What's up with sonograms?

You stare at the image mindlessly, wondering whether it requires a "that's so cute" or a "what's that?"

It is, of course, the sonogram.

Parents seem to embrace the blurry picture's significance, often posting it as their profile photo on social networking sites.

Sonogram aficionados, let me tell you something on behalf of (almost) all your childless friends:

We don't get it.

We don't understand how an unrecognizable portrait warrants a "cute." But we don't know what else to say. "Aww" borders on too phony, while "where's the head?" exposes our lack of membership in the Mommy & Me society.

So I'm sorry, child-bearing friends, but I'll never get you one of these cakes -- no matter how trendy it is to display your sonogram image in frosting.

I guess it's one of those things you regard differently when you're a parent.

Maybe.