Naturally our initial thoughts are those of hope. Perhaps we picture how our little one is going to look, or imagine the things we’re going to teach them or help them experience. Many of us wonder just how it will feel to hold them in our arms for the first time.

Sadly, however, not all pregnancies end up with the happiness most of us grow up expecting. Carlos Morales, from Phoenix, Arizona knows this tragic truth all too well, and his story is a perfect example of the bittersweet nature of life…

By all accounts, Carlos and Erica Morales were a match made in heaven.

The couple first began dating in 2006 after meeting at a nightclub in Scottsdale, Arizona, and though a language barrier made things difficult – Carlos didn’t speak English and Erica didn’t speak Spanish – they were undeniably attracted to each other.

According to reports, Carlos and Erica danced much of that first night away. When the nightclub closed, Carlos wrote down his number on a piece of paper and handed it to Erica to do with what she would.

Erica ultimately lost the paper with Carlos’s number, and that might well have been that. Fate, it seems, had other plans though.

The couple met again, this time through mutual friends, and before long they realized that their feelings for one another were real.

In a show of commitment, Carlos learned English so that he could communicate properly with Erica. Erica, meanwhile, learned Spanish.

The loved-up couple got married in a Las Vegas wedding in 2007, before setting about trying to create a family.

Their initial attempt ended in tragedy when they suffered a miscarriage. Through the help of fertility treatment, though, Erica fell pregnant again, and this time the couple were in for a real shock.

When Erica went for her first sonogram, doctors told her that she wasn’t just carrying one baby, but four!

As the months passed, Carlos and Erica readied themselves to become parents to quadruplets. Carrying four children quickly took a toll on Erica, so Carlos did his best to care for her while also handling house chores such as cooking and cleaning.

On January 12, 2015, Erica was admitted to hospital with high blood pressure. Before Carlos had time to join her there, she texted him to say that doctors wanted to deliver the babies right away as a result of her continual contractions.

When Carlos arrived, he and Erica took photos and videos to serve as momentos in the future. Before Erica went into the delivery room, Carlos apparently kissed his wife on the head and said: “Let’s get these babies out.”

Little did he know that day would be life-changing in more ways than one.

According to Carlos, he and Erica’s quadruplets – three girls and one boy – were delivered via C-section.

“We were so excited to start our family,” Carlo said, as per Yahoo. “And then it all came crashing down.”

In a cruel twist of fate, Erica went into hypovolemic shock directly after giving birth, a condition characterized by severe blood and fluid loss.

Carlos was sitting by his wife’s bedside when alarms began to ring and nurses rushed into the room. The new father was asked to wait outside while medical professionals attended his wife. When a doctor emerged an hour later, though, Carlos was told that Erica had passed away.

He reflected: “How could this have happened? She was fine, and then she wasn’t. She was alive and then she was just gone. 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.”

Remembering an earlier conversation he had with his late wife, Carlos named the quadruplets Carlos Jr., Paisley, and Tracey. The third little girl he named “Erica”.

The grieving father was able to take two of his children home from the hospital on January 16, 2015. The other two were able to go home on March 11.

Despite the incredible sense of loss and the pain he felt at his love’s passing, Carlos knew he had to be there for his children. The father-of-quadruplets took baby-care sessions, learning how to bathe his young ones, feed them when they were hungry, manage their sleep schedules. He also learned CPR.

Eventually, Erica’s mom, Sondra Bridges, moved in with Carlos to help him care for her grandchildren.

“It’s funny how things turn out,” Sondra said. “Bittersweet, but at the same time, thanks to God, and the outpouring support of the public, it’s been phenomenal. And I’d like to say thank you to each and every one of you. All the support we’ve gotten from you, we appreciate it.”