Spreading the Word

Three cheers for these awesome bloggers who are helping to spread the word about our company. When you help mothers, you help the world - and these folks are making sure even more people out there learn about Mama Lana.

We are humbled and honored by the love! (Click on images for full reviews.)

First, thanks to Pregnant Chicken for their awesome GIVEAWAY and sweet write-up:

Also, thanks to Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for the glowing review:

Finally, thanks to DSK Steph for the dreamy photos and lovely unboxing write-up:

We are so touched by all the folks out there helping to spread love to mothers by sharing about Mama Lana. We are all about honoring the mama. A happy mama = a happy baby, and that's what makes the world go round! That's a message to believe in, and to spread.

...and don't forget to sign up for Pregnant Chicken's Mama Lana GIVEAWAY before it closes!

Q+A with Laine - Design Maven and Mama of Twins

Oh Laine. How we love thee. We pinch ourselves every day that you are our designer. We squeeze the adorable cheeks of Mama Lana's pretty website while counting our lucky stars.

Bless you, mama. Heaven knows how you take a shower, let alone rock our entire brand's look, with two (adorable and amazing...see below) twins.

Thanks so much for being on our Council of Experts as a product expert and multiples mama, and for taking the time to chat with us about all things pregnancy and motherhood! Without further ado...

ML: How did you feel when you first found out you were expecting?

LC: In the very first hours, I actually felt pretty terrified. Not at what I would physically go through, but of the changes that were now going to take place in my life. I sat across from Nick at our celebration dinner that night and thought "This is it! I'm never going to enjoy another quiet, intimate dinner with this man! It's all over, what have we done?!" I got over that feeling, but for a bit there I was pretty sure that I had ruined our perfect life. And I didn't even know I was having twins yet! Ha!

ML: What was your fave part about pregnancy?

LC: I felt so special when I was pregnant, and doubly special once I found out I was having identical twins. My husband took amazing care of me, and I felt at liberty to treat myself to things – massage, acupuncture, Mayan abdominal massage, doula services, you name it, I tried it!

ML: What was the toughest part about pregnancy?

LC: All of the decisions that I had to make that really were up to me and not my husband at the end of the day. It felt like a huge responsibility was on my shoulders, and it was often a lonely feeling. My mom marveled "when I was pregnant, I just went to my doctor and did what he told me to do. This seems so complicated!" She was right, it was, and made more so by my high-risk (or so some seemed to think) pregnancy. But I felt that "going with the flow" was not the right course when it comes to maternal care in this country. It was exhausting.

ML: What were your go-to preggo products?

LC: Cocoa butter for my belly, lavender and epsom salt baths for my swollen everything, stretchy dresses, leggings and my generously-sized biker boots!

ML: What has been unexpected about motherhood?

LC: I didn't realize how hugely and totally I would love my sons, how wonderful and visceral, physical and real it would feel, everyday. When I bury my face in their little necks after a bath, or when they throw their fat little arms around my neck or reach out for me, it feels like nothing else I've ever felt. I also didn't realize that it is this feeling that makes all of the hard work possible. Thank goodness!

ML: What was your biggest post-partum challenge?

LC: Breastfeeding! I wanted to do it so badly, and after my crazy birth experience, in which nothing I had hoped for came close to happening, I was determined to make this one thing happen. But it was the hardest thing I've ever done. From pumping 10 times a day to get my supply up, to bleeding and painful nipples, to a stubborn thrush breakout (babies and me) to mastitis that made me feel like I'd been hit by a car, I went through the wringer. I made it through (with the help of an amazing doula from heaven) three months of hell and continued to breastfeed for another happy 4 months. I'm glad that I did, because when it was good, it was wonderful.

ML: How has motherhood changed you?

LC: Being a mother has brought out the lion in me, and put the more apologetic, timid aspects of my personality on the back burner. I'm much better at being in embarrassing situations without giving a damn, asking for help, and speaking up when something doesn't feel right, both for them and for myself.

ML: What do you love most about Mama Lana?

LC: I have no love for shopping for products, and most of my favorites in all categories come from recommendations from girlfriends. I love that Mama Lana plays the girlfriend and does the shopping for you – weeding out the nonsense so you just get (or give) the best with no fuss.

Mother's Day Lovin'

Thanks to Liz at Subscription Addiction and Ashley at Santa Barbara Natural Mama for the amazing Mother's Day Love!

See Subscription Addiction's glowing review of Mama Lana here:

And SB Natural Mama's awesome write up here:

We adore you both, and most of all, adore making a truly quality product meant to honor pregnant woman.

It's Happy Mother's Day EVERY day at Mama Lana!

Bump It Up features Mama Lana!

We are pumped.

