Medela Symphony vs Ameda Purely Yours breast pumps

Yes, this is a post about breast pumps. I apologize for that if you are a man who is 1) unmarried without children, or 2) related to me. You might want to just stop reading now if you are related to me and this is grossing you out already.

When we first became pregnant I acquired the Ameda Purely Yours breast pump secondhand. Our childbirth instructor and lactation consultant was horrified and said that we should never use a secondhand pump because there could be bacteria in the tubing or the motor, coming from the tubing. However, the Ameda is a closed-tube system. Moisture never enters the tubing. There are little silicone diaphragms that allow the suction of air through the tubes but prevent moisture from entering. Since I had never seen another pump, I assumed all pumps were like this and that there must be some magical way the lactation consultant knew about that bacteria could get in which I didn't know about. But we also didn't have $300 for a brand new pump so I wanted to use this one. I read on the Ameda site (somewhere) that theirs is the only pump which is certified hygenic for reuse if the special HYGIENIKIT is purchased, replacing all the parts that come in contact with moisture with new, sterilized parts. I searched and searched the internets until I actually found the FDA certification PDF that granted this certification to Ameda specifically. I would link to it, but it took me so long to find it that I can't find it again. Just believe me, it is there if you have 2-3 hours to search.

It wasn't until I had some breastmilk supply issues last week and rented a Medela Symphony hospital-grade pump that I realized the difference between Ameda and the ever-popular Medela, and understood what the lactation consultant was talking about when she said things about moisture and bacteria in the pump and tubing. Did you know that apparently most pumps don't have a diaphragm keeping the moisture and milk from the pump flanges and storage container from getting into the tubing? Gross! I had no idea! This is a $1,000+ pump I have rented here, and I spend half my time trying to "fling" the moisture out of the tubing! There is no way to clean it out! That does not seem sanitary to me. Don't get me wrong, this pump is super quiet and efficient. And the two-phase system for triggering letdown is very nice. The Ameda does not have that two-phase system. So I do think the Medela has helped restore my supply in that way. But the tubing is ridiculous.

Then there is the fact that you HAVE to use both flanges with the Medela at all times, even if you only want to pump one side. I always have one side that produces more than the other, so with the Ameda I always disconnected the more productive side and devoted a little extra time to the lower producing side so that I get the full amount from each side. You can't do that with Medela! You have to keep pumping on both even when one side is finished, so it just hurts.

So, I am probably going to be pretty glad to go back to my Ameda. It may be old and the engine may be a little slow, but at least the tubing never gets drippy, and I can do one-sided pumping!

*NOTE: I was not paid or given any consideration by Ameda or Medela for this review - these are products I tried on my own and this is what I think about them.

UPDATE: For more updates on my breastfeeding experiences with Little Sir and how it ended, check out my posts The Thing About Breastfeeding and The 2nd Time Around Formula and Breastfeeding.

DFW Blogger meetup: Village Tea Company

Last Thursday (I know, I know...) Village Tea Company was gracious enough to host a DFW Blogger meetup in conjunction with BlogHer. I was excited to see some bloggers I already know (Bobbi Janay, Chirky, Eddie, Bianca), meet Mommy Is Rock N Roll (who I had never met in person before) and find some new bloggers who I can now stalk follow.

Village Tea Company sells premium teas to stores such as Whole Foods nationwide, and has only one retail store so far here in Dallas, at Preston and Forest. Fun fact: they explained that the majority of their tea is organically grown, but they can't always label it as such since some of the flavorings added to the different mixes can't be "verified" organic.

I have been drinking a lot of tea for the last year since coffee is pretty much off the menu during pregnancy and breastfeeding. These folks are serious about their tea!!

We met Martin "the tea guru" (standing and talking in this picture) and Bryce (who is a girl in the foreground and has her own blog, The Luxury Spot).

Martin gave us a quick tutorial on "good tea" (I drink "crap tea" most of the time, I admit it. But that's just how "mother's milk" tea is made...), and gave us as many samples of whatever we wanted as we could hold!

I also LOVED the look and feel of the place - both modern and comfortable at the same time.

For all the moms out there, they also have a charming kids' area, and host "story time" for free on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3PM-5PM.

Bryce gave us a tip on reusing empty tea tins such as the ones used for Village Tea leaves - use them to store jewelry and other small items when you are traveling! Keeping necklaces in empty tea tins keeps them from tangling in your clothing and makes them easy to locate!

