Hello!
Okay I previously owned the Ameda Elite. The difference in it and the PIS is that the Ameda cannot give you the speed of the PIS. The fastest speed on the Ameda is about the slowest on the PIS. And when you start pumping you want the fastness to start your letdown. Just like a baby at the breast starting out a feeding. The PIS can be purchased on ebay right now.. brand new sealed for about 188.00. It is a really good pump. After I recieved mine I sold my Ameda Elite. I lost 400.00 on it. But couldn't bring myself to use it again. Now the whittlestone. Its more of an expresser. It has suction but at the same time it compresses your areola as a baby does when nursing. So it does a milder suction with compressions. I really like my expresser. It might work well for you. The only thing with them is they are NOISY. I mean they start thumping and making a ratcheting sound. It sounds like pump is coming apart but its not. It does not affect the way the pump works at all. The whittlestone can be rented. But its like 179.00 up front for rental, deposit and the collection bottles and horns. But if you decide not to keep the whittlestone you can get your 75.00 deposit back. I recommend both very highly. Only the noise with the whittlestone can be annoying. They both work very differently from one another. Okay as far as manual pumps. I have the ISIS and the MEDELA mini Electric. The isis is a good manual pump... it has the petal massager that compresses the areola. But you have to make sure if you use it to keep your hands on the bottle itself to pump or you will pop the top off the Isis. Now the Medela Mini electic is great. It works like a PIS in a way. It runs off of batteries or you can use an elecric outlet. It has one speed but adjustable vaccum. I really like it. You just attach to your breast and let it do the work. No exhausting hand pumping ughhh! People sell these on ebay to.. The cost from medela is about 90.00 but you can pick them up on ebay for as little as 45.00 brand new. Okay now the SNS verses the Lact-aid. The SNS is easier to deal with considering it has the bottle. You just wash it and fill. But the down sides to the SNS are. The bottle is bulky and has to hang around your neck . It is gravity fed. An you cannot hide it well at all. The tubes are a lot thicker and firmer than the Lact-aids. And i found when the baby sucked on the tube at the breast it became more slimy feeling and hard for me to handle. Many many times the baby would suck and the tube was slipping down further in her mouth. When I unlatched her ... the tube was about an inch past my nipple. That was not good at all. Inching down her throat! Now the lact-aid does take a lot more work to use. It uses bags that are expensive. And you have to assemble the unit. But to me it was worth it. Because the Lact-aid works by the babies sucking which stimulates your breast. And you can use a pouch which is what I did and attached it to my bra. The bag lays pretty flat and hides beautifully under my clothes. Also it only has one tube but it is so pliable and breast friendly. Its a lot softer and not as rough on the babies mouth. And the best plus is. It stayed where I put it. It did NOT slide down my babies throat. Do you mind me asking... how much are you pumping right now? Have you thought about taking Domperidone to increase your milk as well?