Encouraged by the support of his family and America, Carlos adjusts to his hectic new life as a father to newborn quadruplets. Meet the adorable Carlos Jr., Erica, Paisley and Tracy
His wife Erica, who was pregnant with four babies through I.V.F, went into labor on Jan. 15. “I still think back to that moment every day and it was wonderful,” Carlos, 29, who works in manufacturing, said. “Erica did so well, the babies were healthy. It was perfect.”
But just a few hours later, after all four babies – three girls and one boy – were safely delivered, Erica, 36, went into ʜʏᴘᴏᴠᴏʟᴇᴍɪᴄ sʜᴏᴄᴋ, an emergency condition when the patient has a severe amount of ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ʟᴏss. She ᴅɪᴇᴅ on Jan. 16 at 1:50 am.
“I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t speak,” Morales, from Phoenix, Arizona, says about the moment his life turned into a nightmare. “I didn’t know how I would survive without her. But almost five months later, I understand why I am still here. These babies don’t know yet what blessings they have given me. They have given me four reasons to live,” Carlos says.
Born first at 3lbs 4oz, Tracy is now the biggest quad at 6lbs 4oz. “She is laid-back like me,” Carlos says, also seeing elements of her late mother, Erica, like her love of sleep. “She doesn’t give me any trouble. Her siblings could learn a thing or two from her!” Tracy is almost always super happy, especially when she has something to eat. During the pregnancy, Erica would call Tracy “poundcake” because she was the first baby to reach a pound in her belly.
Carlos Jr., born at 2lbs 15oz, has made it all the way up to 5lbs 13oz – in large part because he loves to eat (“It’s impressive,” Dad says). Carlos likes to wrap Carlos Jr. up with his siblings “like a burrito” in their little blankets. A bit quieter than the others, the little guy has a calming influence on his fellow quads. “I have a feeling he’s going to be a protective brother,” Carlos predicts.
The smallest baby of the four when she was born at just 2lbs 10oz, Erica (now healthy at more than 5lbs) is just like her mother – “she likes her sleep and she likes to relax,” Carlos says. That is, until the morning – she’s gotten in the habit of screaming her head off. At the hospital, her mother’s friends brought over little colored cotton balls so everyone could tell Erica apart from Paisley, her twin (Carlos calls the two of them “twinkies”). Erica’s cotton ball is green, her late mother Erica’s favorite color.
Also tiny at birth like her twin, Paisley is now healthy and incredibly alert – “her eyes are always open and she’s always looking around. I wonder if she will always stay this awake,” Dad shares. She doesn’t adore sleep as much as her fellow “twinkie” Erica, but the two of them are both big criers. In fact Paisley, who wears a yellow cotton ball on her ankle, is fond of crying the moment she wakes up.
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