Since March 2015, almost 13,000 people have donated to single dad Carlos Morales' GoFundMe page, and even more have been captivated by his story – including celebrities.
Carlos brought home the quadruplets in March 2015, a whole two months after they were born premature. His wife, Erica, 36-years-old at the time, died hours after she gave birth.
In 2016, the Steve Harvey show surprised Carlos with numerous gifts, including $10,000 per child from Sallie Mae to start a college savings account.
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"When Steve Harvey told me that, I couldn't believe it," Morales says. "Everything I do is for my children and their future. Education is so important. I worry about money and this just made me feel so relieved."
Morales has since gone back to work, and although he says it's been good for him, it's also the hardest part of his day.
"That's when Erica used to text me and ask how my day was going," he says. "It's on my way home that I realize she won't be there when I walk in the door."
But any sadness soon turns into joy when he sees Carlos Jr., Tracy, Paisley and Erica, named after his wife.
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"They have such potential and it's my job to give them a great life," says Morales. "But I couldn't do it without my family and friends."
The dad-of-four explained he’s had little time alone to think about the loss of Erica.
"I'm rarely alone," he said.
"I just wish Erica was here to see them crawl and see them start to walk. There are going to be so many more firsts she won’t be around for."
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For many fathers who are with their wives and girlfriends in the delivery room of their children being born, it's an exciting time. Encouraging their wife to continue through the delivery process until that magical moment when your child is born and you hold him or her for the first time. But for one father, Carlos, it was a horrible mix of emotions.
"I went from having the best day of my life to the next morning experiencing the worst day of my life," Carlos said.
Carlos Morales, 29, was left devastated whenhis wife, Erica, died of blood loss on Jan. 16 while giving birth to their quadruplets two months prematurely.
“I went from having the best day of my life to the next morning experiencing the worst day of my life,” said Morales. “My four babies came into the world and then my wife died.”
But all four babies, though tiny at between two and three pounds apiece, were healthy — and Morales has since been taking baby-care classes at a local hospital. “I need to be prepared,” he said.
"We really wanted to have a baby," says Carlos. "So we started to try right away."
After experiencing a miscarriage, which Carlos says "was beyond devastating," they found out his wife Erica was pregnant last June after undergoing fertility treatment.
Carlos and Erica met at a nightclub in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2006.
"I didn't speak any English and she didn't speak any Spanish," Carlos tells PEOPLE, laughing. "But I asked her to dance and she said yes"
He only found out later that Erica, a real estate agent, ended up throwing out a piece of paper he gave her that night with his number scribbled on it.
But through mutual friends, they saw each other again, and the rest, as they say, is history.
He knew right away he wanted to marry her. Erica learned Spanish, Carlos learned English, and in 2007 they got married in Las Vegas.
"We couldn't have been more excited to finally have a baby," he says. "Erica was taking such good care of herself."
When she went for her first sonogram, she found out she wasn't just having one baby, but four.
"Her doctor told her she had to just relax," Carlos says. "So that's exactly what she did."
Carlos cooked, cleaned and made sure Erica stayed off her feet. Erica's mother even moved into their house to help them.
Doctors closely monitored Erica, who was healthy throughout her pregnancy.
On Jan. 12, Erica was checked into the hospital because she was experiencing high blood pressure. Imagine the excitement Carlos felt on Jan. 15 when she texted him while was at work saying the doctors wanted to deliver the babies.
"The doctor said she was having too many contractions so it was time to deliver the babies," Carlos says. "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.' "
The couple also discussed names. They settled on Carlos Jr. for the boy and Tracey and Paisley for the two girls. Erica couldn't decide on the other girl's name. They thought they had plenty of time to figure it out.
"'We can decide after she's born,' " Carlos recalls Erica telling him.
Some 24 people – doctors, nurses, family and friends – were in the delivery room when the babies were born. Each weighed from two to three lbs. For Carlos, it was the moment of a lifetime.
"I forgot about how expensive it was going to be to raise four kids or how hard it might be," he says. "Seeing Erica and the babies healthy is all I could think about. I was just so excited for our future."
Erica, who was coming out of an anesthesia-induced sleep, squeezed her husband's hand. She couldn't yet speak. Carlos sat by her bedside, with their newborn babies in the nursery one floor away.
Suddenly, around 1 a.m Carlos heard equipment alarms going off and saw nurses rushing into the room. The medical team asked him to leave while they worked on Erica.
An hour later, they told him she was gone. He heard their words but couldn't understand.
"How could this have happened?" he asked, something that still haunts him today. "She was fine, and then she wasn’t. She was alive and then she was just gone."
He still asks himself every day if there issomething he could have done to keep his wife alive.
"I went from having the best day of my life to the next morning experiencing the worst day of my life," Carlos says. "My four babies came into the world and then my wife died."
When he was sitting by his babies in the middle of the night after she passed away, the nurse asked him what the babies' names were.
Carlos gave the nurse the three names they had agreed upon. The other girl's name he chose himself: Erica.
Moving Forward Isn't Easy
Carlos continues to grieve for Erica every waking minute. She lives in his dreams. The one thing that keeps him going: The babies.
Carlos Jr. and Tracey are already home; Paisley and Erica are still in the hospital. Carlos goes to visit them every day while his mother-in-law cares for the babies at home. At the hospital, Carlos is also a student, paying close attention in the free baby-care classes it offers.
"I'm learning everything from how to give them a bath, CPR, feeding, and how to manage their sleep schedule," he says. "I need to be prepared."
"Everything I do now is for my children," Carlos, who will return to work, tells PEOPLE. "Our family and friends have been very supportive too."
One friend, Nicole Todman, created a GoFundMe page where people can donate.
