i got tattooed when i was 3 months pregnant. I had been planning and designing it and researching tattooists in the area because i CRAVED it (i take my body art seriously). The artist had never in 15 years done a pregnant woman but he agreed to give it a try. Here's what happened. First it was incredibly painful, far more so than usual. My body was far more sensitive to touch, so the feel of the needle was much more intense. It was a big piece across my back, which should have been achievable in 5-6 hours, but i was jumping so much that it slowed progress. My pain threshhold was reduced so I found myself more often saying stop for a breath, and not lasting as long before the pain got unbearable. After 5 hours, the pain actually shot around through my body into my belly, and then i knew it wasn't good for the baby and decided to stop. So in the end, because i was pregnant i had to make it smaller (design extending onto lower back/hips had to be minimised) and it has many imperfections from when i jumped. it remained unfinished until well after the baby was born; i eventually got the colors done in 5 more hours despite exclusive breast feeding at the time. Again, not the best scenario, but i couldn't wait any longer with an unfinished piece on my back.

This pregnancy i once again crave more tattoo work, but i know not to try and probably noone would tattoo me at 6 months pregnant in australia anyway. I could probably get body piercings, but they took the last ones out when i was in labour last time, so i haven't bothered with any since. i dreaded my hair last week: somehow this fulfilled the urge for image modification and it didn't hurt the baby!