Going Back to Work - A Mother and her Breast Pumps

With many work out side the home mom's know breastfeeding is a challenge and a nightmare. Got to get the right things for working AND try to decide which pump to take back to work with you. This is my review of the two breast pumps I currently own.

I breastfed my daughter Bella for 22 months and planed on breastfeeding the new one when he or she came here. Well baby Grace came and we were able to establish a great breastfeeding relationship. The down side was my breast pump from when I pumped at work a Medela Pump In Style (the back pack kind, see picture below), was falling apart. I would think a little wear and tear after a year and a half was reasonable, however, 

This is the Pump In Style style I own

This Hygeia EnJoye Pump that I am using now

the tabs on the zippers started to fall off (my husband made a few make shift ones), and the bag in the back started to split along the seam. Also just recently, one of the face plate's prog broke. I was a bit overwhelmed to say the least. The warranty expired long ago and I wasn't too happy about the fact I could not take the motor out and place it in a new case if the bag got damaged in any way.

Like any mom about six months in to the pumping for Bella, I was looking at the latest in breast pumps, by then I was not having too much trouble with the Medela, I really liked the fact that I could transport a few things in the bag portion, but my love for the pump was over with the face plate coming off each time I pulled the tubing off. My husband didn't like the cleaning of the flanges because the membranes (little plastic tabs that helped with the suction), they would either tear or get lost when he cleaned them for me. And I came across the Hygeia EnJoye Breast Pump.

At first the jaw dropping price was around $100 more than that of the Pump In Style, but for me it offered freedom. The freedom to leave the bag behind and use many of the back packs I had. The top of the line breast pump has a Lithium Battery pack built in, so if there is no power outlets around no problem. The problem was convincing my husband that I needed something else. The Medela pump still worked, so I wasn't going to get one any time soon.

I told myself and my husband in 2011, with baby number 2 on the way I wasn't going to use the Pump In Style. The motor was still running but the bag was in bad shape. I told him that I wanted the Hygeia EnJoye Pump and showed him the website (Hygeia Baby) and gave him the bullet points:

• Enclosed Lithium battery
• Certified Recyclable parts
• Can use all of the old pumping bottles and items from Medela (I have a lot of old things in good condition still)
• Can record the baby crying on the device (no ear phone plugs though)
• And I just want it.

I bought it two weeks ago and I am in love. Wednesday was my first day using it and it was purely easy to use. I was able to pump Grace's milk in the Medela bottles and still have the Hygeia bottles for work. So I don't have to spill any milk (unless I trip) in the morning when I am groggy. It was easy to set up and I was pumping in no time flat.

More Later as I need to attend to Grace! Next post will be a Review of the new Medela Calma Nipples Grace is using for the first time this week!