First up, for 12 Centuries, women were not even allowed to participate in the ancient Olympic Games.

It wasn’t until the Paris games in 1900 that the first woman competed.

And that was in lawn tennis, golf…

and yes, the ever grueling game of croquet

Let’s just say… women have not always been well represented.

Add pregnancy to that equation, and forget about it!

Until now.

A pregnant Malaysian named Nur Suryani Taibi was just given permission to compete in London’s summer Olympics.

You might ask, what sport favors an athlete competing during her THIRD trimester?

Well, sports like rugby, gymnastics, and Taekwondo are out.

Maybe badminton?

Actually, Nuri is a fierce competitor in — shooting. That’s right, women have tested their accuracy and speed with firearms since the 1984 Olympics.

Of course, her pregnancy forces a couple limitations.

Namely, she can’t compete in the events that require her to lie in the prone position.

Nor can she attend the closing ceremony, due to doctor’s orders not to fly that late in her pregnancy.

However, it’s clear that Nuri has the upper hand in the competition.

After all, there’s nothing fiercer than a hormonal woman with a weapon!

Nuri, good luck at the summer games.

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Next up, I loved reading a People.com article about mom Kelly Preston, wife of actor John Travolta, and how crunchy she is from breastfeeding to co-sleeping to living chemical free.

If you remember, a few years back, she tragically lost her son Jett due to complications with seizures. I know that they worked so hard on healing his many health issues using natural remedies and it was so sad to see it end that way when it began so peacefully… with a water birth and the room was filled with soft light and soothing music.

It was then such a joy to read that miraculously, that Kelly became pregnant with another child at the age of 48! Dang!

About the pregnancy, she said “when I found out I was pregnant, I was floored. I’d snuck out of bed and then came back and woke Johnny up in bed. We both started crying. It was wonderful.”

They welcomed Benjamin Hunter Kaleo Travolta in November of 2010 and he’s apparently doing wonderful…

According to Kelly, he’s 16 months old now, still nursing like a champ… in fact, he often comes up to her saying “mommy, more, more!”

He also is dining on filet mingon, scallops, spinach and anything else that comes his way. Kelly and John are co-sleeping with little Ben and eschewing any type of schedule. Sounds like they’re relishing each and every moment.

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Now it’s time for some community news!

First up, natural mama Chaille from Melbourne, Australia, gave birth to her baby boy Noah Drew who weighed in at 6 lbs 6 ounces on March 6th at 5:15pm.

Her story is absolutely incredible, tragic, heroic and sacred. You see, Noah’s dad, Andrew, took his life only 3 days after learning she was pregnant. He had a history of mental illness and a troubled past, including being a victim of stalking. According to Chaille, he felt by leaving this world he was protecting the well-being of his family.

Obviously, Chaille was heartbroken but she was determined to give her all to the life growing inside of her. When the day finally came to deliver, she was in labor a total of 18 hours but things got fast and furious towards the end. At one point, she dilated from 4cm to 10cm in 40 minutes and was able to push him out in only 3 tries. WOW! The birth was completely natural although she did tear badly, probably from the accelerated birth, and required surgery.

Despite it all, she said her labor was the happiest experience of her life. Baby Noah is a beautiful old soul that looks just like daddy. His spirit lives on!

Congratulations to you Chaille, you are one tough mama, and to baby boy Noah. Wishing you all the blessings you can handle.

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Next up, natural mama Zahra due date was February 5th. But her baby had other plans… she woke up on January 2 to a broken water bag. 15 minutes later, contractions started. One hour later, she and husband went to hospital and the nurses were surprised to find her 8 centimeters dilated despite her calmness. They rushed her to a delivery room and asked if she wanted an epidural. Love this, she said well if the pain gets to where I can’t handle it then maybe. The nurse said well this is as bad as it will get. She said, oh then I will be fine.

An hour later and after only 15 minutes of pushing, Ahmad Jasim Jabir was born at 8:15 a.m. Since he was early, he was a peanut, weighing in at 4 lbs 10 ozs and was 18 inches long. He had to stay in the NICU for almost 3 weeks, but is home with now, is a great breastfeeder and family is happy as can be.

And as mama said herself, “if all of my births are this easy then I think I might have quite a few children.”

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Lastly, Nauana from England is pregnant and almost 19 weeks. She has a 18 month baby girl and mama is committed to breastfeeding her as long as she wants and even tandem nursing. Nauana had a traumatic first delivery but she’s
committed to going natural again and overcome the trauma with a hopefully easier birth. Rooting for you, mama! Congratulations!
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Finally, in most families, mamas are still the primary parent. We’re the ones kids go to when they need comforting or a cuddle.

But thank God that we live in a generation of more hands-on daddies! And it’s so necessary! With many dual income families, dads have to take a more active role in raising kids. And we’ve talked about her on this show how it’s beneficial for EVERYONE! Not just emotionally but even physically.

So dads are stepping up, and that’s great. But just how far can dads step up?

• Watching the kids for an afternoon? No problem for the majority of dads.

• Getting the kids well-fed and cleaned up afterwards? Most dads can handle that, right?

• Putting the kids to bed? That’s where we start to see some drop off. Especially when kids are young. Most men are plenty comfortable letting mom take charge of this task.

• What about parenting solo for a whole weekend? Now things get interesting. Sure, our men have some childcare chops, but can they handle EVERYTHING – sunrise to sunset – without the mama safety net?

Based on a little informal Mama Natural survey of papas with toddlers and younger kids, the answer is… maybe?

And that answer makes us mamas take a hard look in the mirror too. Would we LET our men watch the kids solo for a weekend? Have we involved and empowered them enough in parenting to let them do so?

Tricky stuff! And something I’ll find out about in a few weeks when my mom and I travel out of state for a wedding and Mike and lil’ G fly solo for the weekend here at home.

Well, all this brings us to our question of the week!

Could YOUR husband or partner watch the kid(s) on his own for a long-weekend? Would you let him try?