Upspring!

Namastè!

I hope you're experiencing copious amounts thereof this morning!

I've been fielding a lot of galactagogue questions lately. As mothers we are interested in providing the best, and when our best is via nursing, we always take every step to make sure we can provide enough!

I've been in a stressful haze the past few weeks. Between settling into the house and my work (Family Namastè is entrepreneurial--we maintain several convenience stores, Hubby Namastè has his work, and I have my work, plus our outreach group for parents [Mamastè] is growing so rapidly), I have not been sleeping properly.

Anytime my output dips below 40 ounces per day, I take a day or two to pamper myself. I try to drink extra water, eat better (in my case eat more--I am a consummate grazer!), and de-stress so I can fill those bottles in between nursing sessions. I pump on schedule, but Baby Namastè nurses on demand. Sometimes his demand is less. He's been cluster feeding lately.

Enter my Upspring!

I received a MilkFlow care package for review. While the products themselves are sponsored, the opinions are mine alone.

Note: I'm only just beginning to learn about the wonder of galactagogues myself. For the first six months of Baby Namastè's life, I did nothing but nurse and pump. There was never need or reason to find supply help. Now that I've donated my desired 10K ounces, I'm building a supply for Baby Namastè to have after his first birthday. He's already beginning to wean himself, but he still nurses on demand.

Also note: A breast pump cannot gauge how much milk you make. There is no mechanical device that can remove milk as efficiently as a baby. Please don't let the number--or lack--of bags or bottles in the freezer or fridge make you feel inadequate about your supply. If your baby is gaining and keeping weight, showing steady growth, and making a good number of wet and dirty diapers, you are likely producing enough. Exclusive pumping mamas, it is especially important for you to stay encouraged and focus on baby's growth more than the amount of milk you have stashed.

Now...my Upspring MilkFlow. *insert googly heart eyes*

In my experience very few galactagogue drinks, teas, or tinctures ever taste good. (Just my observations, via my palate.) Nursing cookies? NO. So I purposely didn't look at reviews about MilkFlow. I waited til the package arrived, determined to not be swayed one way or the other til I tried it myself. I was definitely willing to try it just from looking at the packet--all natural, gluten free, and non GMO. (I am big on those.)

It. Is. CHOCOLATE.

I don't know if I've mentioned before, my affinity for all things chocolate. I could actually smell the cocoa from the packets. The box smelled like a Hershey bar, y'all. Considering it has fenugreek, I expected it to smell like pancakes.

I mixed my MilkFlow into some almond milk. The package said it could be enjoyed cold or hot. Having tried both ways, I prefer hot. It tastes like either very rich cocoa with the little yummy marshmallows. Look at it, it looks like cocoa!!!

I also received the berry and citrus flavors. The berry flavor, I put in cranberry juice. Citrus, a good old glass of ruby red grapefruit juice. Both were decent, but that chocolate is my favorite, hands down. (I generally prefer sweet to tart, and chocolate is my favorite, period.)

I don't really recommend mixing it in water--it doesn't taste bad but getting the ratio right to avoid watering down the mix's flavor is tricky. My magic number was 6 ounces water to one packet.

Did it help?

As I said, I take a Tayè Day to rest and regroup when my supply dips below 40 ounces per day. Two days into my MilkFlow trial, I really did notice a difference. I tested further by dropping from 8 pumps to 6, and I was still able to get my "quota" plus a little extra, to the the of 7 to 8 additional ounces each day.

Do I recommend it?

Of course. It helps, it tastes pretty good, and it beats taking all those capsules. (I've received emails from women who struggle to take up to 20 capsules of fenugreek and other herbs every day in efforts to raise or maintain their milk supply!)

Along with my MilkFlow, I received the vitamin D drops. It is so important to make sure your nursling gets the appropriate amounts of vitamin D! Formula is fortified with it by default, but breastmilk contains only the amounts mom had ingested. The average mother does not get enough vitamin D to support her and baby.

These drops are concentrated, so baby won't need a syringe full. I just dosed Baby Namastè direct, then allowed him to nurse do he could wash it down.

I like the customer service at Upspring as much as I enjoyed that chocolate drink! They are polite and courteous. For my collaboration I worked with Erika! She was in the thick of moving to a new office but still took the time to answer my questions and keep me updated with everything pertaining to my demo pack. She went above and beyond to make sure it all went smoothly, even as she herself was in the midst of setting up her new office.

In a nutshell, YES. Go get it. My favorite is the chocolate. I recommend ordering right from the Upspring site, but it is available in some areas in Walmart or Target.

Namastè!

-- Tayè K. ♡