The Medella Swing at least makes breastfeeding easier..

To say that Dylan and Connor have their own personalities is an understatement. Though even I have problems at times telling which baby is which in their newborn pictures their personalities at the same age couldn't be more night and day. Actually Connor was the dream baby.. rarely cried, was a fabulous nurser, and rarely got sick. Dylan on the other hand has had not only his first cold already, but an ear infection, an awful allergic reaction, on top of all the regular baby stuff like baby acne and a infected tear duct. Though I honestly expected as much, I knew I wouldn't have it so easy twice in a row and seriously enough Dylan isn't that bad, he's just very different than his brother.

What I didn't expect was how diffrent my breastfeeding experience would be from one baby to another. I felt like a breastfeeding superhero with Connor. My milk came in fast, he latched on and was a great nurser from just a few hours after his birth, and I had more than enough milk to pump and feed Connor almost from the beginning. This time around however it has felt like an uphill battle. I really have to admit I used to get frustrated with women who didn't at least try breastfeeding as it was SO easy for me the first time around I couldn't imagine why you wouldn't at least do it while you were home for the first few weeks. Who's to say if this had been my first experience if I would have been so excited about the whole process, though we are finally getting into the swing of things as Dylan nears a month old.

Speaking of swinging into things, Medella was kind enough to provide us with a Medella Swing to review and it has been a great tool. My milk supply has not come in as strong as it did the first time around which has to do alot with the fact that Dylan has had this awful ear infection and as a result he's a terrible nurser. He tries but he just can't seem to keep a good suction long enough and as a result my milk production has been a little lower than it should be. I'm pumping as I can to help build it up but it seems every time I sit down to pump Dylan wants to eat. heh. So the last thing I want to do is drag out a huge bulky breast pump when I know the moment I get started I'll get interrupted. Not to mention I'm going to have to start back to school this summer and the one thing I really hated about pumping the first time around was lugging my huge breast pump with me in the car. The Medella Swing breast pump has been a great answer to this issue.

The Medella Swing, compared to other Medella breast pumps very small and is super compact. The size alone makes it the perfect option for someone who is looking for an occasional pump or more importantly a travel pump. I honesty could not imagine lugging around my huge double breast pump again and half the time I did the first time around I made excuses not to use it as using a double pump even in your car is not all that discreet. Though having a double pump at home is a great luxury and time saver I find more than not I end up just pumping one side while my baby nurses on the other side or even after he is done and is asleep on the other side. At least the first time around I ended up with more than enough milk and that was a possibility, so far that's not this time around but I'm hopeful as Dylan is starting to nurse much better now.

The Swing offers many of the same features as the larger Medella pumps including two phase expression which mimics the way a baby really nurses, as well as the same breast shields as well as the option to use the personal fit shields if you need them. Really the biggest difference between the Swing and the larger pumps is the fact that this is a single pump unit (you can only pump one breast at a time) and there is no built in carrying case, though it does come with a string bag to store it in. The entire pump is enclosed in what looks to be a large disc. Though the benefit is that the entire pump will fit pretty nicely in a larger diaper bag, desk drawer, or even tucked away in your car. Really if your looking for a portable pump you can't get anything nicer or more discreet as the entire unit is fairly tiny. Not to mention it carries a price tag of almost half of some of the other Medella pumps which is great for moms on a budget as well. Really my only complaint at all is that it does not come with a car power adapter which would have been very convienat though it does run on batteries if needed.

You can learn more about the Medella Swing on the Medella website or purchase your own on Amazon!