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.
Source: Carlos Morales
It wasn’t until she went in for her
first sonogram that she discovered she was having four babies. The doctor told
Erica she needed to relax and so, with the help of her husband and mother who
came to live with them, that’s what she did. Doctors also monitored her
closely, ensuring that she was healthy throughout her pregnancy.
On Jan 12, Erica checked into the
hospital for issues with high blood pressure.
Three days later, she texted Carlos
at work, saying that the doctors wanted to deliver the quadruplets two months
early.
“The doctor said she was having too
many contractions so it was time to deliver the babies,” Carlos explained. “We
took pictures before she went into the delivery room, made some videos and she
was surrounded by family and friends. I said to her, ‘Let’s get these babies
out.'”
Erica managed to follow through on
her husband’s command but wasn’t able to pull through the delivery herself.
An hour after the medical team
started attending to her, in the early morning hours of the next day, she was
gone.
“How could this have happened?”
Carlos asked. “She was fine, and then she wasn’t. She was alive and then she
was just gone.”
Everyday he asks himself if there
was anything he could have done to prevent this tragedy.
“I went from having the best
day of my life to the next morning experiencing the worst day of my life. My
four babies came into the world and then my wife died.”
The middle of the night, the same
day Erica passed, Carlos was sitting next to his children when a nurse asked
for the names of his babies.
Carlos gave the nurse the names he
and Erica had agreed upon and the last daughter’s name he had to choose
himself: Erica.
While Carlos continues to grieve for
his wife, he says his babies are the only reasons he’s able to keep going.
Carlos Jr. and Tracey are home now
and Paisley and Erica are still in the hospital. Carlos visits them everyday
while his mother-in-law cares for her grandchildren at home. At the hospital,
Carlos is attending the free baby-care classes.
“I’m learning everything from how to
give them a bath, CPR, feeding and how to manage their sleep schedule. I need
to be prepared. Everything I do now is for my children. Our family and friends
have been very supportive too.”
In fact, the couple’s friend, Nicole
Todman started a GoFundMe page where people can donate to help Carlos and his
family.
But with all the support, in some
ways, Carlos still hasn’t come to grips with the reality that his wife is
gone.
“When I’m alone at home I still tell
myself that I hope I’m dreaming. Erica was the most special person in the world
and she should be here to love her babies.”
Recently, Carlos found a note Erica
had written on her iPad about the wishes she has for her children. She dreamt
of them going to college, speaking both English and Spanish and having good
jobs.
Carlos said he will try his hardest
to make sure that happens.
Carlos does find solace in his
Catholic faith. And he said that he knows when he held the four children for
the first time, Erica was looking down on her family from heaven.
“She always used to do this happy
dance and I know that right then and there she as doing it next to me.”
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