My new nephew, Otis!

My older sister, Lora, had her first child on Tuesday, January 3rd. I was SO happy that she went into labor while I was still in North Carolina for Christmas break!!!!!!

Greg, the kids and I were at my parents house in Clemmons, which is about 1.5 hours from Durham where Lora & John live.  We got a text at 3:30 am saying she had been admitted to the hospital and was 6 cm. She said not to come right away, but once Mom & I heard the news, we couldn't go back to sleep! We decided to shower and gather our things for a day at the hospital. Finally, at 5 am, we headed to the hospital with Dad. As we were coming up the elevator at 7 am, we got a text from John that she was pushing!!! We were relieved we had made it just in time. We headed to the waiting room and my younger sister, Becky, joined us just a few minutes later (she had drive 2 hours from her house in Charlotte.)

Waiting room selfie!

 Well, around 9 am more visitors arrived, Steve (John's dad) and his wife Chris. And still no baby.

Around 11:30, Robin (John's mom) arrived. And still no baby.

We were getting antsy so we sent a nurse manager in to see what was going on. She reported that Lora was pushing and still no baby. My mom was a wreck!

Finally, John texted the news at 12:05 that Otis was here!!!!

Apparently, my poor sister was pushing for FIVE hours. WITHOUT any drugs!! (Yes, by choice.) Otis was sunny-side up, and his skull was pressing on her spine a lot. For the last hour or so, his lips were "out," but nothing else. Craziness! His lips and face came out pretty bruised and swollen, and John remarked that it looked like he'd been in a bar fight. Poor little guy! We thought he looked just perfect though.

Otis Thomas White

1/3/17

7 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches

 It took a loooooong time for Lora to get cleaned up and then transferred to a recovery room. We were dying to see Otis, and finally got to around 3:30 pm. What a day! But, he was worth the wait :)

Proud Grandmothers - Nanny & Chris

My parents were thrilled to welcome grandchild #5!!

At the time he was born, he was still "Guppie" to everyone.

Lora & John made us wait a whole other day before they decided on the name!

Proud Aunt :)

The new White family!

 Mom, Dad, and I left the hospital and got home around 6 pm. Just in time to say hi to Greg & the kids before they went off to a Wake Forest basketball game. (And somehow, my dad had the energy to go with them!) Which meant Mom & I had a quiet night at home, toasting Otis and watching the Bachelor on DVR :)

 It killed us to stay away from the hospital on Wednesday, but we knew Lora & John needed time to get acclimated to Otis, and to figure out nursing, get some rest, etc. Looks like Otis was pretty cozy and didn't miss us too much :)

 On Thursday, Otis was discharged from the hospital, and we (my parents, the kids, and I) were able to help welcome him home! We decorated in a hurry because we barely made it in time!

Could this little family be any cuter!?

Abby barely let Aunt Lora get in the door before asking to hold Baby Otis. She was smitten!

Sweet Otis napped in his swing while everyone had lunch - Brixx pizza and salad, yum!

I wasn't sure if Nate would want to hold Otis, but he finally decided to! :)

Proud big cousins

Proud Nanny & Poppy

When the kids got bored with all the oohing and aahing over Otis, they could be found in the sunroom on Uncle John's drum set :)

I almost forgot to get a shot of the beautiful new momma with her boy!!

Lora texted that afternoon - Otis had barely moved since we left. Guess we wore him out!!

I am just over the moon that I have a new nephew (that makes 3!) and that my sister is a mom. She is going to be AMAZING and I'm so excited to hear about her journey, every step of the way....

(Well, unless it's at 3:00 in the morning....)