It's a boy!

The first baby born in B.C. in 2013 arrived at Royal Inland Hospital at 12:02 a.m.

Merritt newlyweds Geraldine and David James welcomed their first child, David Jr., weighing at eight pounds, 11 ounces.

They are first time parents at age 40 and 49.

"I'm excited and really glad he's here now," said Geraldine. "We weren't too sure when he'd come."

David Jr. has already been full of surprises for his parents - "all good surprises," added Geraldine.

They married in May not knowing that Geraldine was already pregnant. And the baby's initial due date of Dec. 27 was pushed twice, first to Jan. 4 then to Jan. 9.

Medical staff then decided that a C-section was in order since David Jr. was expected to weigh 11 pounds.

The procedure was scheduled for 7 p.m. New Year's Eve and that's when the family started getting excited over the prospect of a New Year's baby.

Geraldine's sister-in-law had twin girls on New Year's Day 20 years earlier and the family hoped their new cousin would share that special date.

Geraldine's sister and four aunts wanted it so badly they playfully hid the expectant mom in the bathroom when nurses came to check on her.

"We even closed the door on the guy who was going to wheel her out (to the delivery room)," laughed Geraldine's sister, Bernadette James.

Hospital staff were good natured and laughed along, she said.

In the end, the emergency C-section of another patient interceded, pushing Geraldine's procedure by a few hours and bringing David Jr. to his fateful time of birth.

On Tuesday morning, the halls were buzzing with the news that RIH had hosted the province's first baby of the year.

Meanwhile, the couple was getting plenty of media attention as well as merchandise and gift certificates from several Kamloops businesses via The Daily News.