Ana's New Chapter

Our Xena Workwear founder and CEO Ana Kraft recently gave natural birth to her baby boy. She is now taking her much deserved maternity leave, but we were able to catch-up briefly to share her beautiful update!

Congrats Ana! How are you doing?

We are so overwhelmed with joy and love for our first baby boy! Alexander (Lex) was born on August 2nd, weighing 8.4 lbs. I’ve done a lot of hard things in my life … finishing engineering school, starting a business, running marathons … but going through a natural birth was by far THE hardest and most beautiful thing I’ve ever done. I am so grateful to have a kick-ass team I can trust which allows me to take maternity leave and have some quality time with my son.

Becoming a mother gave me another dimension to life. I already felt that I was living my life to the fullest by taking risks and challenging myself physically and mentally … but being a mom elevates your life and your purpose to another level. Being on a hormone rollercoaster, some days are really hard and I have cried a few times but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

What was your pregnancy and natural child birth experience like?

3-D printing a human was surprisingly smoother than I thought. My poor husband had to deal with my ever-changing food cravings early on so naturally he couldn’t get anything right, haha. Later in the pregnancy the feet swelling and back pain weren’t fun but in general I felt amazing and was able to travel to 20+ Conferences and Trade Shows in support of my other baby (Xena).

The phrase that came to mind most during labor was: “women who decide to give birth naturally are bat**** crazy!” I figured that it would be a grind just like the marathon running had been but this blew those 26 measly miles out of the water, literally. We stuck with our original plan of a natural water birth and I am thankful for it. The 16+ hour process was overwhelming and exhausting but in the end, after the unbelievably hard work was over and I was sitting in the birthing pool holding my baby boy, I TRULY felt like a Badass.

Do you have advice for aspiring women engineers and founders?

I know how it feels to work in a male-centric work environment. When I started my career I had to prove myself and could not imagine being pregnant while leading strategy sessions with a bunch of dudes. When I started Xena, I worked so many hours and had so much responsibility for the business that I could not have imagined starting a family either.

It took me years to build the confidence that I can do two very hard things simultaneously. I started by prioritizing my hormonal health, built a kick-ass team I could trust, and finally I implemented a few systems that made our decision making process smoother.

My advice to other women would be: Think about where you want to be and who you want to be in 5 to 10 years. If having a family is part of that vision, start planning for it without taking your foot off the gas pedal at work. If you want to resume your career, making sure your job is fun and fulfilling so that you actually WANT to return to it after your maternity leave.

Did you find any helpful resources to share with future mothers?

Yes! When I got pregnant, I switched from reading business books (which I truly enjoy) to reading a bunch of pregnancy and women’s health related books. If I could share my top three, those would be:

Hormone Intelligence by Aviva Room, MD – Hormones have a massive impact on our mood, energy levels and general well-being. I think every woman should invest the time to read this book.

Expecting Better by Emily Oster – When you get pregnant you hear a bunch of noise about what you are or are not supposed to do much of it is rooted in junk science; this book provides great data that will help you make informed decisions.

Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon & Robert A.Bradley – The Bradley Method is the single greatest tool to help you feel more in control so that you’re not outsourcing decision making to medical professionals; this will help you feel well prepared for the most important event in your life.