By Amanda from Angier, NC.
When I was 16, I had decided, for sure, I wanted my belly button pierced. My parents weren’t too keen on the idea, but I knew someday I’d get it. Today, it’s been almost 3 years since I brought up the idea to mom and dad, they still don’t approve, but then again, they don’t know either.

I got my belly button pierced on July 29th of this year. My little sister had just gotten her liscense, and I told her to take me out there, I figured I could hold that over her head seeing how if my parents found out, they’d take her liscense away, so she agreed.

We went to a local tattoo shop called twisted ink, and when we pulled up my best friend of 5years, Megan, was sitting on the bench outside smoking. I was excited because I knew that if anyone was going to do this for me, I wanted it to be someone I trust, and I trust her with my life. So, I asked her if she’d pierce me, and she said yes.

We went into the shop, and after filling out two papers (safety precautions and piercer liability, the norm.) and began having set up, she told me to come on back. I knew at this point there was no backing out, and I was a little nervous.

My hands started shaking after she marked me and told me to lie down. My stomach, at this point, was in knots. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew it was going to hurt, but I wasn’t sure how much. I had joked with her and said *psh, I bet the clamp is going to hurt more than the actual piercing, ha!* she replied with *haha! You can think whatever you want.* that scared me a little. lol!

So, after that she counted up. 1, 2,3… I took a deep breath and the needle was in, I let it out and that’s when I started to feel it. It wasn’t that painful, it was more sore than anything. The worst part, I think, was the pressure of the clamp and the removal of the needle/placing of the jewelry, that didn’t feel too good. She did a GREAT job. So much so that I gave her a $20 tip. haha. Notice I have a lot of scars on my belly, hence why I call this *my center piece* :]

View the original article here