S06.E07: Boys Don't Cry

[bros402]

Quote

When a woman pregnant with sextuplets arrives at the hospital, Dr. Andrews must split the doctors into teams to ensure their health and safety following their high-risk delivery; Shaun and Lea face their own hurdles as they discuss starting a family.

[bros402]

So, uh, I have never heard of someone getting a bone marrow biopsy while on their side

or it taking that quickly

For all three of mine, I have laid on my stomach and gotten numerous lidocaine shots first - and it was never "oh ha ha ha I didn't notice it at all!"

[Annber03]

Aw, that ending. Poor Lea. That's rough :(. 

I'm glad that Morgan didn't go along with Park's offer to be her donor. Just way too awkward. And I'm glad Park came to understand why she turned him down, too. I feel like his offer to help her find a donor is going to be equally as awkward, just in a whole different way. 

On the one hand, I sympathize with Asher's feelings about having kids. On the other hand, I get his reaction upon seeing Jerome singing to the baby, and singing a Cure song at that :p. Kids aren't exactly something one compromises on, though, so it'll be interesting to see if Asher does commit to the idea or if he changes his mind, and how that affects things with him and Jerome going forward. 

So much drama with all the babies this episode. Probably not all that realistic they all survived, but honestly, I'm fine with that, 'cause who really wants to watch a story about a baby dying? 

[Leeds]

Of course all the babies survived; this is American network TV.  One of the reasons I love Call the Midwife is because they unflinchingly portray both infant and maternal mortality.  (Their preemie babies are also way more realistic looking than the ones on this episode.)

[thuganomics85]

Honestly didn't know that human sextuplets could be possible.  To be fair, Andrews himself said that it was a rare, but as usual you got to love how this hospital (and other ones in TV Land) always seem to get hit with the special cases!

Oh, hey, Andrews' ex is back!  Although, looking a little different since it wasn't the same actress this go around.  I guess it's not too surprising that Marsha Thomason wouldn't be jumping at reprising a role that she did way back in 2018 (and only for three episodes.)  The new actress was alright though.  I wonder if they're setting it up for her to come back some more due to have final exchange between the two.

At least Park and Reznick were able to be civil with one another at times, but the whole bit of him volunteering to be a possible sperm donor was just so bizarre and I'm glad she shut all of that down.  Especially since the only reason they aren't together is because of his lame reasons for breaking up.  This season really has done Park a massive disservice (still love you though, Will Yun Lee!)

Kind of fun to see Glassman and Jordan paired off, but it was obvious that Jordan's faith in finding a miracle to save a day was going to overcome Glassman's doom and gloom.

Was kind of confused over Danny's mistake: it sounded like the idea was sound but he rushed it or skipped a step?

I'm trying to give Powell the benefit of the doubt but she's now coming off weirdly overly-invested in Lim's love life.

Even if he was charmed by the way Jerome handled and sang to the child, Asher is really going to have to take a look within himself and figure out if he actually wants children himself.  Because you really can't be a good parent if you don't jump in with both feet forward.

Looks like Lea and Shaun's hope about trying to have another child again is put in peril.  Ouch.  Paige Spara and Freddie Highmore did great work there.

[Leeds]

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Honestly didn't know that human sextuplets could be possible.  To be fair, Andrews himself said that it was a rare, but as usual you got to love how this hospital (and other ones in TV Land) always seem to get hit with the special cases!

You must be young or you'd remember the blanket media coverage of "Octomom"!

From People magazine: Suleman was the mom of six, including a set of fraternal twins, before welcoming octuplets in 2009

https://people.com/parents/octomom-nadya-suleman-kids-everything-to-know/

[Driad]

Not an expert on IVF, but AIUI, for the past several years the practice has been to implant no more than 2 or maybe 3 embryos, to prevent what happened in this episode.

Are there no neonatologists in California?

The babies being alive at the end of the episode doesn't mean they won't have serious medical problems later.

