Giving Blood for the 1st time...

So I had always wanted to give blood at blood drives at school and everything, but was always too scared. The other day, my friend Bryant and I had gone to get Jamba Juice and saw that there was a blood drive going on. He said he was going to give blood, so I figured "why not?" We went and signed up and got a little sticker and had to read a packet about giving blood. Then I got put in a booth where they asked more questions and took my blood pressure and pricked my finger to make sure my blood was all good. It was :) So after answering more questions, I finally got put into the chair to start giving blood. I was super nervous and my heart was beating really fast. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but it was making me nervous. They marked the vain (in my left arm) that was big enough for the needle to go in and then put iodine on it and all that other prep stuff...then they stabbed me with the needle!! Ok, it didn't hurt that bad haha. So I just sat there staring at the ceiling while a whole pint of blood was sucked out of me.

Suprisingly I felt fine. I finished in 4:43, which is apparently really fast, probably because I was nervous. After laying there for awhile and drinking lots of water, they bandaged me up and I was released. I felt fine after standing up, but a few minutes later my body broke out in a sweat and everything got real blurry and I couldn't hear anything. I had to sit down...I found the nearest chair and sat down. It was the weirdest feeling ever! Luckily I could sit down before I passed out. Bryant and I sat in the "recovery area" and ate snacks and drank water for awhile before going to his house.

I just kept having these episodes of almost passing out and I did not like it...Bryant walked me home because he was scared I was going to pass out on the way. When I got back, I took a nap for like 5 hours! When I woke up, I drank lots of water and tried to eat some pasta. Except I almost threw up and had another near fainting experience. It was scary. I laid in my bed because I couldn't do anything else without feeling sick. I was glad I gave blood for the first time, but I don't think I'll be doing it for awhile just because of the effects I felt afterwards. Not my favorite experience :(