It was there, inside a curtained booth outfitted with a comfy glider (and a recent issue of Cookie!) that I had my first encounter with the Medela Symphony hospital-grade breast pump. And at the risk of sounding dramatic, the next 12 minutes changed my life.

"Despite the clear evidence at each checkup that my daughter has been getting more than adequate nutrition, the paltry results of my pumping sessions had me convinced that there was something wrong with me/my boobs/my milk supply."

For eight months I've been using a standard-issue electric pump with little success. Despite the clear evidence at each checkup that my daughter has been getting more than adequate nutrition, the paltry results of my pumping sessions had me convinced that there was something wrong with me/my boobs/my milk supply. I found pumping depressing, discouraging, borderline humiliating. And I was not alone, I had commiserated with many a new mom in similar states of suffering and self-doubt. I even know moms who decided early on to supplement with formula, not because the doctor said their babies were failing to thrive, but because they couldn't pump enough milk to leave home for longer than the 2 to 3 hours between feedings.

But wait! Could it be that it wasn't me (us) at all? That it was our puny at-home pumps? Of course, I am in no position to make such a claim. But when I tried the Symphony, everything changed. The milk just came out--quickly, easily, painlessly, perfectly. In 12 minutes I expressed more than I would usually get in 30-plus minutes with my own pump. I was awestruck. It was like magic. Or like banging your head against the wall repeatedly for months and then stopping.

The industrial-strength Symphony is so serious a machine that only hospitals and pharmacies own them, and regular folks have to rent them by the month. Of course, after my Vegas revelation I could not go back to my old device (I could barely even look at it), so I marched straight out to rent it the minute I got home. It is not cheap, but neither was the one I bought originally, and the difference this makes in my life (in time and energy saved, not to mention milk gained) is more than worth it.

What I can't figure out is why nobody told me about this sooner. Perhaps it is my own fault. Maybe if I had talked to a lactation consultant about my pumping troubles (rather than enduring them with a martyr's pride), I would have discovered this simple solution months ago. But now that I know, I'm determined to spread the word to other afflicted moms. To shout it from the rooftops. By which I mean, to blog about it. So now you know.