Since the Princess Albertina remains such an uncommon piercing, I thought that there would be value in writing a sequel to my original PA experience. Here I will give only the briefest of accounts of the acquisition of my modification and will concentrate on the healing, stretching, migration and its eventual loss. Please note that you will need a full BME membership to see any of the pictures referred to in this experience.
At A Glance Author Jane66 Contact Jane66@bme.anon IAM Jane66 When A year ago Artist Allan Brown IAM:bear Location Edinburgh The Piercing
My PA came into this world in August 2002. At the time I was astounded by how easy it was to get, certainly in relation to how worried I was about getting it! I genuinely did not feel Allan poke the cannulated needle through my urethral wall and the insertion of the jewellery, a 1.6mm 15mm internal diameter CBR, while it felt strange, especially the tugging, the experience was in no way unpleasant. In fact the only part of the whole procedure that was in the remotest bit uncomfortable was the initial insertion of the needle, sheathed by its cannula to prevent damage, into my urethra. That felt pretty much like sounding, not surprisingly. If you have BME hard access you can see my original procedural pictures in the PA gallery. Photo 1 shows the cannulated needle in place, Photo 2 shows the rotation of the jewellery into place using the cannula and Photo 3 shows the freshly completed piercing.The Healing
Healing was more or less instant. Of my twelve or so piercings, none has healed with the rapidity of my PA. I guess it is in an area with an excellent blood supply and it is frequently bathed in an isotonic and naturally antiseptic liquid (urine), so perhaps it is not that surprising. One thing that I did notice is that the urethral wall is unlike other parts of my anatomy that I have had pierced. The wall is a relatively rigid structure and I didn't notice any tendency for the hole to close up if I took my jewellery out, even for periods of a couple of weeks. Whether that has anything to do with a difference in structural proteins or muscle type I can only guess.The Stretching
After a month or so I stretched my PA up to 4mm. This was an easy procedure aside from the fiddliness of working inside your own vagina. (Think damp, dark, relatively restrictive and slippery.) I found the best way to be able both reach in and see what I was doing was to kneel with my knees as apart as possible and my feet tucked under my buttocks and my knees touching a large mirror. I found it easiest to put the taper in from the outside, through the hole in my urethral wall, push the base down towards my anus and bring the point (gently) out of my urethra and rest it on my pubic bone. Then I gradually slipped the 4mm taper, lubricated with a more or less redundant water-based lubricant, until I hit resistance. At no point did I get a sensation of pain, but I did find the taper increasingly hard to push through. I was planning on going up in three or four stages, but I surprised myself to find that in my first attempt I had reached 3.2mm. After a few days at this i nterim stage I completed the stretch up to 4mm. This photo shows my PA at 4mm. One problem that I did find was the huge difficulty of fitting larger gauge jewellery inside myself! My fingers are not really strong enough to pull apart a 4mmx15mm surgical steel CBR enough to make fitting the ball easy. I can just about do it with the ring out in the open, but tucked up inside me was nigh on impossible. I lost count of the number of times I'd drop the ball inside myself and have to have a darn good shake out to get it back. I have a really small and neat pair of reversing pliers, but working with them inside yourself with all the pinch potential that brought, and with everything back to front in a mirror, was just plain nerve-wracking. Fortunately my life was made infinitely easier by IAM:Suuz, who posted me her blue acrylic 4mm CBR, the one I am modelling in the photo above. I was able to take that out and put it back whenever I ne eded, unless I was a little under the influence. I also took to wearing a barbell, either at 4mm or at 3.2 mm.The Demise
I needed to take the PA out a lot because my partner Allan also had a PA, a 10mm PA, so I tended to lose out in jewellery jousts! There just wasn't room for both of them, and the ensuing twisting and yanking did not do my urethral wall any good. It was a pity, because I found that the PA had more of an impact on sensation during sexual activity, than any other piercing I have. That includes my triangle and clitoral piercings. Eventually I found that there was so much lateral movement that it made no difference whether Allan removed his PA or not. It had a tendency to twist "in use" and it started to enlarge/migrate inexorably. The piercing hole reached about 2ga and I had trouble keeping a barbell in, since the balls were able to pass through it. As before, if I removed the piercing there was no hint of it healing or closing up. Indeed I went a couple of months without jewellery in an attempt to keep my PA a bit longer.The Fall
About a month ago, I put it back in, for a special occasion. It appeared to have survived, but the following morning I wiped myself following urinating and heard the "plink" sound of my PA dropping into the toilet bowl. Being sentimental I fished it out. I was hoping to see that the ball had come out, but sadly it was in place. In hindsight I wish that I'd removed it whenever it was in danger of getting any hammer but I will never regret having the piercing and would most certainly repeat the entire experience even with the certain knowledge that its demise was inevitable. I can't see any way I can be re-pierced, the original was already as far into my urethra as was possible to reach. Still I have a fairly unique female subincision!
I am of course happy to talk in more detail about the pros and cons of this piercing, just email me.
