Oops, I did it again.

Yep, I got another piercing. Oopsie!

I was off seeing Scholar and he was going to get a tattoo. Now, I love tattoo studios - I love the smell of the disinfectant and the sounds and how it feels to be there: the anticipation of the tattoo, the excitement of seeing the end result - the whole thing is awesome! I wasn't really thinking about getting anything done myself, but the prices of the studio really surprised me - so cheap! £15 for 'simple' piercings, and this included tongue. I've been toying with getting my tongue done for a little while, but I'd pretty much convinced myself that it was going to be too painful and too difficult and my mother would go mental. But it was a better option than my preferred piercing - a vertical labret, which takes ages to heal and hurts like a motherfucker.

Anyway...I'd gone in with Scholar and when it became clear he wasn't going to be able to get his ink on the day he offered to pay for my tongue piercing. I dithered. I asked the piercer if I could, considering my unhappy navel. The piercer took a look and told me it was the worst pierced navel he'd ever seen (YIKES!) and that it was nearly twice as long as it should be and was unlikely to EVER heal. Not happy. But he said that shouldn't be an issue if I wanted to get my tongue done...I dithered some more. I umm-ed and aah-ed. And then I went for it!

I was asked if I wanted the freeze spray but I turned it down because it makes you dribble o.O and I figured I could manage the pain. The piercer marked my tongue - his gloves stuck to me because I had such bad dry mouth! - and checked it was central, double checked, and then clamped it, checked it was all lined up and then told me to take a breath and POP! All over. The needle didn't hurt at all, but pushing the jewellery through was a bit uncomfortable and made my eyes water a bit. On the whole, the pain was basically negligible.

I started to lisp pretty much straight away, but it took a little while for the swelling to come all the way up. I had some spinach and ricotta cannelloni for dinner, which I just about managed, and then Scholar bought me a big ice cream in the cinema and gave me lots of cuddles so I felt all nice =) I even managed to drink some juice and eat a doughnut that night...

...shame it wasn't so great the next morning! The swelling had come up massively overnight and I was in lots of pain - mostly referred pain in my ear and the right side of my throat/bottom of my mouth. I tried a bit of juice but it hurt too much, and I basically didn't eat all day because it was too painful, even with ibuprofen and paracetamol. The train journey home was agony, between my tongue hurting and a bout of cystitis. I was pretty miserable!

We're on day 4 now and the swelling has started to go down: I can be understood without too much spitting and nastiness and the length of the bar is beginning to be annoying, which I guess means my tongue is going down, but I still can't really eat. Tonight's dinner was mashed sweet potatoes and normal potatoes with some peas and gravy. The peas almost proved too much for me but there was no way I was missing them out - I haven't had a vegetable in days! I also bought loads of milk and some Nesquik (even thought some piercers say to avoid dairy) and plenty of bread, which seems to be the easiest thing for me to eat, bizarrely.

Mum was pretty unhappy until I explained to her that it meant that I was having to use mouthwash after every meal and brushing at least twice a day!

Appointment with Ink vs Steel tomorrow to see about my tattoo. I've decided on hibiscus blossoms and ribbons with a lock and key. I don't want it to be too complicated and busy; but it has to be perfect. But new tattoo - yay!