Medela Pump in Style Advanced Vs. Freestyle

After my maternity leave, returning to work was one of the hardest things for me because leaving such a tiny baby who depended on me for all of his nutrition seemed out of this world. But as I got to a point where staying at home was starting to affect me financially, I was forced to return to work when my baby was just 9 weeks old. It was so painful to have to leave him for nearly 10 hours everyday but I had to.
Because I was exclusively breastfeeding, I had one more thing to worry about; that was, how to keep my milk supply up when away from my baby for prolonged hours. As some of us already know, being away from your baby can mean that milk supply would soon dwindle since it works as demand and supply.
The only way to prevent diminishing milk supply, was to pump at the same time my baby would ordinarily feed. This served two purposes; it ensured my breast milk flow never went down but increased instead, and it ensured I always had milk stored in the freezer just in case.
Breast pumps are a must have for most working mothers who are still nursing and with an abundance of options to choose from, it is without a doubt that a lot of new mothers are perplexed about which breast pumps best suit their needs.
For this reason, I have decided to briefly outline the pros and cons of the 2 breast pumps I used based on my own experience with them. They were both Medela breast pumps but functioned in very different ways. I hope you find this helpful and it can bring you an inch closer to making a decision on what breast pump to buy. I have also made the breast pumps clickable links so you can easily find where to buy them.

Medela Pump in Style Advanced

Pros:

• Very good suction
• Sturdy design
• Easy to clean parts
• Easy to use
• Adjustable speed
• Comes with 2 free bottles

Cons:

• Can't move around when using it
• Weird noise

Medela Freestyle

Pros:

• Lightweight and sleek design
• Can move around with it.
• Long battery life
• Comes with a breast pump bag and free bottles (love me some freebies)
• Adjustable speed
• Easy to detach and clean thoroughly.

Cons:

• Weird membrane affects suction sometimes and this can be particularly hurtful to milk supply if it's persistent.
• Weird pump sound.

I also give a review on my breast pumps on my YouTube if you want a visual.

Leave a comment to let me know what breast pump you used and if you can recommend it.

Don't forget to connect with me on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africanladyandababy/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/africanladyandababy/
And my podcast: https://linktr.ee/africanladyandababy

See ya later alligator!😉

My Really Easy Photography DIY Backdrop

If you are a little like me, you are probably also crazy about anything you can create by yourself. It was my birthday on the 1st of June and just the day before, I suddenly got the idea to create my own backdrop. I wanted something nice and inexpensive to take pictures of myself (and my baby) with and I was determined to use only items I already had to create my backdrop. It turned out to be really beautiful, bold, and a true reflection of me; earthy and natural.

For my backdrop, I made use of an old fleece blanket and simply used safety pins to attach leaves and my eucalyptus garland. If you want to achieve a backdrop similar to mine, you totally can with any plain sheet of fabric. I recommend using these Eucalyptus Garlands from Amazon because they are so so natural looking, full, and easily bendable to conform to whatever shape you want. They also work so pleasantly for a variety of uses such as wedding photography, home decor, baby shower decor and photography, etc. I ended up using about 5 of them for my backdrop but to be honest, you can work with whatever you want to achieve whatever look you want to achieve. I also added a range of artificial plants to create a full look and simply arranged them to fit the frame for my picture and that was it.

For my pictures, I used my Samsung Galaxy S10e (you'd be amazed how great the camera of this phone is and how professional photos come out) and a really inexpensive Phone Tripod. Don't forget good pictures have everything to do with excellent Lighting. You may buy one at a relatively good price or you can use natural light and just ensure all lights are on if done in-house.

These are my tips and tricks for today, let me know what you think in the comments section. I'd also love to see what you create from this very simple trick so please share with me on Pinterest and Instagram. See you later alligator! 😊