NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. — Parents can have a lot of questions when it comes to their unborn child. While it’s not the most important one, what their kid will look like is certainly on the list.
New parents Jessica and Mason Paradowski know that first-hand.
They got the exciting news after their wedding.
“We found out on our honeymoon actually in Italy that we were pregnant with her,” said Jessica.
The main thing they wanted was a healthy baby, but they couldn’t help but wonder what she’d look like.
They got glimpses, but they weren’t always the best.
“This is the ultrasound,” said Mason.
“She looks like ‘the Predator’ or something,” laughed Jessica.
3D and 4D sonograms give you a better idea.
“She’s smirking in that one,” said Mason.
But there are new options out there.
“We decided we had to do the AI ones,” said Jessica.
The last photo in their ultrasound album was taken two months before birth.
“That was one of the things that we would — not argue… but argue about beforehand, was. ‘Oh, she’s got my nose, she’s gonna have your eyes,’ or whatever,” said Mason. “This one kind of put more of a, ‘OK, well, that is my nose.’”
These “real life” enhancements are popular at Baby’s Bungalow.
“We can see hair and eyelashes and skin texture on 3D,” explained Bridget Gilewski, the owner of Baby’s Bungalow. “The AI just enhances that and just makes it. It’s just amazing.”
Gilewski knows sometimes basic sonograms are confusing.
“Unless you really do ultrasound for a living, it’s hard to see,” she said.
She tried to figure out AI tech herself, but couldn’t find the right software anywhere. That’s why she partnered with a company in Spain to offer these real-life images.
“You have the structure of the face in the digital copy, and they recreate the face with the bony structure that they see on ultrasound,” she explained.
For a $25 add-on, parents-to-be can get a realistic image, typically within a day of the appointment.
How they do it?
“That part is that part they leave a little bit, I think, trade secret,” said Gilewski.
However it happens, parents are happy.
“When they have the baby, then they send even more photos.” Gilewski said. “They look just like the baby.”
It was certainly the case for the Paradowskis.
“We never know if this is going to be our last one or if we’re going to have more so [we wanted to] experience everything we could,” said Jessica.
“We wanted to of course splurge,” added Mason.
There is a lot of uncertainty about AI still.
“It was more or less like a good way to use AI than a bad way,” said Mason.
Who knows what that could mean for the next generation.
“I’m excited to see what more they would be able to do with it,” he added. “Being able to give them all their hair and eye color and stuff like that in the future. Wild to think about.”
These AI real life enhancements can only be done at 28 weeks or later.
Depending on a variety of factors, it might take a second visit to get a good shot of the baby, especially if the mother’s bladder isn’t full.