MIke Conley Jr.’s wife Mary Conley revealed Sunday that her husband wasn’t able to be with her for the birth of their third child due to the NBA isolation bubble.
The 32-year-old Utah Jazz star had been quarantining in Orlando, Florida, with his fellow players since early July to protect them from the novel coronavirus.
His stylist wife opened up about her husband not making it back to Ohio in time for the August 16 birth in a lengthy interview with E! News.
Late arrival: Mike Conley Jr. of the Utah Jazz rushed to his wife Mary’s side as she gave birth in Ohio, but he missed their son’s birth due to the NBA’s isolation bubble in Orlando; shown hours after the birth on August 16
The NBA players stationed in Orlando aren’t supposed to leave the bubble, which should grant them protection from COVID-19 as long as they’re separated from the outside.
But Mike was allowed to leave to fly to Ohio to be with Mary for the birth of their son.
The baby ended up arriving faster than either of them expected, and point guard was still in transit when Elijah Michael Conley entered the world.
‘Labor takes a while anyways so I would think, hopefully, we’d have, like, eight to 10 hours … we feel good about the way we’re going to do it,’ Mary said before the birth.
Too fast: Mary revealed that Mike was on his way home after she had the first signs of labor, but the baby came faster than either of them expected
Better late than never: The 32-year-old NBA star was able to be with her via FaceTime, and he arrived shortly afterward for skin-to-skin contact with Baby Elijah, who was born on August 16
‘I just prefer to let my body naturally do what it’s ready to do,’ Mary said of her choice not to schedule an induction or a C-section, and she planned to tell Mike as soon as she had the first symptoms of labor.
But Elijah made his entrance faster than either of them could have predicted.
‘It broke my heart that Michael wasn’t able to make it for the actual birth but we waited as long as possible and the baby was just ready to come!’ she said.
‘Thank goodness for FaceTime, which sounds so weird to say,’ the blogger continued. ‘Michael was able to be there virtually and I was able to see him and hear his voice, which was really encouraging.’
Since Mike was already on the way, he got to the hospital in time for a skin-to-skin bonding session with his son, and he spent the next full day with his family, which includes his older sons Myles, four, and Noah, two.
![Too cute: Mary said her boys Myles, four, and Noah, two, 'want [Elijah] everywhere they go' and ask for her to bring him with her when she reads them bedtime stories, she revealed to E! News](https://i2.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/08/25/20/32374850-8663491-image-a-40_1598383072322.jpg?resize=634%2C636&ssl=1)
Too cute: Mary said her boys Myles, four, and Noah, two, ‘want [Elijah] everywhere they go’ and ask for her to bring him with her when she reads them bedtime stories, she revealed to E! News
Mary gushed in the interview about how the two boys didn’t want to be apart from their baby brother.
‘They want [Elijah] everywhere they go,’ she revealed. ‘At night when we go back to read books, they always want the baby to come with us. He’s usually sleeping and I’d prefer to leave him as is so I can focus on our bedtime routine, but I know his presence is really important to them.’
‘They love to hold him and give him kisses, Noah is great at singing him songs and Myles loves to tell him stories,’ Mary continued. ‘The second he makes a fuss or a slight cry they are the first to tell me the baby needs to eat!’
Staying connected: Mike has been using digital means to stay connect, like the Caribou app, which lets him virtually read a book to his sons before they go to sleep
Mary admitted that it was easier to drive her sports star husband back to the airport on his way to Orlando than it was the first time he left for the bubble because she had ‘mentally prepared’ this time.
FaceTime allowed him to be with her virtually during the birth, and Mike has stayed in touch with his boys via digital means as well.
His wife said he had recently started using the Caribou app, which lets him read a book virtually, with Myles and Noah.
‘It’s the boys’ favorite thing,’ she explained. ‘They don’t want me to read at all anymore, like, [I’ll say] “Daddy will read a book and then I’ll read a book.” No, they’re like, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,” and I’m like, “Alright, Daddy. It’s all you!” We try and find time in between meetings and, you know, one game got in the way but not too many, so he gets to sing little songs that they like before bed — all on FaceTime, which is really, really nice.’
Ironic: Mary mused that she was grateful not to be having a baby in the early months of the pandemic, only to give birth months later when it was surging throughout the US
Mary also mused on her relief earlier in the year that she wasn’t having a baby in the first days of the pandemic, only to have one months later as it continued to rage in the US.
‘When COVID first started, I felt really bad for all the women who were due to have babies during that time and you know whether their spouse couldn’t be there, or they were only allowed one person [in the hospital],’ she admitted. ‘I was so grateful, selfishly, that I wasn’t having my baby in the early spring.
‘Well, here we are in August and COVID is still affecting everybody and affecting me big time with them in the bubble.’