Breast Pump

Don't be scared off. No pictures or videos present on this posting. But the Lord did a cool thing with it today....

Last night my breast pump quit working. This is bad news since I'm pumping 6 times a day and my baby will no longer latch on to nurse. I tried my own version of troubleshooting and came to the conclusion that the pump was kaput. I knew that my sister would loan me her pump, but she's not arriving until Monday. The dilemma is what to do in the meantime. By the time I talked to Scott late in the evening, I had resolved that I would do formula feedings only until Monday when I would try to pump. If I still had milk - fantastic. If not, no big deal. Well, Scott and Dr. Amy - my teammate, dear friend and breastfeeding expert - decided that indeed it WAS a very big deal. The physical and emotional implications of me quitting breastfeeding this week make this into a big deal. Amy kept me on the phone at 11:00 last night while she made a round of phone calls to every labor and delivery ward in the whole area trying to find a pump for me to use.

Well, this morning I found a local pharmacy that rents pumps and has one in stock. I figure the crisis is averted and head confidently over there. It's never that easy. They do rent pumps, but you have to buy the $50 kit to go with it or the thing won't work. Looks like I'm going to have to pay $100 ($50 rental + $50 kit) to use a pump for 3 days. Since I haven't pumped since 1:00 yesterday afternoon, I'm thinking $100 is really a small price to pay. However, being the cheapskate that I am, I have to see what WalMart has to offer. The answer? Not much. From WalMart, I borrow a phone book and the telephone (where's an iphone when you need one??) and call around to other stores in the area. Nothing else available in town. I head back to the pharmacy and tell the lady that at this point it's worth a little cash. The pressure in my chest is growing by the minute. And it's cheaper than buying another one, right? This is where the Lord really worked it out.

So, she's ringing up my purchase when I ask about the terms of the rental. Yes, they only rent it by the month. Well... "unless it doesn't work out and you decide tomorrow that you want to return it. I'll pro-rate it." Great. I really only need it until Monday. "Well, why didn't you tell me that before?" she says. "Just borrow the parts from the store's 'tester' kit and I'll save you the $50." Well, fantastic - except that I still have to buy tubing and (of course) there are no more tubes left. No tubes = deal breaker = No relief in sight. "Well... just go ahead and use these tubes too," she throws in. At this point, I'm beyond grateful. This lady is really hooking me up. She's just saved me some money and alleviated all my problems. I begin to explain to her what a blessing she really has been and start to tell her about Caroline's surgery. She interrupts and pushes the pump toward me. "Just take the whole thing," she says. Problem solved. No money spent. Milk pumped. Much more comfortable mama. Thank you, Jesus!

Guess what? Tonight, the old pump started right up...