My Virgin Blood Donating Experience

So I finally did it.....I finally donated blood. I had always wanted to donate but I am pretty much deathly afraid of needles. That and the last time I had blood taken out of me was for a fasting blood test and I was very nauseous and dizzy and almost passed out on the way to my car. Anyways....that smart little slogon "blood....its in you to give" has been bugging me for years. I kept thinking to myself.....good point....we could all spare a little blood and as far as I know I am fairly healthy so they might want my blood. Anyways.....one day my friend said "hey, I'm going to donate blood. Do you guys want to come along?" So I thought, why not? Its now or never. So we go in and I register and I'm sitting there waiting to speak to the nurse to let her know I don't have any STD's or STI's so I can likely donate. Then my cellphone goes off and it is the strangest ring ever. It was some circus music I had, for some unknown reason, reserved for those whose caller ID did not show up. I was like "who's cellphone is that? That is so dorky!" Then I looked at my purse. I quickly answered it just to shut it up. Let's just say it was slightly embarassing but everyone had a good laugh. So anyways, I clear all the screening and go onto donate. I happened to be wearing a knee-length skirt that day so the nurse gave me a sexy fleece Canadian Blood Services blanket to cover my legs so that I would not flash anyone when I pass out....I mean while I was donating. She looked at my veins and said they were very lovely. I was like "bonus! Then this shouldn't be so bad" They hooked me up and the needle wasn't even that bad. I sat there just chilling and chatting with the people around me while the red stuff flowed. It took 11 freakin' minutes! Clearly I should've done some cardio before to get my pulse up! It was about 7 minutes through that she told me to pump my fist and that would help speed things along. When I was done she unhooked me, I put pressure on it for the standard 5 minutes and then joined my friends for some food and bevies in the refreshment area. Things felt okay. The nurse told me to call or come back if I got a bruise on my arm because sometimes the vein will bleed out under the skin. I was thinking "that won't happen, I feel fine". Things were alright until I got home and saw that it was starting to bruise. No biggy, I thought, I'll go to bed and then check it with the RN at work the next day. Well, it didn't go away. In fact it got bigger. I checked with the RN and she said I was a bleeder so I should have put more pressure on it. She told me there was nothing I could do about it. "Alright" I thought, "that's a bummer, but I've had worse before." She told me it would be about 4 weeks until it would go away. I was thinking that was awhile, but then it wasn't so bad because it wasn't getting any larger.....uh...wrong again. I am now proudly sporting a bluish-blackish-purplish bruise on my elbow that is about 3 " x 2". Everyone keeps asking me what I did and they are kind of shocked when I say I donated blood. I should just start telling me the residents at the nursing home beat me up! It sucks too because the only way I can really hide it is to wear long-sleeved shirts and it is summer so I don't want to do that. Oh well, at least my virgin blood-donating experience will be a memorable one!