The breastpump is the most expensive item on the list?!

I am all ready with Sweet Pea's shopping list, and if he knew the extent of it he'll be excited! I know I am, as long as I choose not to compute the total figure at the end of it.

What caught me by surprise really was the cost of the breast pump. Conventional thinking is that breastfeeding is free! No need for cost of bottles, formula and things associated with it like bottle sterilizers. Well unless Mommy is gonna be a stay-at-home mum and whose milk flows like the Yangtze River with a controlling dam, no way is breastfeeding gonna be cheap since milk will have to be pumped. The 'breastpump in style' is a cool S$699, comes with a stylish bag and I believe bottles and dual suction cups to make the cows moo in approval. Settle for something relative less expensive is the Mini electric dual pump at $299, which as it suggests, is a smaller version with a smaller intensity, but still time efficient given its dual pumps. Half that price and you get a Mini electric single pump, which might get Mommy cow pretty impatient because it's twice the amount of time she's being pumped. And the cheapest of it all, under $50, the manual single pump, which is like asking the cow of 4 udders to be pumped an udder at a time, and to do-it-yourself, thank you. By the time it's done it's time to go back to square one again. With the amount of time involved it could evolve into a profession - 'So what do you do?' 'Oh I'm a full time breast-pumper. Want milk?'

But I know breastfeeding is not the easiest thing, and demands a lot of patience. It's like learning how to ride a bicycle or drive, although in my case I really hope it'll not be given the track record of how I got to learn those 2 things. The movies make it look so easy. They always make things look so easy! But I will give it a try nonetheless, because it's good for Sweet Pea and as long as it is, it's a worthy sacrifice on my part, sagging breasts and all.

Ah the powers of motherhood!