MotherloveMore Milk Special Blend Tincture (4 oz Value Size) Herbal Lactation Supplement w/Goat’s Rue to Build Breast Tissue & Support Breast Milk Supply—USDA Certified Organic, Vegan, Soy-Free

I have been using this product for nearly 3 weeks now, and I can honestly say it has worked wonders for me. A little back story: despite my severely inverted nipples and a c-section, my son had a great latch and was nursing wonderfully, but at 48 hours he was moderately jaundiced (his bilirubin was about 6.8) and the doctor recommended I might want to try supplementing a bit with formula to get it down faster (more intake = more poop = less bilirubin). My firstborn was severely jaundiced and spent a week in hospital when she was born, and I was completely naive about breastfeeding so I gave up after the first few hours home when she would just root without latching and scream. In fear of the same thing happening again, when I was so determined to breastfeed this time, I agreed and went home with a small can of formula and instructions to nurse first then offer the bottle.My severely inverted nipples ended up with large terrible sores by day 3; not because of poor latch or anything else, but simply because they had never before been drawn out or exposed to outside air/fabric/a suckling babe, so they were extraordinarily sensitive and paid dearly for it. By day 4 the sores were so raw and bloody, I had to bite a towel every time he latched on and cried horribly the entire time. Lanolin, heating pads, and ice packs brought no relief. I made the mistake of going straight to bottle once, and then continued to let the fear of pain choose a bottle over nursing at every other feeding. Day 6 I ended up in the lactation consultant's office snot-crying that I didn't think I could do it, it just hurt so incredibly much. She suggested I try moist wound healing by expressing a few drops of breastmilk after each feeding and covering with saran wrap (which worked wonderfully to reduce the pain and speed healing). By the end of week 2 they were completely healed and I had toughened up enough that latching no longer hurt and I was back to nursing at every feeding, but all that supplementing and skipping breastfeeding meant my supply was nowhere near what my little one needed. He was still taking 1.5-2oz afterwards, and I was only able to pump MAYBE 1/2oz altogether. Let me add that by this point one breast is almost a cup size smaller (it was not this way until the sores came along and I nursed the less sore side more often) and produces about 1/6-1/4 of what the larger one does. Not only frustrating to deal with poor supply, but I was also feeling self conscious.Week 3: I researched and started taking fenugreek 2 capsules 4 times daily, and while I started to actually feel myself let down (which I hadn't felt since the first week), he was still taking at least 1.5oz of formula after every feeding. I went to see the lactation consultants and one suggested Motherlove Special Blend! She said she recently saw a big decrease after returning to work despite pumping, and had taken it for 1 month and was able to completely nurse her 4 month old again, as well as occasionally nurse her 2 year old! I decided to give it a try.I got it in the mail a day earlier than expected, and the next morning took the first dose eagerly. I will admit there is a bit of an aftertaste, but I stopped noticing it after the first day. By the morning of day 2 I was leaking a few drops out of the larger breast, and had a more noticeable letdown reflex. By the end of the first week taking it, I was able to pump 1 & 1/2oz altogether once a day and then anywhere between 1/2oz and 1oz throughout the rest; and my little one was only taking 1oz bottles after nursing.By the end of the second week on it, I was nursing him regularly but he was getting bottles once I was "empty" so my body had no reason to need to increase supply. I started taking away bottles during the day, switching him from side to side as long as he would allow me to before getting one. Within a few days I was down to 4 bottles a day, with the only formula being around 11pm, when he would not go down for the night on breastmilk alone. He was going through a growth spurt and I was soon returning to work, so I needed to increase my supply to pump at least enough for 1 bottle while I was away. I outlined a more strict pumping schedule, started cosleeping so that he could nurse as long as he wanted and for the increased skin to skin time, and had a power pumping weekend.As of now I am easily able to pump at least 3oz (sometimes 4oz) every 3 hours at work. I have enough for 3 bottles in the fridge at all times, and replace daily what was used. That's the only time I need to pump now, but I am able to go from about 9 pm to 4pm (or whenever I go to work) the following day without a bottle at all - he nurses 4-5 times at night on one side each, and only needs to be switched from the left to the right once per feeding during the day. No matter what at around 9pm every night he gets hysterical and will not latch, and spits out breastmilk in a bottle repeatedly, so he gets half a formula bottle and then nurses. The last 2 days I have bypassed that completely, and here's to hoping it's done for good!Let me say, my schedule for taking Special Blend is 8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 8pm - every 4 hours, and more or less half an hour