A tried-and-true Realtor mantra, “Location, location, location!” recently made all the difference for Babyface 4D Ultrasound Studio. When the mother-daughter business team moved from the Coronet building to a visible boutique on East E Street, suddenly, customers started to notice the shop that’d been in business for almost two years prior.

Beckie McDonald and Ember Clinkenbeard opened their ultrasound business in the Coronet plaza in October of 2019 but right as they started to get traction, six months later the pandemic hit and everything was shut down in March, stalling that early momentum.

After another year spent in the Coronet, a new location opened up and they knew it was the right choice to make the change.

“We always liked this building, then it came up as available and it just so happened to be the right timing with us,” said Clinkenbeard.

With a little TLC and elbow grease, the mother and daughter duo (with construction help from Clinkenbeard’s handy husband) they transformed the space into a suitable studio for their ultrasound business complete with a waiting room and a cute boutique featuring hand-made gift items from five local artisans as well as the Heartbeat Buddies keepsake items that enable parents to capture the recording of their little one’s heartbeat for posterity.

“We had always talked about a boutique but our other shop didn’t afford enough space for it,” Clinkenbeard shared. “It was a lot smaller, it was like half the size of this. So, it was always in our plan to stay there for a couple years and then expand so that we could offer gifts and things like that.”

McDonald added, “We were always selling, like gender reveal things and like these little stuffed animals we can put the baby’s heartbeat in you know, but now the ultrasound customers, their families, they are really interested in all the goodies and blankets. It was also important to us to try to reach out to people locally who make things and stock local.”

One of the more popular boutique items is a gender-reveal bath bomb created by a local artisan.

“They smell like cotton candy,” Clinkenbeard said. “You just drop them in the water and then they turn pink or blue.”

While not a diagnostic tool, the mother-daughter duo have focused on the fun aspect of ultrasounds, capturing the excitement of new parents getting a sneak peek at their baby before he or she arrives.

For McDonald, who worked as a corporate trainer for 15 years and Clinkenbeard, who worked as a medical assistant, the opportunity to work together and make their own hours doing something highly rewarding was an easy decision.

And so far, they’ve haven’t regretted a second — especially when every time they meet a new client, they get to share an incredibly touching moment.

“We get to be part of such an intimate, special moment and we don’t take that lightly,” McDonald said.

Clinkenbeard agreed, adding, “Dads are always our favorite part. Seeing them light up the first time they see their baby’s heartbeat going and then they can hear it … some dads slyly wipe a tear away … it’s really special.”

Future plans for the boutique include continuing to stock local artisans’ work as well as look for lactation specialists to hold classes for new mothers but for now, they’re pleased to keep doing what they’re doing — helping parents make memories to last a lifetime.

Services currently offered include:

·         Elective Prenatal Ultrasound

·         Sneak Peek Early Gender Determination available as soon as eight weeks

·         2D/3D/4D – HD LIVE always included

·         Premium Ultrasound System designed specifically for women’s health

·         Serving Oakdale, Modesto and surrounding area

For more information and to get a price list or make an appointment, call 209-322-2042 or go to their website at: https://babyfaceultrasound.com/