Whose tummy did I grow in?

I have had a lot of conversations with Samuel about being adopted and how his dad and I met him at the hospital and took him home.

We talk about gotcha day and becoming a forever family.

What we haven't hadn't discussed (until last Thursday) was Samuel's birthmother, Samantha.

I wasn't quite sure of the words to use or how to approach that topic or how to explain that he grew in another woman's tummy.

The conversation started while I was changing Lauren's diaper.

Samuel: "Why doesn't lauren have a p*nis?"

Me: "Because God made boys with p*nis' and girls without. And when they are big, boys and girls come together in a special way and they use the boys p*nis to make a baby. And then the baby grows in the mommy's tummy. Just like Lauren grew in my tummy."

Samuel: "Is Lauren a baby?"

Me: "No, but she was a baby. And I was a baby too. I grew in grandma Ruth's tummy and daddy grew in grandma Barb's tummy."

And then it came.

I should have saw it coming...I had prayed about it and asked God to guide it and knew these small, unplanned moments are exactly the opportunities I wanted to talk to him about his story...the one God was writing for his life.

Samuel: "Whose tummy did I grow in?

Big breath.

Me: "Samuel you grew in the tummy of someone named Samantha. She loved you a lot and wanted you to have a mommy and a daddy. We met her at the hospital when you were born and she asked us to take care of you. So we get to be a family forever."

And that was pretty much it. We read his "Samuel book" before bedtime and talked a little more about Samantha. I'm not sure how much he understands but at least I don't have to worry about the day when he asks, "Whose tummy did I grow in?"

Looking back, what I think I forgot to tell Samuel is this:

That even though he didn't grow in my tummy like Lauren, he grew in my heart for a long, long time.

And that even though only God can make babies grow in tummies, God is so powerful and so wise and so loving that He can also make a baby grow in a mommy's heart.