[Pepper the Cat]

And don’t forget the reality show Jon and Kate plus 8. 
I am really tired of Morgan and Park. And Morgan looking for sperm donors while at work is so unprofessional. 

[rmontro]

This episode felt kind of strange.  Maybe it was because there was only one patient (actually 6-8).  The babies looked kind of fake, but that's not something that's going to worry me.  I laughed at the long line of employees volunteering to help the couple with the baby care, there's no way that many health care workers have that kind of free time.

I don't even remember why Park and Morgan broke up.  Oh wait, it was because Morgan was going to go to New York.

I didn't like Glassman for a long time, it was several seasons before I started to like him.  Here lately he's been acting like a jackass again, so I may have to reassess.

[izabella]

3 hours ago, Driad said:

The babies being alive at the end of the episode doesn't mean they won't have serious medical problems later.

Andrews telling everyone they would be "fine" was ridiculous.  They will not be fine with underdeveloped lungs and organs.  They might be blind or deaf.  They might not survive from complications due to all their surgeries to fix the immediately apparent medical issues.  This entire episode, especially all of the babies surviving and being "fine" was egregiously misleading.  I guess with  all the faith stuff, this must have been a Christmas miracle episode bearing no resemblance to reality.

56 minutes ago, rmontro said:

I laughed at the long line of employees volunteering to help the couple with the baby care, there's no way that many health care workers have that kind of free time.

Pure fantasy that even one person would volunteer, and even more of a fantasy that the hospital director would even suggest it.

10 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I'm trying to give Powell the benefit of the doubt but she's now coming off weirdly overly-invested in Lim's love life.

At one point, I was almost convinced Powell was hitting on Lim herself.

Edited November 29, 2022 by izabella

[Twilight Man]

Yet another "The Main Characters Do Everything" episode -----

Let's hope there is not a traffic accident or something --- the ER is empty.

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

I laughed at the long line of employees volunteering to help the couple with the baby care, there's no way that many health care workers have that kind of free time.

Oh, so now you all show up.  I thought WE were the only people working here.

[Calibabydolly]

I know they had to show the audience some sort of ending for the 6 babies...but saying they are all going home and will be fine was so silly! I believe The Gosselin babies had to stay in the NICU for possibly months....and they all weighed more at birth! Funny how Octomom also had a set of twins at home when her 6 were born too. I also don't recall hearing about the babies crying as a goal to show they are healthy? I will have to refresh my memory on how many weeks these other 2 noted sextuplets were born at. I do remember for the show that Kate had many church /community helpers in addition to any family help. Nobody seemed to volunteer from the hospital!

[Daff]

14 hours ago, Leeds said:

Of course all the babies survived; this is American network TV.  One of the reasons I love Call the Midwife is because they unflinchingly portray both infant and maternal mortality.  (Their preemie babies are also way more realistic looking than the ones on this episode.)

I’m of two minds on this point. Survival was lower, complications higher in CtM’s era, so naturally that portrayal will be more grim. However, in the present, regardless of quicker test results, state of the art equipment/procedures, and the best intentions of all involved, I do believe there are more Glassmans than Jordans working in our healthcare system. 

[Annber03]

7 hours ago, Leeds said:

You must be young or you'd remember the blanket media coverage of "Octomom"!

From People magazine: Suleman was the mom of six, including a set of fraternal twins, before welcoming octuplets in 2009

https://people.com/parents/octomom-nadya-suleman-kids-everything-to-know/

As an Iowan, I also kept thinking about the McCaughey septuplets ,who were born in 1997. I remember that story being ALL over the news here. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCaughey_septuplets

[circumvent]

Pointless episode. 

The babies are not going home. Two months, minimum, in the NICU. If there were more complications, and there would be, more than that. One or two would possibly not make it. Spina bifida does not heal itself. The surgeries take a toll. One doesn't have to be a medical professional to know that those babies have a long way to go. 

