Why did they send Elizabeth to the train crash? She's six months pregnant! I find it hard to believe that there were no other surgeons available to go. Yes, Benton was in surgery, but couldn't Elizabeth have taken over for him and then he could have gone to the train crash?

-- Maya (tgoren@msn.com), February 24, 2001

Answers

yea, i couldnt believe it when i saw her out there stumbling in the darknes

-- bronwyn (andronic@aol.com), February 24, 2001.

no one, other than mark of course, seems to have said much about elizabeth's pregnancy. i assume that kerry, romano, and the others MUST know, because she is far along, but i'm surprised that no one has really discussed it, or congratulated her, or anything. maybe it's assumed to be offscreen. i too was surprised that they would send her to such a massive crash. but then, this being "er," maybe there were no other surgeons. after all, we know that benton and cleo are the *only* african-american doctors at county (that was supposed to be a little sarcastic) ...

-- e. kerry (efields01@yahoo.com), February 24, 2001.

You know, I wondered the same thing myself. I know you can fly in your second trimester, but that's on a plane. A helicopter ride is much bouncier and uncomfortable. Why didn't they try to get ahold of Romano harder; where was Anspaugh (I adore seeing him, he's great in any situation)? And even though the staff hasn't said much about Elizabeth's pregnancy, it's very obvious, so they have to know.

-- AmyE (roamyn@aol.com), February 24, 2001.

But, of course, Elizabeth, Peter and Romano are the ONLY surgeons in the whole hospital lol! That was a pretty far stretch I thought too!

-- amanda (amanda.rehm@home.com), February 24, 2001.

Normal gestation is 40 weeks, so Elizabeth, at 25 weeks is only about halfway along. And she's pregnant, not ill. Assuming she knew the conditions before going, and there was no falling debris where she'd be I can see how she would choose to go. (It was unfortunate that she lost her footing, but she could've done that stepping from a curb, too.) The train car had already fallen, so I assume it was staying put after that (until they started digging around it, at which point she did move away). I don't know, the baby's cushioned really well, so I'm not sure even the bouncy helicopter ride would've hurt. What do you OB folks say?

-- MM (conjuror_3x3@hotmail.com), February 24, 2001.

also I am wondering why Kerry barked at Benton to get off the phone with Carter, it's not like they were just chatting! She could certainly hear how dire the situation was.

-- LJoy (LJoy4165@aol.com), February 24, 2001.

I liked Luka's reaction when Carter told him Elizabeth was having contractions. It was like a "she's pregnant?" kinda look. If you're 25 weeks along, you should be showing...people should be noticing...it doesn't make sense that no one hasn't acknowledged this yet.

-- Jessie (sweetbebe0686@yahoo.com), February 24, 2001.

I liked Luka's reaction when Carter told him Elizabeth was having contractions. It was like a "she's pregnant?" kinda look. If you're 25 weeks along, you should be showing...people should be noticing...it doesn't make sense that no one hasn't acknowledged this yet (well, i guess now they have)

-- Jessie (sweetbebe0686@yahoo.com), February 24, 2001.

LJoy, I think Kerry was just conveying the urgency of the situation she had w/ the little boy. Unfortunately, she needed Benton as much as Carter did. But I couldn't help feeling shocked when Benton left Carter hanging on the line!

-- MM (conjuror_3x3@hotmail.com), February 25, 2001.

re: Luka, I thought the same thing about his reaction to Elizabeth...now obviously Carter knew, so I couldn't decide whether it was a "She's having contractions!?" look or a "she's pregnant!?" look.

re: Benton leaving Carter: to quote Susan on Carter's first day as a doctor, "it sounds to me like he trusts you (Carter)". Benton knew he knew what to do; Carter was reacting the same way Elizabeth was a few episodes back when she doubted herself, even though she could do it. Carter wanted reasurance of the moves he made, but Benton knows him and knows how good a surgeon he once was. Benton did a lot to help...he sat there with the phone at his ear while he's trying to work on another trauma. Too bad we didn't get to see Benton chekc out carter's work though.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), February 25, 2001.

As per the "she's pregnant?" thing, when I was 25 weeks pregnant with my first one, most people I had not told still didn't know. I just didn't show much and I looked, at the most like I was getting a little plump in the stomach. Now with #2 it is a different story all together...

Maybe Luka just thinks that she has slackened on her excercise routine...

-- Rachel (rachelrr@ivillage.com), February 26, 2001.

My take on the whole thing is that the little rat boy ( Romano ) couldn't take his pager into the Dojo sp? room which is where he was. Also Liz wears scrubs to work etc. which can be baggy and unflattering so maybe no one really noticed all that much. ( happened to me ) She is there to do a job and it is not like they would say 'sorry I can't go and save someones life... i'm pregnant. That would just not happen.

-- Heather (charliegirll@hotmail.com), February 27, 2001.

about Romano's crappy answer concerning the pager: He's a DOCTOR for goodness sake. I have been to many martial arts schools and any health care provider or emergency personnel who can be "on call" is encouraged to wear or have close by, his/her pager or cell phone. No ethical trainer would get in the way of the responsibility of such a student. I don't know where the writers came up with that joke of a response. I think it was just so we could see Rocket Romano in his karate suit. they could have saved it for halloween.

-- lisa (dlcorbin@cs.com), March 02, 2001.