ent29,
I just went to get the lightest and most portable dual pump from medela. Saw my colleague using and even while she pumped in office, I didn't hear the motor while standing near her. So it's considered very quiet. And she said it's really good because the motor has the letdown phase (for stimulating milk flow) and expression phase (for actual drawing out of milk). It has a memory system too, which u can easily program it to remember how long you want to pump and stop automatically. Comes with a nice tote bag plus cooler bag too. [IMG=http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/clipart/happy.gif] so for $475 it's a steal. Oh, local sets with warranties are usually $799 onwards. Mine is US set, no warranty. Even if got problem, just bring down to local service centre to fix. Pay $100 upfront still worth it.
Re: confinement rules
Can be very strict like totally no washing of hair throughout 28 days, cannot drink plain water but only red dates tea, cannot touch unboiled tap water, must wear long sleeves long pants, cannot go outside, cannot on fan and blow direct, no bathing only wipe down, veg all must use sesame oil and wine to cook etc etc.
My confinement was like this:
- first 5 days no showering, no bathing
- subsequently bathe everyday with herbs
- wash hair once every 2-3 days
- drank plain water secretly
- touched plain water when washing things
- wore t shirt and shorts
- on fan to maximum secretly
- went out many times with baby
Broke a lot of rules until my mum also closed one eye.