The "each baby has a team assigned to them" is a thing of a magical world. In this country there is a shortage of medical professionals, just to name one issue with the system. The babies would be all in the NICU with nurses, not doctors, laboring to keep them alive. 

As already pointed out, all the staff signing up to volunteer is ridiculous. Nurses work 36 hours, then take 12 hours, then go back for another grueling shift. Residents work long hours and have to do work for the attending doctors. They don't have time either. Besides, why sign up for something that will not start for months? They don't even know if the babies will go home at the same time, how many will ever go home.

Peeve: the mom broke her ankle and her career ended? As a former dancer, I take offense. Where is the grit?

So the theme of the week was BABIES! Everyone wants one, some gets many, magic saves all except for Leah because the magic they used for all the kids, and the miraculous surgery that would "fix" Lim cannot come up with a way for Leah to be able to have kids. The lack of continuity and consistency int his show is everywhere. 

The episode annoyed me. If they all want a kid, adopt one. At least talk about adopting one. All the religious innuendo in this show, and nobody is able to come up with something that would actually do some good and honor the mighty god they all praise. I can understand the desire to experience pregnancy but  risking having all these multiples - which should be expected - and the possible complications - also to be expected - are things I have trouble being sympathetic towards. 

In all that, the premise of the show - having Shaun use his autistic brain showing the unique, different approaches to complicated medical issues -  is lost and now he is just another arrogant doctor, no different than many I know in real life, who are not (openly, at least) autistic. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Why is Park so annoying?  I can’t stand to watch him.  Morgan has always been that way.  Now both of them?  Please.  Besides them and Glassman, I like the rest.  
 

I fear that shows handle the subject of multiple birth babies unrealistically.  I mean when you’re delivering 6 babies, I’d think you’d be prepared for some bad news.  When the nurse when to tell the mother one baby wasn’t doing well, the mother jumped down her throat and said, I’m not ready for bad news or I’m not ready to let her go. What?  
 

I liked the music in this episode.  
 

Something happened to my ABC channel and I get closed caption o all shows.  I can’t figure out how to remove it.  

[bros402]

23 hours ago, Leeds said:

Of course all the babies survived; this is American network TV.  One of the reasons I love Call the Midwife is because they unflinchingly portray both infant and maternal mortality.  (Their preemie babies are also way more realistic looking than the ones on this episode.)

Yuuup - I was born at 25 1/2 weeks, I have seen my photos from when I was that young.... these kids were born at 29 weeks, but they didn't have as much space to cook as I did

14 hours ago, Driad said:

Are there no neonatologists in California?

The babies being alive at the end of the episode doesn't mean they won't have serious medical problems later.

I was thinking that about neonatologists the entire episode - and yuup, they could have all kinds of problems later! I was discharged after 2 1/2 months with sleep apnea, then I eventually got a bunch of diagnoses!

5 hours ago, circumvent said:

Pointless episode. 

The babies are not going home. Two months, minimum, in the NICU. If there were more complications, and there would be, more than that. One or two would possibly not make it. Spina bifida does not heal itself. The surgeries take a toll. One doesn't have to be a medical professional to know that those babies have a long way to go. 

In all that, the premise of the show - having Shaun use his autistic brain showing the unique, different approaches to complicated medical issues -  is lost and now he is just another arrogant doctor, no different than many I know in real life, who are not (openly, at least) autistic. 

Yeah - I would not have been surprised if those babies were in the NICU for a while. Sure, if they had said that the strongest one might be home in a few weeks (once it hit the weight requirement), I could understand that. Not "boom, time to send all of them home!"

You think with the spina bifida baby, they would've gotten Shaun involved to have him provide assistance on a good approach given his magical autism powers. 

[Daff]

7 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Something happened to my ABC channel and I get closed caption o all shows.  I can’t figure out how to remove it.  

Look for a menu button on your remote. You want “settings”. Cc will be in “settings”. 

