I changed my Medela pump breast shield size and what a difference it makes!

This may seem redundant and many of you probably already knew about this, but if you were like me and didn't have much help with pumping while breastfeeding when starting out or if you couldn't afford a personal lactation consultant, then you may not realize how much of a difference this little tip makes. Ladies if you have been struggling to produce enough milk output while pumping you should seriously consider trying different phalange/shield sizes other than the average size ones that the machines usually come with. Most people know that you don't pump out as much milk as baby actually eats but it's frustrating when you pump for so long and hardly anything comes out. After I gave birth, the lactation consultants in the hospital showed me how to use the breast pump they provided during the stay (it was the hospital grade Medela double electric pump) but they failed to explain so many things to me about breastfeeding. The first 2 weeks after coming home were awful for me, I was trying to exclusively breastfeed but also pump a little extra to store for when I finally go back to work. But I was constantly worrying about not producing enough milk and that my baby girl wasn't being fed enough. I was basically winging everything by myself, with only a little help from google lol and from bothering a few of my friends who have gone through or were currently going through the same breastfeeding struggles as I was. One of the many things the lactation consultants never mentioned to me were the different shield sizes and how to make sure they were a proper fit. Of course most pumps come with the average size 24 mm or 27mm so that's what I was using in the hospital, a size 24. After bringing baby home I bought a manual Medela pump and after about a week of using it on size 24mm my nipples/areola were so sore and I was still hardly pumping anything out. That's when I saw the size 27mm that the kit came with and figured I would give it a try to see if it was any better, which it seemed to be worse. After researching on the web how the nipple should fit inside the shield, I realized I may need something even smaller. I couldn't find the size 21mm anywhere in stores so I went to the Medela website and ordered a pair. My baby girl is now 6 weeks old and after trying the size 21mm for a few days I realized I've been using the wrong size the entire time! Not only am I able to pump out way more milk now and in a shorter amount of time, but it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as the larger sizes did. I only wish someone had mentioned it to me sooner:/ I'm not sure what sizes are available for pump models other than Medela but it may definitely be worth it to look into a different size if pumping is just not working for you. Hope this helps someone else like it helped me!