Father Left To Raise Quadruplets Alone After His Wife’s Tragic Passing, Hours After Childbirth

Erica Morales and her husband Carlos, had been trying for years to have children. So the day that Erica was set to deliver quadruplets, the couple was ecstatic. It was, as Carlos described, the happiest moment of their lives, until it wasn’t anymore.

Sadly, hours after Erica gave birth to their four children, she passed away.

Pregnant with quadruplets conceived through IVF, 36-year-old Erica went into labor 2 months prematurely, on January 15. Doctors delivered the babies through C-section.

Carlos, 29, said the Arizona-based couple “were so excited to start our family and then it all came crashing down.”

After the four babies were delivered, Erica went into hypovolemic shock, a condition that is characterized by a severe loss of blood. She died at 1:50 a.m.. on January 16 before she even had a chance to hold her children.

Before Erica went into surgery to deliver, the couple discussed names. Carlos Jr. for the boy, Tracey and Paisley for the two girls and Erica told Carlos that they would chose a name for the last daughter after she was born.

Between nurses, doctors, family and friends, there were 24 people were in the deliver room when the quadruplets entered the world. Each weighing between 2-3 pounds.

Carlos was elated.

“I forgot about how expensive it was going to be to raise four kids or how hard it might be. Seeing Erica and the babies healthy is all I could think about. I was just so excited for our future.”

After the delivery, Erica was coming out of anesthesia when she squeezed her husband’s hand, still unable to speak. Carlos sat by his wife while their children were in the nursery one floor below.

The Morales’ had come a long way since they first met a nightclub in Scottsdale, Arizone in 2006. Carlos told People, “I didn’t speak any English and she didn’t speak any Spanish. But I asked her to dance and she said yes.”

Carlos gave Erica, a real estate agent, a paper with his number written on it, but she’d thrown it away. But their union was fated and through mutual friends they saw each other again.

As they dated, Erica learned Spanish, Carlos learned English and they got married in Las Vegas the next year, in 2007.