Shortly after Baby G's arrival, I realized that in order to go back to work at 6 weeks, I'll need a decent supply of milk stored. Enter the pump.
I "dusted off" both a manual pump, as well as the heavy-duty one. And so far- I'm up to nearly two bottles of milk stored up!
The manual pump is nice, because it is gentler. I started by using it. The heavy-duty one is a lot more efficient.
I don't remember pumping as much with Kiddo. However - I recently had a bout of Mastitis (breast infection/inflammation) and I was very thankful that "nursing" was not my only option!
With the Mastitis, I went from sore breast- to chills for a couple of hours - to flat on my back for the remainder of the day in a manner of hours. Thankfully, after one or two doses of the antibiotic (and tylenol and motrin to reduce my fever), I was at least back "on my feet" again - so to speak.