[SunnyBeBe]

7 hours ago, Daff said:

Look for a menu button on your remote. You want “settings”. Cc will be in “settings”. 

On the Firestick or tv remote?

[Calibabydolly]

2 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

On the Firestick or tv remote?

I have a Comcast remote for a Roku smart tv and that stupid writing has popped up on my bedroom tv before and I could NOT get rid of it either! I told hubby and he said sometimes a button on the Comcast remote gets pushed on accident. I think it's "C" or "D" right above the number keys. Try that if you have Comcast/Xfinity service and also use their remote. (I don't think it goes away, even when you turn off the tv, until you hit that button again?)

[SunnyBeBe]

I’ll play around with both remotes again, but I have checked the settings before.  I don’t have cable at that location.  It’s at my weekend place and I use my home cable account to activate it.  There, it’s on my Firestick as an app.  I’ve checked the tv settings and CC is off.  And, there is no closed caption that appears on any other channel.  It’s weird.  I guess it’s not the worst thing that could happen. Lol

[Daff]

8 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I’ll play around with both remotes again, but I have checked the settings before.  I don’t have cable at that location.  It’s at my weekend place and I use my home cable account to activate it.  There, it’s on my Firestick as an app.  I’ve checked the tv settings and CC is off.  And, there is no closed caption that appears on any other channel.  It’s weird.  I guess it’s not the worst thing that could happen. Lol

I think I understand what you’re doing. The Firestick has settings as well, but might not be easy to find (it’s been a long time since I used ours). But it does seem strange it’s only engaged on one network. What else do you watch via the Firestick? Try app settings as well. Also, while on that particular network, try turning cc on, then off again. 
Just as an aside, when I recorded the Thanksgiving Parade, cc was broadcasting national news across the bottom of the screen. The text had absolutely nothing to do with the commentary on the participants. The writing totally covered the performance area in front of the store, where they were all performing. Turning off cc in cable provider settings got rid of it. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Thanks.  I’ll try. 

[Calvada]

On 11/29/2022 at 9:41 AM, Driad said:

Not an expert on IVF, but AIUI, for the past several years the practice has been to implant no more than 2 or maybe 3 embryos, to prevent what happened in this episode.

Are there no neonatologists in California?

The babies being alive at the end of the episode doesn't mean they won't have serious medical problems later.

I thought the multiple embryos were the result of taking a fertility drug, not IVF.   I was distracted by texts from a friend at the beginning of the episode though, so I must have missed something.  

 It seems unlikely that at this point the babies would leave the NICU to meet the parents.  Wouldn't the parents come to the NICU instead?  That's what happened with a family member of mine who had a baby at 28 weeks.  During the few days mom was in the hospital, she went to the NICU, not the other way around. 

Leah has Asherman's Syndrome - does any woman who develops scar tissue after a D&C have this?  Or can someone develop scar tissue without it being AS?  Are there 2 types of scar tissue, in other words?

[tennisgurl]

I know that this show frequently pushes our suspension of disbelief, but I am not sure how much I can buy that all of those babies are not only alive but all doing great, after several near deaths. Its not impossible, but it feels quite improbable. Almost as improbably as the whole cast working on this one case and a million people volunteering for child care duties. Do health care workers have the time? 

Asher might have never planned on having kids, but the heart eyes he was giving Jerome while he was with that baby says he's re-thinking that. 

Powell and Lim is just getting weird, why is this random person so invested in Lim's life? I thought it was weird when she was constantly trying to talk her out of physical therapy, but at least you could say she was trying to talk to her as someone with a disability, even if I thought she was out of line. Now she's pushing her into dating a friend of hers? Honestly, its getting creepy, like she's a stalker who's trying to worm her way into every aspect of Lim's life and make her dependent on her. 

That ending was sad, poor Lea and Shaun. Hopefully their dream of having a baby isn't crushed. Maybe they end up adopting? 

