Please contact your doctor before trying any of these suggestions. I was given these recommendations based on my medical history and issues related to breastfeeding.

When I first started pumping it was incredibly defeating. I initially started breastfeeding Ryan, but every time he would nurse, he seemed hungry and upset afterwards. After speaking to my doctor, a Board Certified Lactation Consultant and Ryan's pediatrician, it was recommended that after I nurse, I should pump. This would help stimulate my body to produce more milk. In the beginning, this is all I did. I first had my pump station setup on my nightstand, because if felt like all I had time to do was nurse Ryan, pump, and try to sleep. It was defeating that about every other hour I would pump, I barely made anything to collect. Now, I can pump about 5-7 times a day and make about 24 ounces in a single day. But this amount can and will vary between all women. Your milk supply depends on your: hydration, diet, capacity, time of day, emotional state, the machine, and how long you've been breastfeeding. But, like my doctor's recommended, this pump/feed/repeat process is what I tried and seemed to help build my supply.

Fenugreek

Another recommendation from the Lactation Consultants I saw was to take the over-the-counter herbal supplement Fenugreek. Fenugreek is an herb similar to clover that is native to the Mediterranean region, southern Europe, and western Asia. The seeds are used in cooking, to make medicine, or to hide the taste of other medicine. Fenugreek seeds smell and taste somewhat like maple syrup. Fenugreek leaves are eaten in India as a vegetable.** There are reports that some women produce increased amounts of breastmilk when taking this herbal supplement shortly after child birth. I don't know if it worked for me, but I was taking nine 610mg capsules a day. 

Talk about gross. I did not like trying this way to increase my milk supply. I did not like the flavor of this tea. After I asked my Lactation Consultant about this and whether or not it would help, she kinda laughed and said that if I drank a pitcher a day of it, it MIGHT help. But, if you're a tea drinker and want to give it a try here's what I did.

I boiled water, equal to 6 tea bags prepared. Placed 6 Mother's Milk tea bags into the pitcher and poured the hot water into the pitcher to steep. After the recommended steep time was over, I removed the tea bags, and put the pitcher in the fridge to chill. Then, when I wanted a glass, I'd pour it over ice. That way, it was already prepared when I wanted to choke it down.

Yum! Ok, I don't want to try to and increase my milk supply anymore, but I still want to eat more of these cookies! Milkmakers Lactation Cookies were tasty. I discovered these after my first round of Mastitis, and didn't want to go through the hassle of making cookie bites or balls or whatever. I bought the premade ones from Amazon and got them two days later. Because they are a little expensive, I just ate one bag a day. Seriously, I ate cookies for breakfast. That, and Fenugreek, and washed it down with tea. gross.

The only reason why I can think specifically Blue Gatorade would help increase your supply would be because of dehydration. I did some shopping around, and seriously, Amazon every time sells this cheaper than at the grocery store. I have my Echo Dot setup so that I can just ask Alexa to order more Gatorade and two days later it's sitting on my porch.  Even if you don't like or want to drink Gatorade, it's important to stay hydrated. 

Breast Pump

It's important to understand how your breast pump works optimally. Reference  Medela's website to check your nipple shield fit. Your pump should  have stimulation and expression modes. One is to stimulate your let down (let down=milk flowing), and expression mode is to help express the milk once your let down starts. The stimulation is a high cycle frequency with a low vacuum. Expression mode is a low cycle frequency with a higher vacuum. The expression mode should be set to your comfort level. A high vacuum does not mean more milk. To find your best expression mode setting, begin your stimulation mode and once your milk begins flowing, switch to the expression mode and start it with a low vacuum setting. Bump it up until it gets uncomfortable, and then back the vacuum off twice, quickly. This was my experience in finding the most comfortable and optimal setting on my machine. For my Spectra breast pump my settings are: Stimulation=70 cycle, L03 vacuum. Expression=38 cycle, L05 vacuum. 

This was an interesting concept, and only worked for me when my husband was on his paternity leave because it takes a long time! I did one power pumping session for 2 or 3 days. The process is: Pump for 20 minutes (be sure to empty both breasts), Rest for 10 minutes (do not pump during this time), then pump another 10 minutes (you might not get any additional milk but are stimulating production, Rest for 10 minutes (do not pump during this time) and then a final 10 minute pump. With the hands-free pumping bra I had, and the double-electric pump, this still took a long time! But, it's tricking your body into thinking there's a hungry baby around and needs to produce more milk to supply the demand.

These are just some of the things that I tried to increase my own milk supply. Now that we only have to occasionally supplement with formula, I am not going to push my luck and try to increase it further.
Again, please check with your healthcare provider before trying any of these suggestions!

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**“Fenugreek: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Dosage, and Warning.” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-733/fenugreek.