HELP! Breast pump emergency!

[YanknCock]

I'm due to start back to work Friday, and my Medela Swing is in my fucking suitcase somewhere in fucking Amsterdam because fucking KLM wouldn't give us our luggage when we got stranded there on our way back from the states!

After 6 days being stuck we finally made it home today (combo of busses, ferry, and trains that took nearly 36 hours). I am supposed to start back to work full time on Friday and was planning to pump so DS could have EBM at nursery.

No problem, I thought, I'll just have to buy a new pump. Was thinking about getting a double one anyway. So stopped at Mothercare on the way home from picking up the car at the airport and got this Lansinoh Affinity. It doesn't fucking work at all! I have done everything according to the instructions, and it is a stupid fucking piece of shite! It is just loud and vibrates, the suction is shitty (but have checked and everything is correct). I've got only about 5ml from one boob to show for 10 minutes of pumping. By now I'd have at least 1-2oz minimum from my Swing!

What am I going to do? Mothercare won't take it back, will they? Can I say its defective?

I tried to build up a stockpile in the freezer but a bunch got used before the holiday when I was ill and puking, so I've only got maybe a day's worth in there.

How am I going to get enough for his first full day on Friday? I don't even know how to express by hand! He's sleeping so soundly in his own bed for the first time in weeks, I hate to wake him to feed but am going to have to as I can't go to bed like this.

I don't want to stop feeding him!

Yank - hope you managed to sneak a feed in.

I was going to suggest a manual pump, I got more with mine than with my Swing once I knew what I was doing.

If you go and get another Swing later but you are still worried about expressing enough you could try expressing from one breast while feeding from the other, I always got loads that way.

Just wanted to report back! Mothercare did take the pump back and exchanged it for a Medela Swing (plus refunding the difference). The lady there was very knowledgable about pumps and said when new ones come out like this, the only way the company really knows about the design problems is when people start bringing them back saying they don't work (they can test, but not on enough people to be sure it really works).

The Swing is working fantastically, and I had enough in the freezer for yesterday, plus managed to get 3oz more so it can be saved for next week. Pumping at work went very well.

I think what I'm going to do is when I get my other Swing back, I might use them as a double pump. There's a very slight chance I could claim the cost of the 2nd pump under my travel insurance delayed baggage policy, but I doubt it (they don't seem to be covering anything related to the volcano).

Thanks again for all the advice and help.

Oh a good result in the end! Glad your luck seems to have changed.