiences here on BME, so I guess now it's my turn to add one!!! I was watching a show on tv a week ago and a girl on it had a navel ring - I'd never really thought much about 'em before, but this one looked totally beautiful, and started me thinkin bout gettin one........I had my ears pierced years ago (I'm 23 now) but never really wanted to pierce anythin else until now....and I knew next to nothin bout what's involved with navel piercing, so I got on the net and did some intensive reading......after doin that, and talkin to a girl I work with who has a pierced bellybutton, I decided to go for it - I lost a lotta weight a couple years back and figured my tummy deserves this belated present!!! It's FAR from flat though.....I was a little paranoid, thinkin it'd look crap on a regular ol' tummy like mine....but then I got rational again - I mean, how many girls have totally flat stomachs anyway?? It's not natural - women are meant to have a lil tummy!!! And I reckon all our tummies are bewdiful and deserve attention and pretty jewellery *grin* So anyways, I looked in the phone book and found 2 piercing places (sheesh, I live in the capital city of Australia and we only have 2 piercing places - go figure!!)........I called em both up and asked if they could do what I wanted - I wanted to go with a banana barbell cos most of what I'd read led me to believe they heal quicker and don't get bumped as much......the first place told me they don't like piercing with barbells cos they're harder to clean, but that they'd do it if I reeeeeeeeeally wanted it - I was happy with that, but I kinda got a weird vibe from them on the phone and didn't feel quite right bout it.......the second place was awesome though - the guy made me feel totally comfy right away - made me laff lots bout how great it was gonna look and how he'd gimme my money back if guys didn't start chasin me right away after I got it done....hahaha......the problem was, he refused to pierce me with a barbell - he said he's found they're harder to clean and cause more infections (I know it depends on the individual - am just sayin what he said), and that he takes pride in his work and wants me to heal up great......the thing that really impressed me was when he said "barbells cost more, so I could easily make more money piercing with them, but I don't wanna make money at the expense of my customers - I care way more about em than the money".......so, I really wanted him to pierce me, and since he'd only do it with a ring, I settled for that!!

Well, I got up this mornin and had a good breakfast, and hadn't gone out partyin and drinkin the night before - I was good and did all the right things.....then my roommate drove me to the piercing place.... I was really impressed by how clean it looked and smelled - and was even more impressed with the piercer - I'd expected him to be covered in piercings and probably a lil weird-looking......but he looked totally normal, clean, well-dressed, and had no piercings!! I asked him how come, and he said it's cos he got married and his wife hates piercings so he took em out for her, but that he could never give up piercing as a career cos he totally loves it :-) He showed me all the rings he had, and I picked out a yellow/purple/blue rainbow titanium ring, and he let me have a purple crystally bead to go with it....straight away he put em in the autoclave machine to sterilise....... Then he had me sit down and tuck my shirt into my bra and undo my pants so he could clean my navel with an alcohol swab.....while it dried, he explained how to take care of the piercing, and then showed me that all the stuff he was gonna use was sterile.....then I stood up while he marked my tummy and had me check it was in the right place..........then it was time to pierce!!! I was feelin a tiny bit queazy, so after he put his gloves on I looked away - the guy asked my roommate to turn away too (guess he doesn't like to be watched while he pierces).........I was expecting clamps, but he didn't use any (at least, I'm pretty sure he didn't - I didn't see or feel anythin like clamps...all I felt was a tiny prick and a sting for a second (exactly like gettin a shot), then he stopped - I was like "wow, it's done??" and he said "yup, a good piercer always works fast" - then I got up and looked in the mirror and fell in love with my new bellybutton right away - it had a tiny bit of blood on it, but still looked awesome!! Then the guy taped some gauze over it, and told me to call any time if I need to cos they have free aftercare...I paid him ($113 Australian - would've been a bit less without the special bead), and that was it!!! Way too easy!!!!!!! All in all, it was a great place and a great piercer - anybody in Canberra should definitely get their piercings done at Eze Body Piercing!!!!

My roommate drove me home - I felt like a pregnant woman, with the seat laid back...hahaha...I'm a tad paranoid bout knockin the ring, but I guess that's only natural and will pass... Soon as I got home I had to check it out in the mirror again - I looooooove it - looks soooooo cute...and I keep peekin at it every 5 mins *grin* It's not hurtin at all, and looks great - it just has a tiny purple bruise round each hole, cos I bruise easily...but no redness or anythin....hopefully it'll stay that way - I plan to take awesome care of it, and hopefully it won't take me long to find the aftercare routine that works best for me...I'll post an update in a bit, bout my experiences with it healing and stuff :-) For now, all I can say is my actual piercing experience was awesome....and if you're thinkin bout doin it - go for it!!!!! Just make sure you go to a place you feel totally comfy with and check out the important stuff like sterilization, etc............and if your tummy isn't totally flat, I reckon that's even more reason to go for it - we should all feel proud of our bodies no matter what!!!! Lookin at my tummy with this cute ring in it has already made me feel prouder and more confident.....ooooh can't wait to go show it off!!!!! Hahaha!!!!

Well, byeeeee for now - happy piercing!!!!!! :-)

PS. Feel free to mail me anytime :-)