Anyone who has done any amount of research on how to increase your milk supply has stumbled upon fenugreek. There’s a plethora of options to chose from, some pricier than others. I use the Gaia liquid filled capsule because the lady at Whole Foods told me it’s the best for reasons that went in one ear and out the other. It’s one of the more expensive options, of course, costing $18 for 60 capsules. When I was breastfeeding Hooper, I was willing to do just about anything to boost my supply. I cared less if the fenugreek worked or not because it helped me feel like I was being proactive and at the time, that was enough. This time around, I have a hearty stash of frozen breast milk in my freezer. And by hearty, I mean I cannot fit anything else in there and am considering purchasing an additional freezer for the garage or even donating some milk. I digress, back to fenugreek. I bought some fenugreek right before I started my daily pump sessions, around 4 weeks postpartum, to ensure that I’d like what I saw when I began pumping. I’ve used it off and on since then and being that my breastfeeding/pumping schedule is pretty regular, I thought I’d run a little fenugreek experiment.

Here’s the details:

-I took 3 fenugreek capsules after breakfast and another 3 capsules after dinner, for a total of 6 capsules a day.

-I recorded how much I pumped daily over a 12 day period. Results are based solely on my pump sessions for measuring purposes. I pump the same time each day (once immediately after Van’s morning feed and again one hour after that).

-I threw out the high and the low and averaged the remaining 10 days.

-I smelled like maple syrup everyday (common side effect of the fenugreek extract).

…And… dun-dun-dun… drum roll please… The Results:

-Without fenugreek, I averaged 3.8 oz. per pump session.

-With fenugreek, I averaged 4.6 oz. per pump session.

-Fenugreek gave me an added 1.6 oz. a day, based on 2 pump sessions a day.

Onto the larger question: Is it worth it? With 60 capsules in a bottle, taking 6 capsules a day lasts for a 10 day period. It comes out to $1.72/day. What do you think? Is it worth it? Have you tried fenugreek before?

Side note: you can still enter Monday’s giveaway!! For those that do not have facebook, you can still enter to win by visiting Cuddle Smart’s website and leaving a comment on Monday’s post telling me what’s your favorite Cuddle Smart product. Good luck!