Lisa,
Thanks for the ideas.  Sorry, I should have tried to be more specific.
Here's the whole story.

I had been in preterm labor with my twins for 8 weeks and had 3
hospitalizations for rounds of magnesium sulfate and then I would go home
on bedrest.

I was in the hospital for magnesium and on Mon morn the doc said i would
be going home tue eve from the looks of things.  At 5pm the nurse hung the
mag, but didn't check the concentration, the pharmacy had changed it
(don't know the specifics) but I was to be getting 3 gms an hour and I was
getting less than one.  This continues for 14 hours.  I noticed a big
difference.  I thought perhaps my body got used to the mag, because I
could see, etc.  When I said something to the nurse she looked at the IV
and soon there were 5 nurses in my room discussing what was a medication
error.  Also at this time (about 0630 tue morn) I was having terrible
abdominal pains, I thought it was the mag again, because it always messed
with my whole GI system.  It was labor.  They called my doc, he had been
on his way, he checked me and I was 100% effaced and dilated to 8, it was
730, he said we were going to deliver.  I was moved to the surgical suite,
the other doc, the pedi and the anasthesiologist were called and the my
husband was called.  With 5 pushes Barret was born at 0837.  At 0843 my
second son's HR was in the 40-50's, checked by the second doc by US.  Then
his heart stopped and so did my contractions, I was screaming, I felt like
something had burst inside me, I tried to push, but my uterus felt like a
boulder.  the second doc, guided my son into my pelvis, but he presented
with his arm over his head and the first doc reach up and pushed somewhere
in my {*filter*} trying to stimulate pushing. At 0851  they finally gave up
and put me out and did the C section, it was quick and my son was born 3
minutes later.  He had had no heartbeat for 8 minutes when they decided to
do the c section, 11 minutes by the time they got him out.  Of course I
just thought he was stuck, as my doctor never communicated with me about
what they knew, when I woke up in recovery I was devastated when the nurse
told me, (my doc didn't even bother to be the one to tell me).  They
forgot about my husband and he saw the whole thing and still can not talk
about it very much, because all he can think about is these two doc up to
their elbows in me and his son being born dead.  My son had really strange
bruising pattern exactly down his midline and over the left side of his
body.  My doc said he's never seen anything like it, but yet he said *he*
did not do it.  I asked the neonatologist, perinatologist and RE where I
did my IVF and they had never seen a baby with that bruising either.  My
main problem with my doc was why he didn't just do a c section.  I asked
him if not having a heatbeat wasn't enough indication to do a c section
and the only reply I could get was that he was trying to get him out the
fasted way he thought possible, through my {*filter*}, DUH! I wasn't even
having contractions, with a compound presentaion, etc.  We talked to two
different malpractice attorneys, and they said that they thought my doc
was negligent, but since we took our son off life support and he died,
that they would not pursue it because there was no person left to recieve
damages.  I tried to ask the hospital what they did about the medication
error and they won't acknowledge that they even have  a reporting system
for med errors.  I finally got my hospital records and the nurses l&d flow
sheet is different that the doc dictaion about how long my son was without
a heartbeat, etc.  I never have gotten my son's medical records from
either hospital (the one he was born at and the NICU they transported him
to).  Hopefully my attorney can get they for me.  this is pretty much the
whole story, except I always loved my OB, I went through alot of
infertility treatment with him and then went back to him when I got
pregnant with IVF.  I guess It was this good relationship that kept me
from looking into legal recourse until recently.  I tried so hard to get
answers from him and he makes a big show about being available to talk to
me, but never really answers my questions.  If I had decided to look into
legal means while my son was still alive, I guess I might have got some
answers (thats all I want is some one to make my doctor answer my
questions and say why he did and did not do the things he did, I could
care less about money, I am just trying to find enough answers to be able
to live the rest of my life, peacefully,  without my son).
Thanks for your time,
Leeza Moyer
Momma to three angels, one here on earth
Robin  b&d 9-6-94
Barret  9-24-96
Cyrus  9-24-96 to 10-28-96.

Saw your posting and my heart goes out to you and your husband. We had a
similar experience and we can somewhat understand your feelings. What
made it so bad for us was the refusal to give us information about what
happened. Had they come forward and given us the why, what and how it
would have made it much easier to cope with and we could have gone on.
If you contact your state medical licensing board, they may be able to
help. For us they did not help us, they only covered for the physician
and the hospital. Best of luck and my best to your husband. It is not
easy to see your child pass on before their time.

Best wishes
J Irvin