Hi E.!
Congratulations on your new baby!! to answer your question, yes, you can take blessed thistle along with fenugreek.
my son is 8 months old and i've been pumping exclusively since he was 1 week old. my supply had been great but when i decided to decrease my daily caloric intake, it went down by 10 oz in a day!!! of course i freaked out, i wanted my son to have breast milk for his entire first year of life (at least). my lactation consultant told me take fenugreek and to slightly increase my caloric intake again, also to stay super hydrated. i started taking 3 capsules of fenugreek, 3 times a day, made sure to drink loads of water and juice and added a few more calories to my daily intake (easily done with the juice). my supply went back up.
i had another dip in my supply a few months ago and actually called my ob/gyn's office about it. they recommended that i add blessed thistle to what i'm already doing and gave me this helpful website to check out:
http://www.drjacknewman.com/help/Protocol%20to%20Increase...
obviously since i pump exclusively, not all the info pertains to me, but you may find it useful as you both breastfeed and pump. i am happy to say that my son is 8 months old, he is *still* a bottle-fed breast milk baby (and very happy) and i have a deep freezer full or milk and am still producing more (and have tapered my pumping to only 3 times a day by this point as opposed to every 3 hours which is what i'd started out doing). here's what i do every day to help my body make that happen:
Fenugreek - 3 capsules as least 3 times a day (sometimes i do 4 times). i do not smell like maple syrup, but i hear that you know you're taking enough when your sweat and/or urine smell of maple.
Blessed Thistle - 2 capsules twice daily (usually with my first and last pumping of the day).
Water- at least 3 liters a day. if you find water boring, add a flavoring agent like fresh fruit or juice or even powder packets (crystal light, propel and the like).
Rest - i try to sleep well at night but that doesn't always happen (my son still wakes for at least one night feeding) so i try to take at least a 30 min. nap every day. i find when i am more rested and less stressed, i produce more.
Exercise - walking is fabulous. i'm sure it helps with the stress level and my son loves being outside so its something we can do together.
Food - balance is great but doesn't always happen. i learned the hard way that you must consume enough calories for your body to create a good supply of milk. that means different things for different people b/c our body compositions/constitutions aren't all the same. i've found on days when i eat lots of fruit and veggies that i produce more. especially when i'm eating fluid rich fruits like melon or berries.
Tea - i don't drink these teas every day, but i do enjoy Milk Maid tea and Mother's Milk tea from time to time. i think according to the box you have to drink a lot of it to really get the results from the herbs. i don't really know. i think the act of preparing and drinking a cup of tea is very nurturing and relaxing so i feel that has more to do with helping my supply than perhaps the type of tea. that's just my opinion though. i do know that early on, my consumption of caffeine directly affected my son's ability to sleep so if you choose caffeinated tea, i would try to have it a few hours before you're going to feed your baby so you can get it out of your system.
Pump - i used to pump every 3 hours when i started out. i even set an alarm clock! over the months i have slowly changed my schedule omitting a pumping here or there and rearranging so that there is a relatively even amount of time between pumping. recently (as in 1 week ago) i changed my schedule again and now i am only pumping 3 times a day and while i no longer pump what i did at the very beginning, i am still pumping at least as much as my son drinks in a day. your breast pump is very important. make sure all the parts are fully functional. on my particular pump, there is a very small valve that needs changed every so often. if not, then the pump doesn't work as well and it not only takes longer to get the milk out, i also find i get less of it out in those cases. there's a store in Austin called Special Addition that sells all sorts or parts for breast pump maintenance.
i really hope this helps you. please don't give up. i know it can be stressful right now but what you are doing is important. don't let well meaning friends and family talk you into giving up if this is something you really want to do. i was told most women can't/don't pump exclusively past 3 months.... it was important to me to give my son the good nutrition of breast milk and since my body was producing, i determined i would pump as long as i could. my son is now 8 months old and i'm still pumping exclusively. it hasn't been glamorous and sometimes, it hasn't even been very easy. there have been frustrations along the way but in the end, my son is able to drink breast milk and my husband and other family members are able to participate in feeding my son, a very nurturing, wonderful time. i can definitely say the herbs and good nutrition have helped me. i hope they help you too! best wishes and don't give up!!
-S.