I exclusively breastfed and pumped for thirteen months for my twin boys who are now over two years old. My game plan from the beginning, before I even knew there were two babies in there, was to breastfeed. After discovering that we were expecting twins I started to worry. It didn't matter to me so much if they were breast of formula fed, but I knew it was something that I wanted to give my all efforts to. The benefits for me were that I wouldn't have to worry about buying formula (that's expensive + became hard to get during these crazy times), milk would be available whenever I was available. and selfishly I had hoped it would help me get back to my pre-pregnancy body (lol that was never going to happen). With twins I wondered how I, who had never had a child, would be able to breastfeed two. I feared I would never establish a supply or be able to keep up with two hungry babies. Then when they came early at 34+1 weeks I assumed it may not be in the cards for me. Thankfully I was lucky enough to establish my supply while in the hospital with them and in the NICU we were lucky enough to have donor breastmilk that was available to us until my supply came in. I worked with many lactation consultants during our stay in the NICU (12 days) and was able to successfully latch and feed while simultaneously pumping. Pumping in the hospital was definitely the key to a successful start in our journey. The hospital had a Medela wall plug in one that I attempted to use but found it too aggressive while not really doing much. I had received a pump from my insurance that was also a wall plug in one called the Motif Luna. I decided to try this one instead and felt it was MUCH better. Here is a progression of my production over the first week of pumping:
I decided after two months of the routine of trying to bring them to breast and pump I decided to start exclusively pumping. This helped me mentally because I knew exactly how much they were drinking with feeds, I could build a stockpile, and I could share the feeding load with more people. Thankfully I have a very loving and involved husband who worked from home for most of their life so he always fed one while I fed the other during the day and night. This was the best decision for me and my family and I'm so glad I did it. My pumping routine mostly consisted of bottle feeding them and then pumping until I felt comfortable, this occurred usually every three hours. We started using the Medela collection bottles so we could store milk in the fridge until it was time to use it, and we felt like those held the perfect amount. Whenever we felt that there was more milk in the fridge than was going to be used in the next two days I would pour milk from the next pumping session into storage bags for freezing. These were either the Motif bags, Medela bags, or this other brand from Amazon that I can't find anymore but were just like the Motif bags.
I decided to try out hands free pumping and give the Willow a shot. I wanted to be able to move around while pumping and get things done since I was pumping for such a long period of time during the day. I think if my body was a little different the Willow would have worked better for me. I liked the freedom it gave me, though I will say hands free pumping made me feel like I needed to move really carefully for fear of spilling. For one of my breasts the Willow worked great but for the other it just had a very hard time. It wasn't the pump it just literally did not want to work with my left breast. I even reached out to Willow and they sent me a whole new unit. Still my left breast would cause the pump to malfunction. If it performed the same on the left as it did on the right I would have 100% stuck with it. I decided to try the Freemie Liberty hands free pump and I am so glad I did. It worked perfectly for my needs, the cups had large capacity so I didn't need to turn it off to dump it. The only times I had to do that was in the mornings after they started sleeping in. Here's a picture of what my production would look like in the morning:
I'm so glad I found the Freemie. The only thing I would say was that even though it is hands free and you can move around, it has the pour hole at the top so if you leaned over far enough and it was full enough it would spill. I just tried to be careful whenever I was pumping and we were good! This pump is the one I used through to the end of my breastfeeding journey. There were a few manual pumps I've listed below that I used as well but for different purposes. I used the Medela Harmony during an ice storm that knocked out our power before I had the Freemie. Thankfully our local target was running on a generator and had one in stock. I also used the Haakaa, but mostly to help clear clogged ducts.
Here's my list of items that were beneficial in aiding me to start and continue my breastfeeding and pumping journey. I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to be able to feed my twins for the first fourteen months of their lives. I hope these things will be helpful to you in your journey.
