Womb with a View; Three NRLC Staffers Describe Their Own Experiences with 4D Ultrasounds.

There must be something in the water, or so the joke goes in National Right to Life's D.C. offices, where three staffers in the State Organizational Development Department have given birth to four babies over the past 20 months. Riley, Easton, Maria, and Brady are blessings to their families and friends, and their loved ones were able to bond with these wonderful babies in a unique and amazing way through the use of 4D ultrasound technology.

Several years ago, a tender television commercial introduced GE's 4D ultrasound equipment. Since then, private ultrasound businesses have sprung up throughout the country to offer expectant mothers a chance to view their unborn babies in a comfortable setting, usually with a small theatre for their families to view as well, and a baby-themed soundtrack for good measure.

Tracie, Kim, and I were no different than any other pregnant mothers, already bonded to our unborn children but naturally curious to know them better by seeing their features and observing their behaviors inside the womb. In contrast to traditional 2D ultrasound, where you typically view the profile of your child in black and white, 4D ultrasound shows 3D images of your unborn child moving around the womb, with the 4th dimension being motion. The images are a sepia color, which shows depth and allows one to recognize features.

As Tracie explained, "It was just like other ultrasounds, but longer and in a more relaxed atmosphere. They let us select some background lullaby music for our video which played during the ultrasound and set the mood. Rather than looking at an enlarged computer monitor as we'd done before, it was projected onto a movie screen for both me and [my husband] to see.

"The screen was split between 2D and 4D images of our baby. We watched the real-time 2D ultrasound image of our baby as the technician was able to zoom in on different features so we could see him in 4D."

Easton didn't really cooperate for the first 15 minutes. He had both his feet and hands up in front of his face.

"In fact, our favorite shots captured have a foot and hand right up under his chin," Tracie explained. "It was so amazing to see how crammed in there he was! It sure helped me understand the uncomfortable acrobatics he engaged in as I tried to fall asleep every night."