There's an Ultrasound in My InBox!

Many grandparents are getting their first look at their grandchild in an e-mail

by Jennifer Nycz-Conner

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It took a little prodding from her pregnant daughter. But when Gayle Morris opened her e-mail, she met her grandson for the first time. From his first official photo, there he was looking back at her.

He just happened to be in utero.

“That's a real life there! It's a real person!” she said at first seeing her grandson, Jack.

The Beaufort, S.C., grandmother-to-be had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of her first grandchild. Seeing his tiny hands and not-fully-formed features in the e-mailed ultrasound made it all real. The excitement she had been feeling was no longer just a hope or promise.

Once purely a medical procedure, ultrasounds have evolved into a full-scale emotional experience, a first meeting between parents and child –– and in some cases, when you're lucky, grandparents and grandchild.

Nowadays, new parents can leave maternal medical facilities armed with the makings of one fine announcement –– fax-grade paper printouts, sound files of heartbeats, even full-scale 3-D/4-D ultrasound DVDs equivalent to in-utero home movies.

To Forward or Not

Thanks to constantly evolving technology, the big “We’re pregnant!” announcement and subsequent updates can come in all sorts of new shapes and forms, including e-mailed messages and photos, sound files of heartbeats, and ultrasound DVDs.

The natural urge to rush to the phone to shout the joyful, yet very personal, news from the rooftops used to take time and effort as grandparents could only call one person at a time. Now you can broadcast the announcement far and wide with one simple click of the “forward” button.

"It’s a good idea, though, for grandparents to stop and think before spreading the word, either vocally or electronically," says Nancy Mitchell, founder of The Etiquette Advocate in Washington, D.C. “Ask questions to determine the wishes of the parents-to-be at this and all stages of the wonderful nine-month odyssey.”

Start by pinpointing how public the parents are ready to be, including what, if any, restrictions there may be on using the ultrasound photos. Are they just intended as special, private moments for the family –– or is it okay for you, the grandparents-to-be, to use them as the warm-up for the photos with which you’ll soon be inundating every person you meet?

You & Your Ultrasound

So, there's the first little digital glimpse of your future grandchild. Now, how to display the image? Grandparents are known for their love of sharing their grandchildren’s photos, and this very first picture, the ultrasound, is no exception!

For those sticking with traditional printouts, there are now ultrasound picture frames specially designed to hold that first glimpse of your grandbaby. Many baby stores, including Babies "R" Us, carry them. A particularly clever one at Bestbabyshower.com features two photos, one for the “coming attraction” ultrasound shot, another for the “just arrived” birth picture.

If you’re ready to enter the realm of Web video, Animoto is a new service that instantly turns photos submitted by users into animated slideshows set to music. The service can essentially give your grandbaby his or her own automated movie trailer.

The files can then be e-mailed to friends, sent to mobile devices, or posted to social-networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace. Prices range from free for a 30-second clip, to $3 for an individual full-length clip, to $30 for an annual membership with unlimited clip creation.

Morris has since stowed away Jack’s first portrait with countless other digital photos that have popped up in her in-box since he made his debut five months ago. One thing hasn’t changed since that first glimpse: Every time she looks at a photo of him, whether taken while in his mother's belly or in the outside world, it stirs up the same familiar, fuzzy feeling. "It’s as if you want to cry, and you don’t know why,” says Morris. Then, she pauses and adds, “Tears of joy.”