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My favorite plug in pump (Motif Luna): https://amzn.to/3VSSaIv
Motif Luna with rechargeable battery: https://amzn.to/3GMRBf3
Things I liked about this item:
- Pumped straight into bottles you could use or store in the fridge
- My insurance paid for it so it was free to me
- My package came with extra flanges, breastmilk storage bags, and disposable nursing pads
- Different suction settings to help with let down and then fully pump
- Closed system (milk can't back flow, helps keep it hygienic)
- Dishwasher safe
- With my insurance I could request new flanges, bottles, tubes every three months
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- Max pumping time per cycle was 15 minutes, I liked to do more in the beginning so I would have to restart it and get back to my settings
- Plugged into wall, not moveable unless you have the rechargeable battery one
- Later on in my pumping when I would get more than 5 ounces per session I would have to stop and change bottles or dump into a different container which got messy, led to some milk loss
My favorite hand expressed/manual pump (Medela Harmony): https://amzn.to/3WUGo1C
Things I liked about this item:
- Pumped straight into bottles you could use or store in the fridge
- Doesn't require electricity so you can use it while out and about or if you lose power (why I got it)
- Dishwasher safe
- Fits on all of my Medela bottles that I bought for milk storage in the fridge
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- My hand got tired using this haha so it was much more of an effort
- Slower than electric pump
My favorite silicone manual breast pump to catch milk let down (Haakaa): https://amzn.to/3jSAxep
Things I liked about this item:
- Used mostly to collect extra let down when bringing one twin to breast
- Helped dislodging a blocked duct
- Dishwasher safe
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- Kind of uncomfortable
- Not a significant source of milk for me personally
My favorite hands free/portable pump (Freemie Liberty): https://amzn.to/3IwuLcX
Things I liked about this item:
- Very large capacity cups, could generally collect a whole session worth without needing to empty (except mornings after they were sleeping through the night)
- Portable
- Very strong suction that wasn't uncomfortable
- Reusable cups
- Dishwasher safe
- Long run time, never had to restart it
- Not very loud
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- The top is slightly open for you to pour out so you can't lean over while wearing
- Not cheap, had to replace pump parts pretty regularly due to heavy usage
- If you are looking for discreet, this isn't it (but my opinion is that no pump is truly discreet)
- Even though it is quiet, if you put it on the couch it will shake it lol
My most okay hands free pump, would maybe work if you had smaller chest size (Willow with reusable cups) Check out the reviews and see if maybe it would work for you: https://amzn.to/3ipseGQ
Things I liked about this item:
- I like the app part of it that would tell you how much it pumped
- Portable
- Reusable cups available, I prefer these over the bags
- Dishwasher safe
- Great customer service
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- Pretty expensive
- Felt like it was more difficult to use because of my breast size when full (e.g. my left breast for some reason would trigger it to say it was full and done pumping whenever I had pumped ~.5-1 oz)
- Milk would fall through the flange after pouring from the top leading to messy milk spillage
- Not actually discreet, you can definitely tell your breasts are looking a little crazy + it is loud
My favorite milk storage/freezer bags (Motif Breastmilk Storage Bags): https://amzn.to/3Qp9GTn
Things I liked about this item:
- Came for free with my pump
- Freezable
- Large capacity
- I think the spout method is more hygienic
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- There are cheaper alternatives
Other breastmilk storage bags I liked for freezing exclusively (Medela breast milk storage bags): https://amzn.to/3IwvkmQ
Things I liked about this item:
- Good for freezing
- Lays flat for easier storage/defrosting
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- I prefer my storage bags to have the little spout
Alternative to the Motif bag (Bonbay bags): https://amzn.to/3WZdmOj
Things I liked about this item:
- These aren't the exact brand I used but I can't find them but this is VERY similar, they are like the Motif ones
- Lower cost alternative
- Has the little spout
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- Not super accurate with volume, but that didn't bother me
My favorite cold/hot packs for use while pumping (Lansinoh Breast Therapy Pack): https://amzn.to/3Qkp3g4
Things I liked about this item:
- Got hot
- Got cold
- Made to go around your breast and won't interfere with where you're feeding or pumping
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- Could have uneven hot spots, important to check it before you slap it on there
Nursing pad recommendations (KeaBabies): https://amzn.to/3VUx4cD
Things I liked about this item:
- My original ones were from Target but these are very close and more colorful
- Helps keep your shirt from the milk wetness
- I wore them to sleep to help keep me from over-leaking
- Helped with leakage during the day
- These are colorful and come with a laundry bag to help you keep them all together
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- Mine didn't come with a bag so they were sometimes hard to keep track of
Favorite milk collection bottles for fridge storage (Medela collection bottles): https://amzn.to/3VXR6TA
Things I liked about this item:
- Large capacity
- Could be used as bottles for feeding if your baby like the Medela nipples
- Dishwasher safe
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- Just like most things, they need a deep clean after holding milk for large periods of time
My favorite milk collection shells (Elvie Milk Collection Shells): https://amzn.to/3VW9HPQ
Things I liked about this item:
- Very useful in the beginning when every drop of milk counts
- Alternative to nursing pads
- Helpful if you don't like to wear a haakaa while feeding one baby but want to collect let down in other breast
- Dishwasher safe
Things I didn't like as much about this item:
- Hard to get all the milk out while pouring
- Doesn't collect that much milk
Hopefully this will help you achieve your breastfeeding goals, if you ever have any questions for me feel free to fill out the contact us form on this website! Thanks for reading!