PORT ANGELES — Maisie Miller Lee was born nearly a week late.
She waited just long enough to become the first baby born at a North Olympic Peninsula hospital in the 2020s.
Maisie Lee was born to Megan and Jon Lee at Olympic Medical Center at 12:01 p.m. Wednesday. She weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches long.
“Everything’s healthy,” said Registered Nurse Lynette Brown, who presented the Lees with a baby gift basket from the Olympic Medical Center Auxiliary.
Olympic Medical Center Foundation presented a gift basket filled with infant care items, along with a commemorative towel, to the Lee Family on Wednesday. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Mason Matthew McConaghy of Cape George in East Jefferson County wasn’t due until next week, but he gave his mother and father a New Year’s Day surprise.
The baby boy was born at 1:23 p.m. Wednesday at Jefferson Healthcare hospital in Port Townsend, the first child for Karma Hos, 19, and Casey McConaghy, 28, and the first child born in Jefferson County in 2020.
“He’s so new,” Casey said. “I never thought we could love him so much.
“We’re so protective already. I just want to do everything for him.”
The couple, who live in Cape George, welcomed Mason at 6 pounds, 10 ounces. He measured 18 1/2 inches long.
Megan Lee said friends and family had predicted that perhaps her youngest child would be a New Year’s Day baby.
“I was like: ‘There’s no way that’s going to happen,’” Megan Lee said about four hours after giving birth.
“And then, sure enough, in the middle of the night last night, I started going into labor.”
Jon Lee, who serves on the Port Angeles-based U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Active, said he didn’t expect his child to be the area’s first born in the 2020s.
“You never would have thought something like that would happen,” Jon Lee said.
Five-year-old Jack Lee described his baby sister as “cute.”
“She’s crying,” Jack observed. “Babies cry.”
The Lees are a “Coast Guard family” with roots in Florida and Kentucky, Megan Lee said. They moved to Port Angeles last July.
“Home is where we live,” said Jon Lee, who had been married to Megan for 10 years. “All of our family is on the East Coast,” Megan Lee said, “so they all flew in to help us out.”
Megan Lee said her delivery at OMC “went great.”
She credited her nurses and Certified Nurse Midwife Debbie Bopp.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better labor and delivery,” Megan Lee said. “Everyone was so lovely and nice. It’s just been a great experience.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
