[ShelaVenna]

Thank you for sending the link for the DeRoyal pump on Ebay! And thank you all for the warnings against the Meifuly pump-- I cancelled the order. I held off buying something else because EveBra agreed to send me yet another replacement pump. But... this one seems to be defective. From the moment I took it out of the box, it has been giving me the low battery alarm every time the it kicks back on to restore vacuum pressure. I've put new batteries in from 3 different brands and nothing solves the problem. It's not the loss of suction alarm. I troubleshooted it with EveBra over the phone and they weren't able to figure out the problem. The only thing I've noticed is that the chamber where the batteries are placed is warped. My other two pumps did not look like that. So, I'm thinking this one may just have a manufacturing defect. I'm still waiting to see what EveBra decides to do about it. Meanwhile, my pump is alarming on average every 30 minutes to an hour. Not great for a good night's sleep!

The good news is that I've been able to continue without missing any days! Today marks the end of week 5, and I've logged 572 hours. And to Blue792's question, this new pump seems to generate a lot more suction than the one I was previously using! It is much more like the first EveBra pump I had (that died after 9 days). This makes me think that the second pump they sent me was actually not generating as strong a vacuum as it should. Maybe that is why I had such a hard time getting swelling. I've only had this third pump a few days and the swelling is already much better. However, there is a lot more pressure on my chest and I've developed a small sore under my left armpit. I absolutely smother myself in skin seal, so I wonder how that could've happened. I got a hydrocolloid gel adhesive bandage to put over it, and my fingers are crossed that it doesn't force me to take time off.

To Blue792's other question, yes, I am getting swelling under my right breast! It first started happening about a week ago, and I was also concerned about developing a fat pad underneath my breast. Just like you, I wasn't able to reposition the domes to keep it from happening. I am just hoping that since it didn't become a problem until recently, I will finish this 4 to 6 month cycle without it growing too much. If you come up with a solution, let me know!

Also, I wanted to mention for ShelaVenna that I am now able to sleep on my side! I found that if I keep my top arm in line with my body (rather than going across my chest to rest on the mattress in front of me), the domes keep their seal. I've put a travel pillow in between my arm and my side for comfort, and it's not so bad. Now, with the stronger suction of this new pump, I find it even easier to sleep on my side without losing a seal. I am still wearing the size 1 domes, though, so I'm not sure what it would be like with the other sizes.

I’m still baffled about the high pressure people are experiencing. I’ve owned 2 separate brava pumps (1 was ancient and broke almost immediately), and I own a gauged hand pump. Both Brava pumps were extremely gentle. More importantly, when I used the hand pump at roughly 30mmhg it also felt very gentle. I know what 30 mmhg feels like, and it’s honestly barely enough pressure to keep the domes on. Your description makes me think that their pump just sucks, and is very bad at maintaining a consistent pressure in the right range.