Dennis Quaid’s two twins seem to be doing ok after they were given a massive overdose of the blood thinner Heparin in a shocking hospital oversight. At first it seemed to be touch and go for the less than two-week-old newborn boy and girl, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, who were given 1,000 times the dosage of Heparin. They were administered medication to counter the effects of the blood thinner after their second dose, and seem to have suffered no immediate ill effects. They will have to be monitored for long term problems including kidney and liver damage, but initial tests indicate that they have recovered. Three premature babies died in an Indiana hospital last year from the same overdose that was given to Dennis Quaid’s babies, so it clearly could have killed them.

The babies were born to a surrogate using Quaid’s sperm and his wife Kimberly’s eggs. Kimberly is just 36 and many of you wondered why she would need to use a surrogate. The National Enquirer is reporting that Kimberly suffered multiple miscarriages before she turned to a surrogate.

Dennis, already a dad with previous wife, actress Meg Ryan, “desperately wanted a child with wife of three years Kimberly Buffington – but she had suffered a number of miscarriages,” revealed a source.

“That’s why they turned to a surrogate and after much searching they found one…”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, December 10, 2007]

Thank goodness those newborns pulled through. When that article went to press the babies were still in the hospital. The latest news has the Quaids optimistic that they’ll be able to take them home for Christmas. That sounds awful to be apart from your newborns for that long. They were actually home with the Quaids when they rushed them to the hospital to be treated for an infection, which is when the overdose happened.

Courteney Cox is also said to have suffered many miscarriages before she was able to conceive Coco. She was eventually diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder antiphospholipid syndrome. (It is worth looking into if you have suffered a pregnancy loss. Often the only symptom is multiple miscarriages. It is easily treated, ironically, with blood thinners and/or low-dose aspirin.)

Dennis and Kimberly are shown at the American Dreamz premiere on 11/4/06, thanks to WENN.