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.
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