over 34 weeks call us

Some potential clients are concerned that they may have "missed the boat" for a Bonding ultrasound by being over 34 weeks. This isn't always the case and sometimes the images we get after 34 weeks are very good as you can see on the gallery page at www.apeekofu.com.au or above.
So what I have done is put forward an offer of a FREE assessment scan for those who would like to find out if it is still a possibility. This is a no obligation offer but doesn't include gender confirmation, photo prints or CD/DVD. Just call me on 1-800-819-282 to discuss and book.
oops looks like tere are download problems.... try the you tube link here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdmAlVrHjws

OOOOPS......almost........

I was recently reminded of how easy it is to make a mistake with the gender if you aren't carefully conducting a "doodle" search and allowing sufficient time to do so.
On first impression with an odd angle this little one looked very much like a female (see top picture) but upon careful inspection I was able to get a clear "turtle" shot (see 2nd picture).
This is why we always allow sufficient time to be 100% sure.

Attack of the Turtles

It's funny how some people make up "signs" to help themselves recognize and remember things.
Many years ago while at Concord Hospital I remember seeing a bowel gas sign which reminded me of a croissant and exclaimed "oh the croissant sign!" which sent several colleagues scuttling to their text books in search of a sign that I had just made up.
More recently some clients have mentioned the "turtle" sign which indicates a male Bub. So I have been paying a little more attention and they seem to be everywhere (see collage).

When is the best time to have a Bonding ultrasound?

One of the most common questions I receive is "what is the best time to have a 3D/4D ultrasound?".
This is a difficult one to answer since everyone is different in their needs and expectations.I generally suggest clients have a look at the gallery on the website www.apeekofu.com.au/gallery/index.html and see what they are most interested in.
Some clients and their families greatly benefit from seeing the face in detail and watching the clear facial expressions and reactions of baby.
Some clients benefit from the early views of more of the baby done around 16-18 weeks.
We specifically designed our discounts with this in mind so that a quick peek could be done at an earlier stage and the clients would receive a discount on a longer scan later. We have recently had a number of earlier scans and you can see how they look for yourself.

long legs and very shy

Sometimes our little subjects can be shy and cover their face with a little hand or foot but this Bub set new records for hiding it's face. She had an arm, lower leg and foot in front of her face. Several times she demonstrated her long legs by putting her knee in front of her face which was a little puzzling since neither parent were particularly tall. The mystery was solved though when the mother smiled and said her brother was over six feet tall. I recommended basketball school for this one. Eventually she did come around as you can see in the short video clip and the wait and effort was worth it.

Early in the NewYear a young couple came in with their Aunt for a very special viewing of a very special new family member. At first you don't understand all the fuss. Yes she is a very cute little girl but then I was told that the last 25 babies born to the mother and father's families were all boys the significance of this cute little girl suddenly became apparent.
Several crystals were done of this very special little girl one of which is proudly displayed at her Aunts home in Chile.

pesky twin sister

We sometimes see remarkable flexibility with some of our Bubs but if you don't know the full story this video can be a little shocking.



The foot in the first part belongs to the little face in the second part. In other words the kicking culprit was her twin sister. She seems to be making a comment to the offending foot but I am not a lip reader so she could be saying anything.

One afternoon when I was getting ready to leave Wollongong a couple came in and asked if 37 weeks was too late for a Bonding ultrasound. I said the only sure way to tell was to hop up on the table and I will have a look (free of charge of course). It soon became evident that while not an easy task we could still get pretty good pictures. They didn't have the time for a proper session that day but came back in a day or so. The resultant pictures and video were excellent and I got the best tongue shot I have ever done (see the video).

Pep update

Just a little update thanks to Lang. I have also recovered a more convincing Vulcan picture which I have added as well Lang found the frame on the DVD of the other hand shot (even more evidence). Thanks very much to Lang, Steve and Pep for sharing. Live long and prosper lol!

Lang, Steve and Pep

For those who know me, know I appreciate a good sense of humour and this couple had just that. I have attached their thank you email which gave me a good chuckle and made my day.

"Hi Ray,

We just wanted to say a belated thanks for the opportunity to have a glimpse of a stubborn little bubba :)

Steve was thoroughly surprised as I wouldn't tell him where we were going until we got there and he saw the baby pictures on your door! He only knew we were going to a spa and was expecting the surprise to involve himself, hot wax and lots of pain! lol

I've attached one of the pics I got from the DVD, bubba still looking grumpy but kinda peaceful.

Thanks again for your time,

I'm very glad I made the decision to do it!

Kind regards,

Lang & Steve"

Now little Pep was fairly active so I have attached some video of his activities, a couple of stills and his Vulcan picture.

Another favourite couple are Christie and Anthony and their little guy Eli who made the trip over from the Penrith area. Eli was fairly cooperative when it came to the ultrasound and we were able to get some pretty good pictures but this was a classic example of the value of recording the whole thing on DVD. Christie and Anthony really wanted a crystal done and we took some time to get some good engraveable images but later when they were reviewing the DVD they found the one that they loved most. They emailed it along to me and two weeks later it was forever captured in a crystal. Yesterday Christie sent me an updated picture of Eli,( they grow up so quickly).

I have also been working on a program which will allow the Bubs to do their own emailable birth announcements and here is the first one ever done.

Another one of my early favourite clients was Emily and her Mother.
I believe it was Emily’s Mother who made the booking and treated Emily to her first Bonding ultrasound experience.
Again these were early days and the pictures were not very spectacular but I did learn one important thing about Bonding ultrasound with this Bub and that is, that even though the images are a struggle sometimes the behaviours and gestures which are caught can be far more rewarding than a smooth clear shot.

A few weeks after her baby arrived I saw Emily and her Mother in the Spa getting their hair done and got the chance to see their new arrival in a different light, so to speak.
Emily commented on the picture above saying that her baby could be in a room with many identical looking Bubs but she would instantly recognize her Bubs smile.

Welcome to the A Peek of U blog page.

From time to time we will update this page with new stories and images so that you can see the quality of our work and gain some insight into why and how we do what we do.

I would like to start with a couple of images of one of our first and one of my favourite clients. Chutma and Matt.

Chutima’s and Matt’s little guy was a very stubborn little one and they came back for re-scans 3 times.

Actually I invited them back the third time because Chutima brought me some home-made Thai spring rolls (yumm) on her second visit and they lived very close by. This little guy did not want to cooperate and I was still trying to learn my new machine.

Chutima agreed to be the model for the article in the local paper (see what’s new page on main website) “Here’s looking at you Kid” which was very kind of her.

In all this was a very rewarding experience with a very appreciative and nice couple.