“Baby Boomer” Gets a Glimpse of “Generation Z” in 3D

I am a baby boomer, one of the approximate 76 million people born between the years 1946–1964.  For some reason, that term has sort of defined where I fit in my whole life.  For me, being a baby boomer means that I grew up with one black and white TV and had a phone attached to the wall with a rotary dial and a very short cord that used to get tangled all the time and now I have four flat-screen high-definition TVs in my home, six cordless telephones, three laptops, two iPads and carry around two cell phones wherever I go (one personal and one for work).  Now I have cyber friends and family whom I have never actually met in person and friends and family whom I text more often than I talk to or see.  Yet still, I am in awe of the advances in technology, especially, when it comes to my daughter’s pregnancy. 

This past Friday, I was recruited by Lindsay to accompany her to the “anatomy-scan sonogram”.  Scott had been away for two weeks in frigid Minnesota and even though he was due back on Friday, Lindsay wanted me to come with her in case Scott was delayed.  I was more than happy to oblige, naturally.  This is the sonogram where they measure and examine all the organs, the fetal brain structure, the facial features, the spine, arms, legs, heart and umbilical cord and placenta to check for any abnormalities.  They also can determine, for certain, that it is a boy or a girl; however, Lindsay and Scott already found out the gender at the 16­–week sonogram. 

In order to meet my daughter in time for her appointment, I had to leave my regional staff meeting early.  Unfortunately, the train station by the office in lower Manhattan, is still closed due to the damage of Hurricane Sandy, so I had to run like a lunatic through the labyrinth streets of the financial district looking for the “2” train to get me to Penn Station in time to catch the 1:14 train to Mineola.  The air was bitter cold, too, which didn’t help my lungs and I ended up huffing and puffing feeling like I did ten wind sprints.  I did make the 1:14 with plenty of time to spare and Scott’s flight got in early, so he was able to meet us there. 

We waited an hour and a half in the waiting room, which turned out to be a good thing because the sonogram technician felt so bad for our long wait that she allowed both Scott and me into the room.  Lindsay had prepared me for this sonogram explaining that it was an hour long and that a portion of it was in 3D so we could get a closer look at the baby. 

I had no idea what this 3D sonogram was going to be like.  Being a baby boomer, I continue to be fascinated by the quantum leaps I have seen in technology.  Just today I met my friend, Nancy, for coffee and while I told her about this advanced sonogram and showed her the amazing picture on my phone she was telling me about a wedding she attended where the groom read his wedding vows from an iPad.  Even though we made our arrangements only through Facebook, both got to our meeting place via our GPS and had our smart phones by our side that we used at one point to Google something, ironically, we still discussed our wonderment of the ubiquitous world of technology we live in now.  I told Nancy I almost expected that they would give me those 3D glasses that they give you prior to seeing a 3D movie before viewing the sonogram. 

My generation still remembers playing hopscotch on the street and using a typewriter.  I even still possess the antiquated juicer that I grew up using, although I have no use for it now.  My granddaughter’s generation is part of what they call “Generation Z”, which is the first generation to be born with complete technology and has never known a world without the Internet.  As a matter of fact, she’s on the Internet now without even being born.  When my daughters were born, we had to wait for the hospital to give us the pictures of our newborn, now mothers hold their iPhone in one hand while delivering their baby, ready to use the camera app and take a picture seconds after the birth.

I stood next to my son-in-law for the whole hour, which felt like it flew by, watching the images for the first part of the ultrasound of little Tallulah- not her real name, just our nickname for her- trying to figure out exactly what they were, without the technician telling us.  I was able to see each vertebrae of her spine and the bone structure of her legs.  We confirmed her gender- three lines for a girl.  Her feet were kicking; her hands were waving. She is 14 ounces and actually on the higher end of weight for this stage, even though Lindsay is a petite 4’10” and Scott is only about 5’8”. Thankfully, every measurement was perfect, even though to me she is beyond perfect. 

After that ultrasound, they used a larger probe that showed the images on the screen in 3D.  (We didn’t have to wear the glasses like you do in the movie theater, after all.)  We were able to see her face, her beautiful little lips, her nose, her chin; she was covering her eyes with her hands as if playing “peek-a-boo”. Lindsay and Scott were trying to see if she had Kalmus features or Feldman features.  Scott said she had Lindsay’s chin.  It didn’t matter to me, whose features she has.  To me, she just looks like the most precious moment you could picture in your life.  

It was a very long day- a day of catching trains and planes for a momentous occasion, a day of waiting, and then finally, a day of beholding a vision of the miracle of life.  In any generation, that is still more amazing than advanced technology, in my opinion.   Still, on that day, I, a baby boomer, got to see a three dimensional image of my yet to be born Generation Z granddaughter, a moment I never would have imagined while playing hopscotch as a little girl.  There is a quote that comes to mind “Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”  This was one of those moments. 

Tallulah at 21 weeks (playing peek-a-boo?)