Yesterday, Sidney and I gave ourselves an early Christmas present by going to a place called Prenatal Peek.

Prenatal what?

This is the business card of Prenatal Peek, the place we went to yesterday for a high quality ultrasound.

Located in Murrells Inlet just about 10 miles from Myrtle Beach is a business called Prenatal Peek. Pregnant women and their families can go to this place to have high quality ultrasounds done. When I say “high quality” ultrasounds I am talking about 3D and 4D displays that put your typical grainy black and white scan to shame. It is pretty cool.

As I just mentioned, Prenatal Peek is very much a business. Medical advice is not given, insurance does not cover services, and you won’t see any doctors walking around. Rather, customers choose from a variety of ultrasound packages. Services are rendered in an intimate room with a comfortable leather chair for the person with child and couches and televisions for everyone else. The Murrells Inlet Prenatal Peek doubles as a baby boutique. So, as you can imagine, what we did yesterday bore no resemblance to a doctor visit (the fact that it was a Saturday probably illustrates this point more than anything).

We arrived at Prenatal Peek at 4 p.m. We didn’t have to wait a minute. After Sidney signed the paperwork, we went right into the ultrasound room. Our technician made sure Sid was comfortable, letting her recline the fancy leather chair as much as she wanted. It was the time for the show to start…

Sidney filling out paperwork at Prenatal Peek yesterday. It was just a short process and then right away we were in the ultrasound room.

Here is the thing: With a regular ultrasound, you can make out certain components and you can see the outline of your developing son or daughter. However, with a 3D ultrasound it is like going from black and white to color (almost literally). With our appointment yesterday, we were able to see our actual baby daughter. She looked exactly like a human being as opposed to what typically comes to mind when you think of the word sonogram. In fact, we got such a good look at our baby that we immediately started to compare who she looked like.

I rather not show the photos we got of our daughter, but in the Prenatal Peek lobby, they have example photos of what the ultrasound will reveal. As you can see, the images are very in depth

However, probably the most telling description of the technology came from my mother-in-law when we were showing her the photos. Because the images were so clear and showed our baby in such a human state, she offered in amazement, “It makes me wonder if we are even supposed to see this.”

You see, a 3D ultrasound takes the ultrasound game to new heights. It does take away some of the mystery of the baby developing process. But it also drives home the fact that Sidney very much has an actual identifiable human growing inside of her.

This is Sidney talking with our Prenatal Peek ultrasound tech at the end of our session yesterday.

Our session went on for 23 minutes. Our technician was warm and helpful throughout the whole process. Watching the facial expressions of our daughter was the best part. In addition to our prints, we were given a DVD of the whole visit set to music.

I would recommend a place such as Prenatal Peek to someone who wants to see the miracle of human life up close. I would also recommend it to those who want to view their baby in a stress free atmosphere devoid of the pressures of a regular visit to the doctor. For those who want to just wait to see their baby when he/she is born and for those who don’t want to know the sex of the baby until birth (because even the most amateur of eyes will be able to identify the sex at a 3D ultrasound), I would not recommend such a place. For us, it was a great choice! Don’t Blink.