Lansinoh Affinity Double Electric Breast Pump Review.

     When I had Tabitha, I didn't try to give her a bottle till she was 3 months old. And I didn't push it very hard. She had such a hard time learning to latch after our traumatic birth experience (I wish I had known all my rights and had a supportive nursing staff like my birth with Eva, but thats another story), that I was terrified she would say to heck with it and go for the bottle instead of nursing. Not that I really had to worry because she nursed till she was 32 months old, but my old pump SUCKED. It was horrible. It was a single electric (that the company doesn't even sell any more, and it doesn't offer any customer service for it either I recently found out).

       I had this old single electric for 3 years, and while trying to use it for Eva, I was in pain. It was awful. But one day a few weeks ago it just stopped working(It had done this so many times, I was used to it by now). I tried to fix it like I always had, but this time when I opened it up a plastic spring flew out and was broken. It was it, no fixing it anymore. Into the trash it went. I was then left with the hand pump I received from WIC. It gets the job done, but it takes a very long time and is a pain. I have been having to pump more often because I started Physical Therapy for my back and have to leave Evangeline and Tabitha with Morgen when I go, and no matter when I go, Eva wants to nurse while I'm gone.
       Trying to get everything around here done, with the girls and having to use a hand pump was just getting to be too much, so I contacted Lansinoh about reviewing their double electric Affinity breast pump. I was so excited when it came. I washed it, read the book and set to work. Some things that took some getting used to,

• it has a let down cycle. It does a slow almost massage to encourage let down for 2 minutes, then it switches to pump and the flood gates open. This was different than my old single electric or my hand pump as they just go straight to the suck the juice option. 
• you can change the pump length and strength settings. Luckily Lansinoh knows moms are not one size fits all.
• you can use it as a single pump too! In the back of the pump there is a plug, you unplug one of the tubes and stop the plug up to make it a singe pump. I actually use it as a single more often than a double, because Eva tends to nurse on one side and fall asleep, so I pump the other side while she is sleeping. Its a good system for us. 
• The Lansinoh Affinity pump is really easy to clean. I love that. No special pipe cleaners to clean things, like my last pump. 
• All parts of the Lansinoh Affinity breast pump can be washed and sterilized in microwave bags or boiled except the tubing which doesn't need to be washed since it doesn't come into contact with the breast milk. 

       Lansinoh Affinity breast pump is easy to use, comfortable to use, and it takes so much less time than my old single electric or my hand pump. When I go to Physical Therapy, I like to leave Morgen with 4oz of breast milk for Eva. That 4 oz took me 45 minutes to an hour three days a week with my old hand pump. Now that I am using the Lansinoh Affinity breast pump, I can get 4 oz in about 8-10 minutes. I only pump 3 days a week, mostly because i'm lazy, and Eva has stopped eating rice cereal so I don't need it for that anymore. I would highly suggest you get a pumping bra so that you don't have to hold the pump if you are going to be pumping with any regularity. I can't say enough good things about the Affinity. If I had to pump all the time and couldn't afford a hospital grade pump (and actually probably if I could too, because the one time I used a hospital pump with Tabitha it hurt like crazy.) I would use the Afinity. Its light weight, and very easy to use. Its perfect for working moms who only have a short while to pump at work. 

      I've found that the Lansinoh website is a gold mine of breastfeeding advice and support. There is some great information about pumping, choosing the right pump, storing breast milk, introducing solids and even tips for dads.  If you are a working mom click here, to get a back to work checklist to help with your pumping. 

     If you would like more information you can sign up for Nurture Notes, the #1 breastfeeding newsletter from Lansinoh here. 

    You can also read some amazing articles and watch some insightful videos on the Lansinoh site here.

    You can buy the Lansinoh Affinity double electric breast pump at Target, Walmart, Babies r Us, Amazon.com, Diapers.com, Motherhood maternity and the Lansinoh website. 

    I would definitely recommend this pump to any of my friends looking for a breast pump. I've tried one other double electric before and this is by far the easiest to use and the best i've seen. This is the #1 breast pump in my book. 

    I received this breast pump for free so that I could review it and share my views with my readers. I would never recommend a product I wouldn't or haven't used. All views are my own.  

Over the Shoulder Boulder Holders!

Bras! Thats right I'm talking about bras today, specifically my inability to find a nursing bra that is comfortable and actually fits. Have you ever gone to a bra store to be fitted? Have they told you that you should wear one size, but when you try it on, the bra doesn't even remotely fit? I have, I then found out that the size they told me was the biggest size in the store. Gee funny how that works out. I was falling out but they insisted that was my size. Ridiculous. And I'm not the only one! I was talking to some friends and they have had simillar experiences. As we were talking we started looking up bra fit charts online. I got a different size from every site. I got anywhere from 42 DD to 38 H! Also on one site it said that there is no industry standard over D! So one store I may be a 42 DD and another I may be a 38 H. Why is there no universal size chart for bras?

Universal Cup Sizing™

* Cup sizes larger than a D are called different letters by different brands (a DDD cup size in one brand can be called an E or F in other brands). So know your Universal Cup Size and you can find your correct size in any brand at HerRoom. Learn how to find your Universal Cup Size™

This is from Herroom.com

Right under this is posted:

*Please Note: This bra measuring method becomes very unreliable at bra sizes 38D and larger.

*Important Note: this measuring system tends to become less accurate as the cup sizes go above a D. Additionally, some manufacturers name larger cup sizes differently. See "The Proper Bra Measuring Techniques for Plus-Size Women".


However their universal cup size only gives you the size for their 3 brands of bras. And none of them are nursing bras.

Here's what I want, I want it to be easy to find a nursing bra with underwire in a size that fits me. I would prefer to find a bra with underwire so I don't have a uniboob. The whole one long boob is not attractive, and I have been wearing nursing bras for over 3 years and have yet to find one that fit me well and was easy to find, also that didn't cost more than my car payment. 

I always see such pretty bras in stores, but of course for nursing moms its boring, uncomfortable and not pretty! Also Why the uniboob? Do bra makers think that nursing moms don't want to feel sexy? I guess I could switch to a regular bra and yank it down to have a pretty bra that doesn't give me uniboob, but why spend that much money on a bra that will get ruined by having to constantly pull it down. I'll admit, I'm pretty cheap. I'm also short on time, and would rather just get more of what I have when I need it than spend forever tying on a ton of bras. I know my current walmart bras are not the best, but I got tired of going to store after store trying to find a bra that actually fit me and being lied to by the people who work there about my size because they want to make a sale. The cheap walmart bra may not be a perfect fit, (its a 38DD, I could stand to go up a cup size, which they don't have) but at least I'm not falling out of it while the sales associate is standing there telling me that thats my size and it fits the way it is supposed to. Really? I'm supposed to have a uniboob, with side boob and muffins on top? Really? Thats "the look"? No thanks.

And just incase this post wasn't ridiculous enough, as soon as I thought about writing this post, this video came to mind. I love beaches and the Devine Miss M, and this song just gets me giggling. =) 

So have you ever found a good nursing bra for larger women? Whats your recommendation? Have you had sales people tell you you were one size just to make a sale? Tell me about it. I really want to hear from you!

Guest post at Green Grandma

Hey guys! I'm guest posting today over at Green Grandma. If you've been active on my facebook page lately you'll likely have seen my link to the petition to get the Idaho legislature to draft a bill that protects breast feeding moms. I personally have been deeply affected by the lack of support breast feeding moms in Idaho face. Please go read my article on Green Grandma and sign the petition on the bottom of the post. You can find the post here.