Bump it Up, helmed by the amazing author and mompreneur Amy Tara Koch, has featured Mama Lana. Amy is a style expert, author, journalist and travel aficionado. Her website and blog are absolutely adored, and it's easy to see why. Check it out!

Bump it Up Blog: Meet Mama Lana Box

Q+A with Emma Rollin Moore: Mama Yogi and Lululemon Ambassador

Today Mama Lana got to catch up with Emma, our radiant wellness guru from our Council of Experts! Thanks for your warmth and wisdom, Emma!

• ML: What was your favorite part about pregnancy?

ERM: Feeling my little one inside me move. I still think that is probably the coolest thing in the world!

• ML: What was the toughest part about pregnancy?

ERM: The wait, especially with number 2.

• ML: If you could look back in time and give advice to your pregnant self, what would it be?

ERM: Take time to simply BE with your little one inside you. Meditate, breathe, ans simply find presence in the moment.

• ML: What are two ways that motherhood changed you?

ERM: I have learned to be more flexible and humorous!

• ML: What's the funniest thing about birth?

ERM: How big my belly could get! I still can't believe it.

• ML: What's your favorite thing about our Mama Lana boxes?

ERM: That Mama Lana pampers you like you SHOULD be pampered when you are pregnant!

Thanks Emma!

Shout Out from Broadsheet Design!

Well well well, aren't we a lucky little company?

Sending a big old thanks to our amazingly talented head designer, Laine Carlsness, over at (super swanky) Broadsheet Design. Check out her Mama Lana photo spread and blog post.

We. heart. Laine.

First - her Mama Lana gallery: click this sweet pic of our Box 1 letter to go to her page!

Second - more Mama Lana lovin' on her blog: - click this adorbs tape pic to read the whole thing!

Q + A with Christie Artis, Mama Product Guru

Today, Mama Lana had a lovely chit chat with Christie Artis, the fantastic product maven from our Council of Experts. We adored her honesty, humor, and wisdom as she reflected on the wild and wonderful ride that is pregnancy and new motherhood.

 

ML: How did you feel when you first discovered you were pregnant?

CA: I felt like I had just won the lottery.  Seriously, shocked, so many thoughts racing through my mind about how life would be evolving, wondering what this special person would be like, so many questions, so much excitement.  I felt elated.

ML: If you could look back in time and give advice to your pregnancy self, what would it be?

CA: Don’t worry as much about how you look, how you’ll bounce back after, etc.  Just focus on eating healthy, staying active at the new pace your body allows, and everything will fall into place after your munchkin arrives.  Live in the moment, don’t over think.

ML: What was your go-to preggo product?

CA: Tights, dresses, vanilla ice cream. (lol)

ML: What was your favorite part about pregnancy?

CA: Feeling and seeing Coen (my son) move around.  What a miracle that there could be a little person breathing, moving, hiccupping and kicking inside of me.  At the end of my pregnancy I put a video camera on my belly and recorded his ninja moves from the outside.

ML: What was the toughest part about pregnancy?

CA: Not being able to do the things I had always done in the way I had done them.  I was a month pregnant when I did my last triathlon, and although I exercised throughout pregnancy I missed the intensity of my pre-preggo life.  It was the start of my biggest parenting lesson, the importance of ‘adapting to transitions’. Not only is becoming a parent all about transitions...but simultaneously your child is constantly in transition too. Being patient with them as well as yourself is the key to happiness. 

ML: What's the first funny memory that comes to mind about your pregnancy?

CA: Flying at 8 months pregnant and getting nervous looks form your fellow passengers. 

ML: What are two ways that motherhood has changed you?

CA: First - I plan way less, go with the flow more. Second - I am more kind to myself. My goal is to treat myself as well as I treat my son.  So I give myself more breaks, expect less ‘perfection’, I just do the best I can. Motherhood has taught me that my best guide are my instincts, it’s up to me to use them and learn what I can for next time.

ML: What's something unexpected about motherhood?

CA: How much I would change…for the better. Before becoming a parent it’s easy to focus on all the things you would give up becoming a parent, I knew being a mother would be wonderful but I had no idea how much I would gain as an individual.

ML: Thanks so much for being on our Council of Experts! What do you love most about Mama Lana?

CA: It feels like a monthly celebration! Every month of pregnancy brings new changes to your body, your baby, new discoveries about pregnancy...I love the idea of getting a gift each month to celebrate that. The best part of the package is that it's full of all the things you may need or want, but might not know to ask for or get for yourself. It symbolizes what the moms in my life do for each other all the time, give each other things they don't even know to ask for. Love, friendship, advice, product tips, childcare tips, validation, reassurance, laughter, sisterhood.