Dad Cares for Quadruplets After Wife's Tragic Death in Childbirth

Carlos Morales with the quadruplets. Photo courtesy Carlos Morales

When Carlos and Erica Morales first found out they were expecting quadruplets, they were just excited to be pregnant. After Erica, 36, had a miscarriage, the couple went through fertility treatment and conceived their four little ones — three girls, one boy — through IVF, according to People. “We couldn’t have been more excited to finally have a baby,” Carlos, 29, told the magazine this week.

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But their joy took a tragic turn in January, when Erica, at seven months pregnant, underwent a cesarean section. After delivering four healthy babies, Erica went into hypovolemic shock, a condition that involves severe blood loss, and died a few hours after her children were born. “I went from having the best day of my life to the next morning experiencing the worst day of my life,” Carlos said in his first interview since Erica’s death. “My four babies came into the world and then my wife died.”

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The new dad, who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, is caring for Carlos Jr., Tracey, Paisley, and Erica on his own, though he credits the support of friends and family for helping him get through. A month after their Jan. 15 birth, Carlos Jr. and Tracey have come home, while the other two babies are still in the hospital, where Carlos is taking parenting classes. “I’m learning everything from how to give them a bath, CPR, feeding, and how to manage their sleep schedule,” he said. “I need to be prepared.”

Carlos did not respond to Yahoo Parenting’s request for comment.  

The Morales quadruplets. Photo courtesy Carlos Morales

The father of four is also receiving the support of strangers through a GoFundMe page, which was set up by Erica’s best friend, Nicole Todman. “The expense of raising 4 children alone is quite daunting for any middle class family now the with the loss of Erica’s income her husband will need all the help he can get,” Todman writes. In the month since the page was posted, donations have reached more than $250,000, halfway to the $500,000 goal.

Other similar stories of family heartbreak have made headlines recently. In January, 56-year-old Lisa McLaughlin, who battled infertility for a decade, died one week after giving birth to twins. Her husband, Mike, 67, is raising the babies alone. In 2014, 33-year-old Kathy Taylor, a mother of six who was diagnosed with cancer at 26 weeks pregnant, died three months after delivering a premature son, Luke. And Jenna Hinman, 26, learned she had a rare placental cancer after delivering twins in April 2014 and died a month later. Like the Moraleses, all of these families received an outpouring of support from around the country.

Perhaps the most well-known father to find himself in this tragic situation was Matt Logelin, the blogger whose wife died a day after their daughter, Maddy, was born. Logelin’s blog, “Matt, Liz and Madeline: Life and Death, All in a 27-Hour Period” was a viral sensation, and Logelin published a best-selling memoir, Two Kisses for Maddy, about his experience. He has since founded the Liz Logelin Foundation, which awards grants to young families who have lost a parent.

A month after his beloved wife died, Carlos Morales says he’s trying to honor her wishes for their family: for the kids to go to college, have good jobs, and speak English and Spanish.

“I will try my hardest to make sure that happens,” he said. “Everything I do now is for my children.”

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