oh wow, firstly, thank you so much to Eej for starting this thread, and thanks to Mantaray for making it sticky! Yay!

Secondly, question - does anyone know a brand of bottle that's compatible with the medela pumps and is bigger? I need something about 250ml for my morning express (yes i'm getting heaps woo hoo!! personal record of 420ml the other morning ) - I tried buying a tommee tippee one the other day but it doesn't screw in properly.

Also, I know exactly what you mean re being self-conscious with the bottle... I don't want to sound judgemental to those giving FF, but I SO want to make it clear that I've got EBM in there... after all, I worked hard to produce it!

Gothmum - re your question on pumps, well I find I vastly prefer to double pump (I also use Medela Pump in Style), which means no hands free but a) you get MORE milk usually and b) it's in a quicker timeframe. It used to take me 30 mins doing one side at a time, and now I can usually be done in about 12 mins and actually get more. You can buy online pretty cheap usually - look at SoulMothers or NursingAngel dot com (I think I went with SoulMothers). So saying, I will also be trying to BF with my next - I think exclusive expressing is something to do as a second choice rather than first choice - definitely easier if you can get that BM straight into bubs, so give yourself all the support/help you can find. I think my MIL also found it hard to understand (she never succeeded BF'ing) so kept saying "the bottle is easier" which I think she meant to remove pressure from me, but I just found it discouraging. The culture we're in has such a huge impact, but remember all those people out there who are BF''ing even if we can't see them... sometimes it's easy to feel very alone trying to do it.

Eej - re the easy expressions bra - does that work if you're massaging? Since DS's 12 week growth spurt, I've tended to massage the breast as I pump, and I definitely drain better & get more out. Can you still do that with the bra? I've wondered about them, but hadn't shelled out for one... but it sounds like it's great so love to hear more about it.

Oh and my multi-tasking double-pumping best effort so far... I managed to double pump, drink a cup of tea, answer a phone call and rock DS in his stroller with my foot... hehehe. The mantra in our household as I grab my pumping stuff is "pump it hottie!".

Cheers,
Belfie