[Starchild]

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Powell and Lim is just getting weird, why is this random person so invested in Lim's life? I thought it was weird when she was constantly trying to talk her out of physical therapy, but at least you could say she was trying to talk to her as someone with a disability, even if I thought she was out of line. Now she's pushing her into dating a friend of hers? Honestly, its getting creepy, like she's a stalker who's trying to worm her way into every aspect of Lim's life and make her dependent on her. 

It would be better if that were the story developing, but I'm wondering if they're just trying to create another Clare.

[Calvada]

21 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Powell and Lim is just getting weird, why is this random person so invested in Lim's life? I thought it was weird when she was constantly trying to talk her out of physical therapy, but at least you could say she was trying to talk to her as someone with a disability, even if I thought she was out of line. Now she's pushing her into dating a friend of hers? Honestly, its getting creepy, like she's a stalker who's trying to worm her way into every aspect of Lim's life and make her dependent on her. 

I felt the same.  These people just met a short time ago!  After just a few weeks, Powell talks Lim out of the surgery Shaun proposed, then she tries to talk her out PT, and now she is deciding the person Lim should date and texting the guy to set it up without LIm's knowledge.  Given Powell's military background, I'd have thought she would be more respectful of the chain of command and not fraternize with a superior.  Lim is in the wrong too; as Chief of Surgery, she should be aware of avoiding the appearance of favoring one of the new residents over the others.  Perhaps the show runners felt LIm needs a friend, a confidante, but I think that person exists in Nurse Villanueva, who was injured with Lim.  There is a lot that can be done with that relationship, including bonding over shared trauma, guilt by Villanueva because it was her partner that injured Lim, and repressed anger by Lim.

[circumvent]

2 minutes ago, Calvada said:

I felt the same.  These people just met a short time ago!  After just a few weeks, Powell talks Lim out of the surgery Shaun proposed, then she tries to talk her out PT, and now she is deciding the person Lim should date and texting the guy to set it up without LIm's knowledge.  Given Powell's military background, I'd have thought she would be more respectful of the chain of command and not fraternize with a superior.  Lim is in the wrong too; as Chief of Surgery, she should be aware of avoiding the appearance of favoring one of the new residents over the others.  Perhaps the show runners felt LIm needs a friend, a confidante, but I think that person exists in Nurse Villanueva, who was injured with Lim.  There is a lot that can be done with that relationship, including bonding over shared trauma, guilt by Villanueva because it was her partner that injured Lim, and repressed anger by Lim.

Having a military background also gives some people a sense of entitlement and superiority towards people who never served.

The problem, I think, is that they hired those actors and created half-baked character that don't have much to do because the writing is so bad. The actor playing Powell is not great either and they are trying to make her likable (they are failing) by having her being Lim's spiritual guide because, obviously, one disabled person can be the guru to all disabled people, all the time, in any scenario 🙄

I agree with you that they could have the nurse and Lim develop a mutual support system but I guess the actor is not the "first tier" actor they think then need.

It is not only the writing that sucks, the production team and casting also need to want to make a good show, not only drag this mess.

[A.Ham]

21 hours ago, circumvent said:

because, obviously, one disabled person can be the guru to all disabled people, all the time, in any scenario 🙄

This irks in particular because she never wastes an opportunity to use it as a way to one-up others. And in Lim's case, there's a difference in her type of disability, yet Powell seems to have anointed herself the guru here when it comes to Lim's needs. Come on now. She's really starting to come off as over-invested and creepy.

Edited December 4, 2022 by A.Ham

[limecoke]

On 11/29/2022 at 8:41 AM, Driad said:

Not an expert on IVF, but AIUI, for the past several years the practice has been to implant no more than 2 or maybe 3 embryos, to prevent what happened in this episode

Not an expert either but this is my understanding also. Those I’ve known have implanted no more than they could reasonably give birth to and raise. I was put off by Glassman’s snide, judgy comment about that couple and selective reduction. But he pretty much annoys me most episodes, so…

Edited December 9, 2022 by limecoke