Birth Story Book

E and I were laying in her bed, at bed time, chatting about the day. I believe this time has become special to both of us. How do I know this bed time routine is special to her? She doesn't stop talking to me....! It always surprises me how much more I hear from her when just quietly laying next to her, rubbing her back.

 So, laying in bed last night, she asked the question again, "When did I pop out of your tummy?" Sensing that her brain has been working on this topic, (She has asked 2 other times since the last blog post I wrote about her asking the same question...) I got back up, turned on the light, and got out her birth story book.

Those who want to go through adoption, or have little ones who are adopted, this is the technique I have used at least 1 time a week for the past year and a half. This is a game changer when answering those really tough questions early on. Having visuals will help their brains piece together a complicated puzzle and see the truth as you speak it. So- What is the birth story book? 

Find a site that allows you to design and print your own photo book. (We used Mixbook.) Then take the pictures that tell the story of their birth and lay it out in the book. That's it! A tip- Biological kids equally love listening to their parents tell their story and see pictures of them as a baby! Make a birth story book! 

What is in our birth story book for E? I will post a quick video later. 

- Starts out with a picture of us. 

- Then it shows us at the hospital in CO, where she was born. 

- A picture of her birth mom dressing her in her first outfit, holding her while in bed. 

- A picture of several different birth family members holding or talking to her. 

- Then us, Ryan and me, holding her. 

- Several more pictures in the hospital follow and pictures with the birthparents in the various spots we met up with them outside of the hospital experience. 

It's just all pictures. Why? It gives the story freedom to change and meet the needs of the child as they get older and start to ask more questions. It's just a starting point. So, how do you talk through those pictures? The story changes every time, obviously, but the main points stay the same: 

- You grew in your birth mom's tummy. She knew that mommy got hurt a long time ago and can't have any babies and loved mommy a lot. She also loved you a lot too but knew mommy and daddy really wanted a baby. So your birth mom (Yes, we use her name!) asked us to be at the hospital and gave you to us!

That's the short version. The point that we keep repeating is how much E is loved by all the people in the book. As always, I make sure I incorporate some hilariously embarrassing stories about E when she was a tiny one. I love seeing her laugh while saying, "Mmmmmooooooommmm! Gah!"