So there I was yesterday, climbing those all to familiar steps to the Rings of Desire studio with my boyfriend, Michael, at my side. I had spoken to Angel a few days prior to my appointment, as I always do. I had a few things in mind for the 'to-do-list' including a deep Christina, 2 lower outer labia and a triangle stretch. After talking we eventually dropped the Christina for Mondays event and decided to just go with the outer labia, get those healed up nicely and then do the Christina as my finale (provided I don't get 1 more set of outer labia piercing!) to my genital project.
At A Glance Author Elizabeth Contact Elizabeth@bme.anon IAM purrtykitty4m When It just happened Artist Elayne Angel Studio Rings of Desire Location New Orleans, Louisiana When I got to the counter Angel came over to greet me and say she was pleased that the weather didn't stop me from making it (I had emailed her earlier that day to say we might not be able to come in if the weather didn't clear up) in. She got my release forms all ready as well as Michael's (he was getting his first piercing, a PA!) and made a copy of my ID before an incoming phone call needed her attention. Pat took over where she left off, assisted Michael in his jewelry selection and took his payment. Angel came back and got my jewelry, I chose to have implant grade 316 LVM ASTM F-138 stainless steel CBRs which are also fully annealed (very nice!) she then asked if there was anything else on the agenda for today. As much as I wanted the triangle stretched to a 10ga, being only 5 months old I decided against it and opted to have my VCH stretched instead. She didn't have any more curved, 12ga barbells in the length I hoped for so I decided to try out a straight barbell.
After all the preliminaries were all said and done Angel retreated to the piercing room to set up. Michael and I decided to retire to a couch as neither of us had much sleep and were pretty much ready for a nap. About 10 minutes later Angel called us into the room, I was last so I closed the sliding, mirrored door behind me. Michael was to go first, so I sat in the chair off to the side. His procedure took no more then 5 minutes. Once they were done Angel disinfected the examination table and pulled down a new paper cover and that was my que to take off my pants and undies and hop on the table.
Angel decided to stretch the hood first so it wouldn't get in the way of the new piercings as it would if we did that last. I was actually relieved that I went for the hood rather then the triangle as my 1 year old VCH gave me a bit of a pinch once the taper hit 12.
Marking and cleaning
Angel began to swab the area with iodine, I was quiet nervous and with the first few touches I became jumpy though I eventually settled down. Next was to decide which way I wanted them pierced. I could either have them done facing more inward which would make them a little more hidden or have them done more towards the outside, framing the labia and making them more visible. Since my triangle is already hidden because of the jewelry and the way I tuck the circular barbell down against my body (this helps to protect the jewelry and keep it from twisting) I determined I would like these to be more visible so I chose the second alternative.
With that said angel got out a new Sharpie and began drawing a line down the center of each labia and then drew a few scores across to see how low I wanted them, she cleaned up the iodine a bit so I could see the marks. Michael grabbed me the hand held mirror and I sat up to have a closer inspection. When I described where I wanted them Angel had a pretty good idea exactly what I had in mind and placed a few scores adjacent to the vaginal opening. It didn't take long to select my dots of choice and with Michael's thumbs up, Angel began to clean up all the marks and place the dots for the piercings.
The procedure
Angel readied her tray with all the necessary equipment and positioned it a bit out of my reach in case I got a bit jumpy once more. She took out the forceps and applied a few small, purple, rubber bands and then she went on to get the needles ready with the jewelry in quick reach. She changed her gloves quite a few times threw out the cleaning and prepping process, now it was time to dawn her last pair to do the deed. Once everything was ready she got comfortable on her little stool and applied the forceps, she decided to go from left to right. The whole time I was laying there I was trying to not wimp out and even more so, not to look at the needles. Once the forceps were in place they did not hurt because Angel only applies the clamp to hold the skin in place, not to cut off circulation (this also keeps your chances of bruising very low). I saw her reaching for the first needle and quickly jolted my head to face the ceiling and I clenched onto the sides of the table. She began to tell me to breath in, and exhale, breath in, and on the exhale I felt a quick, deep, sting that pulled its way threw and to the other end. It hurt, but I didn't move nor did I make a sound. Angel grabbed the jewelry and threaded it threw, I hardly felt that but I was aware that something was being moved around. The ball didn't want to go in so Angel got a pair of ring openers to adjust the jewelry a slight bit and then the ball poped right in. I didn't even feel her fiddling around with that, shes so quick and gentile! Once she was done she placed a cool cloth of some sorts over the piercing to take the sting out, which works wonders! Once I had myself gathered and the pain was just a memory. Next was to do the right side. I hardly felt the forceps were in place and if Angel hadn't informed me of that I wouldn't have know. Since I didn't feel these I thought this one should hurt considerably less. Boy was I wrong! This one was a much more intense pain then the prev ious and the treading rendered a few distressed facial expressions. Th is time the ball went on quickly.
She again applied another cloth over the entire area to cool things down. After about a minute she removed it and cleaned up the area and Michael handed me the mirror once again. It was love at first site! They looked great and complemented my other piercings nicely. Once everything was done Angel asked if she could take a few pictures and of course I said yes. She documented all of her work, showed the triangle jewelry in different positions, got pictures of the VCH and labia. The pictures also came out really good. Once we were done in the piercing room I went out to pay and then left.
Later that night the piercings weren't uncomfortable though they were bleeding a good bit. At first I decided to sleep with a pillow in-between my legs so I could go about my normal sleeping position, on my side. Some time during the night I woke up and removed the pillow to move around more freely and went back to sleep. It wasn't difficult to get comfortable and the piercings really didn't make their presence known. Once I woke up there was some bleeding that started fresh after going to the bathroom. Urinating hasn't been a problem either and considering the large amount of Coke I drink (caffeine free at the moment, excessive caffeine can cause a fresh piercing to bleed) I'm pretty lucky to have had no stinging sensations. Water is of course the best thing to drink to reduce the acidity in the urine, I'm simply not a fan of drinking water.
They are now 1 day old and I have begun a detailed diary of the healing process so be sure to check back for an update.