Operation Ultrasound

Holly and I watched a moving piece on public television a few weeks ago that documented the lives of military families. The program examined how these families cope with the stress of separation and the ubiquitous fear of the unknown. It left us feeling indebted and obligated to the people who risk their lives to preserve an esoteric right for the rest of us to live ours the way we choose. We wanted to give something back, and as valuable as a care pack full of chocolate is in Kabul, we wanted to offer something that could genuinely help some of these young families to stay connected. Starting May 1st we are launching "Operation Ultrasound", a FREE service to pregnant wives of deployed US servicemen. Participants will get a CD with a digital image file of their baby that they can email to their husband oversees. Recent studies have shown that the bonding experience provided by a 3D ultrasound can help mothers improve their diets and exercise more frequently, but for military fathers, the chance to actually see the baby and create a pre-birth bond is instrumental in drawing the whole family closer together, and it can provide an important bridge connecting dad back home. Holly figured she would do something she knows, and she knows ultrasound. If you guy's know of a local military family that could use this service, feel free to pass them our way. You can see the official press release here, and there is more information about it on our website. Help us get the word out, we tentatively set this to run through June, but if the response is there and it's not overwhelming for us, we're open to extending it as long as we need to.