i donated blood!

on the weekend i donated blood successfully! it may seem strange that the previous sentence ended in successfully but i promise, it doesn't always. i'll just give a brief history of my visits to the blood donor clinic:
- the first time i tried to donate i passed out during the it - they only managed to get 445 ml of my blood before i passed out (i believe they take about 610ml usually but i could be wrong). it was a bit embarrassing-
- the second time i gave blood- i gave the full 610 ml of blood but i fainted in the chair after giving. they took the needle out and asked me to put pressure with gauze on the puncture point and then i all i remember is waking up to nurses around me again.. nurses with smiles all around saying good job! they got the full amount.
-the third time i gave blood - my body temperature was too cold. i'm pretty sure the thermometer was reading 35.2 degrees celsius (37 is the standard) - the nurses sent me for hot tea and put a blanket on me for a few minutes - i ended up giving blood when they finally got my temperature up to 35.9 degrees, but it didn't go so smoothy and i felt freezing and weak the whole weekend.
- the fourth time i tried to give blood - my blood stopped flowing into the bag. for about 2 minutes the volume in the bag did not increase at all. the nurse actually had to remove the needle and put it back in in a different location. the area hurt so bad that i asked her to remove it and i didn't finish giving.
this was my fifth time and it was perfect! i've learned from the previous 4 times what to instruct the nurses to do after im finished donating, i've learned to drink lots of fluids and eat a good meal before. slightly less important..i've learned to bring music to keep my mind away from the thoughts of blood being drained from my body!
i am proud i was able to donate blood this weekend. i am proud that my parents and sisters go as often as they are able to. there are many reasons to give and so few reasons to not.
but then again- i've never been freaked out by the site or blood or getting needles so for me, it was just getting over the passing out thing.