FRANKLIN—It took a couple of days, but Southampton Memorial Hospital welcomed the first baby of the year — and the decade­ — on Sunday.

Ayden Jayce Whitehead was born Sunday at 8:46 a.m. He weighed 6½ pounds and was 19 inches long.

New mother Alethia Whitehead of Franklin said Tuesday morning that she didn’t even know her son was the first baby of the year when he was born, but was pleased when she found out later.

“I thought it was interesting and exciting,” she said, of the news that Ayden was the hospital’s first baby of 2010.

Whitehead said it was special for Ayden to be the first baby born at the hospital this year.

“I think it’s going to be something that we can show him when he grows up,” she said.

Ayden’s father, Michael Johnson, only had one thing to say about his new son’s birth.

“It’s a blessing,” he said.