In My Bag

The Medela Pump In Style original is a breast pump I would happily recommend to anyone as a long-term, efficient breast pump. My insurance company sent me one three days after I had my daughter. Included in the package was the pump, and all of the necessary plastic pieces to get started - tubing, valves, connectors, flanges, four storage containers.

I was thrilled at the prospect of pumping and storing milk for my daughter. At first I pumped just here and there, as I was busy breastfeeding my daughter. But by two months of age, due to us introducing a bottle way too early (something I have a lot of regret over, and it made me that much more determined to succeed with breastfeeding my son!), I was suddenly having to pump exclusively. And when you’re pumping to provide milk for a quickly growing baby, you’re going to want to make best friends with your pump. I was attached to mine every two hours for at least twenty minutes at a time.

Pumping was boring, until I decided to hook it up while I was at the computer. Then came the hassle of pumping one breast, and then the other, and losing a free hand while doing so. Then it dawned on me - why not pump hands free? So, I took an older bra and made a horizontal slit over the area where my nipple would be on each cup, and then slipped the flanges inside. They were held in place by the pressure of my breast against the bra, and the whole contraption was great for hands free double pumping.

This breast pump held out beautifully for eight months of continuous, around the clock use at maximum speed and suction. It was a great buy (on the insurance company’s tab ), and I recommend it to any woman that needs a pump!