Whatever you do, make sure the pump you buy has the Let Down option. According to my lactation consultant, if you do not have that option it will negatively effect your supply. I was told that was why when so many mothers go back to work, their supply will tank. So when you are searching for your pump make that a must have option.
Did you know that your insurance will pay for a pump? I searched reviews on the particular one my insurance wanted to give me and from what I could tell it sucked. So here is a bit of advice that you may not be aware of. Some insurance companies, or the places that you get the unit from, let you upgrade from what the insurance paid for, to a better pump. That is what I did. I believe it cost maybe $25 to go from a super sucky unit to the Medela pump in style with the let down option. To me that is huge. Even if you plan to exclusively breastfeed, I would still take your insurance up on the offer and get a pump. You never know, you may have some sort of emergency where you might need it as a back up.
On that note, if you live in an area like I do, when it storms we tend to lose power. If you are an exclusive pumper make sure you have a hand express pump just in case your power goes out. The hospital gave me one but if yours doesn't they run around $30 at the store. When my girls were in the NICU and I was pumping at home for them there were a few times we lost power and that was no fun.
A few side notes I have learned along the way:
If you don't feel like you are getting as much milk from pumping as you were, and nothing has changed in your diet/health, check your machine. A few times the white plastic valves have torn on me. If that happens the suction doesn't work right and you won't get much milk out.
Always have extra storage bags on hand. You don't want to be stuck at work and realize you don't have any bags to put that liquid gold in. I have heard in an emergency like that, buy a water bottle, clean it out, and store it in there for the day.
Having an extra set of pump parts is a must. Don't wait. You don't want to be up cleaning pump parts at 2am, trust me on that one.
If your skin is getting super sore from pumping it could be from the breast shield not fitting correctly. Check this website out to make sure you are using the correct size. http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/tips-and-solutions/13/choosing-a-correctly-fitted-breastshield
Get a hands free bra. Yes they are somewhat expensive but you'll regret waiting on this one. It seriously sucks sitting there holding those things to your chest multiple times a day. Free up those hands. I got mine for about $45 from the hospital.
I tried to make my own with a sports bra, cutting the wholes like I saw on Pinterest (see below).
For me that didn't work out. Once the milk started filling up the bottle, the weight would pull the material and the breast shields wouldn't stay in place very well. It might depend on how much you normally collect, but with twins, it didn't hold up.
For those of you not strictly pumping and don't want to waste any milk these are pretty cool. Under $30 so not bad.
What is your favorite pump? Let us know in the comment section below.