And now for a blogroll of new bloggers I met, check them out!
Surviving the Stores
Screwed Up Texan
Ask Dan and Jennifer (warning: adult content)
Save the Phillips Family

Recycling a large CRT TV in Texas/DFW

I had no idea how difficult it would be to recycle an old CRT TV larger than 32 inches!

It is not my TV, but a friend of mine's. She and I were searching together for somewhere she could send it for appropriate disposal.

You do know that putting an old TV out on the curb for the trashperson sends it to a landfill where it leaches dangerous chemicals into the ground, right? Hence the attempt to recycle the large TV - to send it to a company that will disassemble it appropriately and safely dispose of the dangerous waste.

Normally, I would recommend Best Buy's recycling program for TV recycling, but it appears that they do not recycle TV's larger than 32 inches.

Goodwill also has a recycling program for TV's they cannot resell, but they will not take sets that are not operational.

The next stop was the Texas Take Back web site, which is a site supposedly dedicated to helping consumers dispose of electronic waste properly in Texas. However, as you can see just by visiting the site, it is extremely difficult to assemble the information on televisions. If you know where you purchased the set and have a proof of purchase, you are in luck. But how many people have (or can locate!) receipts from a TV purchased 3 years, 5 years ago or more? The other option on this site is broken down by manufacturer. In case you have a TV to recycle and are as mind-boggled as I was by all the disparate information for the different brands (the links don't send you to the actual information in all cases, sometimes you have to locate the information on the manufacturer's sites), here is the breakdown:

LG/Goldstar/Zenith is done by HOBI International
Samsung has a map where you type in your zip code
Mitsubishi/Panasonic/Sharp/Toshiba/VIZIO are all here

Sony says they will recycle old Sony TV's, but they actually won't unless you buy a new Sony TV from one of their SonyStyle stores. I worked for Sony as a client in one of my previous jobs, and I can tell you that SonyStyle stores are way overpriced in my humble opinion. The Sony television we have, we bought at an electronics store for much cheaper than the same model would have cost at a SonyStyle store.

However, in this case the television was a Phillips - none of the brands listed!

Through TimeToRecycle.com, my friend eventually found Intechra, which accepts large televisions if you drive to their location at a loading dock in Carrollton between the hours of 6:00-11:00 and 12:00-2:00. The information actually appears to be gone from the TimeToRecycle site now, so it's a good thing we saved it, and part of the reason I am reprinting it here.

Not exactly the easiest thing in the world - no wonder so many people just put their old TV's out on the curb. And what about other areas of Texas? Not everyone can drive to Carrollton.

Public Research Works recently published a report entitled "Free e-recycling, but nobody knows. Even the information provided on this site and the resources listed could not have helped us. It's easy to recycle a computer, but not a television larger than 32 inches!

What gives, Texas?!

Words with Friends: netiquette

I have jumped on the time-wasting bandwagon that is Words With Friends. In case your life hasn't been slowly sucked away by this addictive iPhone app, I will explain what it is (also, because the Words With Friends web site is currently unavailable - what?).

It is just like Scrabble, only you can play multiple games with multiple people who are nowhere near you and you might not even know them. The screen is like a Scrabble board and you draw letters each time and spell words, getting points in Double and Triple Word squares and Double and Triple Letter squares - just like Scrabble. The cool thing is that once you play your turn, a notification is sent to the iPhone/iPod Touch of the other player saying you've played and they play their turn the next chance they get. Since I have an infant, I often go several hours between playing turns, which I hope is fine because the other person can't play their turn until you've played yours anyway.

I am currently playing 5 games, some with people I don't know too well IRL (in real life), but I enjoy playing the game even though I am not good at it at all, really.

Christian has the app too and, sadly, we have sat right next to each other on the couch playing Words With Friends with each other on our iPhones. Even though we own a Scrabble board.

But we do differ on one point. When I get weird letters like Q or V or Y, I start making up words and putting the letters in odd combinations until I find a word that the app says is actually a word. This is how I discovered the words "qua" and "xi". I have no idea what they mean, but they are words!

However, Christian says this is cheating. He says you need to know the words, and what they mean if you are going to play them. I say, this is how you learn new words! You just make them up until you find one! What do you think?