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"Fighting for Their Lives"

Originally posted Thursday November 29, 2007 12:00 PM EST

Dennis with his and ex Meg Ryan's son Jack in '05. Photo by: Tsuni / Gamma USA

The new Mrs. Quaid also won approval from 15-year-old Jack, Dennis's son with ex-wife Meg Ryan, 46, with whom he remains on friendly terms. An actor and guitar player like his dad, Jack – who attends high school in Los Angeles and splits his time between his parents – was "thrilled" about the arrival of his new siblings, says Dennis, who hopes to relocate to his wife's hometown with his family when Jack heads off to college in a few years.

For now, though, the new parents are simply doing their best to stay positive while their children fight for survival. "They definitely sound very tired," Kimberly's friend Deedee Woodman says of the Quaids, who have been focusing on the babies and have yet to speak out about their ordeal (nor has there been any public talk of a lawsuit). It's not the first time heparin – commonly used to "flush" IV lines to prevent clots from forming where the tube enters a patient's body – has been involved in hospital error. "Heparin mistakes can be a concern in a hospital that doesn't treat just children" because adult doses are likelier to be on hand and mistakenly administered to kids, says Dr. Christine Ziebold, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases. "Medication error is one of the most common hospital problems," notes Dr. Ziebold. Indeed, there are at least 1.5 million medication errors annually at U.S. hospitals, according to a study by the Institute of Medicine.