before I usually nurse. I don't know if this is the magic number or not, but it has worked wonderfully for me. I also do only take it with one sip of water, and wait 20 minutes before and after taking it to drink. I set alarms on my phone for 20 before the hour to remind me to stop drinking and take it on the hour, and find I have no problem with timing. I have started taking 2 plain fenugreek at nighttime so there's not such a long stretch between my 8pm and 8am doses of Special Blend. It has helped lessen the amount of time he needs to nurse per feeding at night (was sometimes up to 45 minutes, now averages about 25 minutes). I have missed a dose twice and noticed a difference in output, although I'm not sure if there are other factors. Oh and my uneven breasts are now MUCH more even, the difference is really nominal and my other half days he doesn't see it at all anymore. That, by the way, is what separates Special Blend from More Milk Plus - the goats rue in Special Blend, for women that didn't see much change in breast tissue during pregnancy. I'm still getting less from that side, about 1 - 1 & 1/2oz (vs 2 - 2 & 1/2oz on the other side) but it's much better than the 1/8oz that I was getting!All in all, I believe that this product really works and do recommend it to other mother's struggling with supply. But I also recommend cosleeping, nursing constantly (you are not a pacifier, you are nourishment love and comfort for your baby, if he wants to comfort nurse let him! It's good for his well-being and great for your production!), spending as much time as possible skin to skin (even if he's not latched, just take him down to diaper and take your shirt off and snuggle), pumping about 10 minutes after each feeding for 5 minutes (it's not how much you get out or how long, but FREQUENCY that's key), and power pumping while baby's asleep for an extended period of time (10 minutes on, 10 minutes rest, lather rinse repeat for 2 hours).Oh, and one more thing that I just found out and made me feel a lot better - for a woman that is exclusively breastfeeding, only being able to pump 1-2oz is normal in between feedings, as that is what's *EXTRA* and women who can pump more are unusual! So rejoice, rest up, drink your fluids, get some Motherlove Special Blend, calm down and you'll get there! :D

I have used this product off and on during the past 8 months of nursing my daughter, and it is spectacular! It works better than the Motherlove More Milk (which does not have goats rue). At first when I tried this, I thought it upset my daughter's stomach, since she definitely had increased gas and hiccups, but that is NOT the case. I notice that other reviews have commented on this as well, and I will speculate that the real source of their baby's increased gas/ stomach issues is the same as mine:This product is so effective at increasing milk production that it may lead to overproduction issues, as it did with me. This includes a fast and foreceful milk let-down reflex, which can cause your baby to choke and swallow air - making them gassy and/ or causing hiccups. It also increases the amount of milk production, including foremilk production (the thin, bluish milk that comes out first). If your milk production has increased so much that your baby can't eat enough to get to the hindmilk (the fatty, high calorie milk that comes out at the end), your baby will get an imbalance of foremilk and hindmilk. Foremilk is a natural laxative, which is why breastfed babies don't get constipated, and it is high in lactose; without enough hindmilk to balance this, it gives your baby colicky symptoms. If you notice that your baby has green, frothy poop, this is a good indication that s/he is getting too much foremilk.*Milk Production*: I am away from my baby and pump 3 times a day at work. I pump 15 - 20 oz per day, and she only wants about 10 - 12 oz. I'm actively trying to produce a huge stash of breastmilk so that when my daughter weans, I will not have to start her on cow's milk for a few months. So far, I have over 50 4 oz bags stored in my standing freezer, and I just had to buy a chest freezer because we ran out of room! When I originally started pumping, I would get about 10 - 12 oz per day, so I saw a pretty sizable increase in the amount of milk I am pumping.*Dosage*: I have found that when I'm sick (mastitis, thrush, colds), my milk production goes down a little bit. When that happens, I take 1 capsule 4 times a day (6am, 12pm, 6pm, 12am), and I weigh 125 pounds. This gets my milk production back up, and then I usually cut the dose back to 1 capsule twice a day. Once the ingredients are in my system, I find that I don't need the full dose to maintain my milk production.*Let-down Reflex*: This product also helps decrease the time that it takes for my milk to let down, and with my impatient, easily-distracted daughter, that is really helpful! Before I started taking this, I couldn't feel my milk let-down, but now I definitely can.*Milk Quality*: One might wonder if the increased milk production leads to less than high quality milk. This is definitely not the case for me! My daughter is in the 100th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height. It's comical, since neither my husband or I are super tall, and we're both a very healthy weight. I always have to shake my milk before I send it to the sitter, since there is a heavy layer of cream (fat) on top.