Jessica Toohey and Charlie Spackman welcomed son Harley Kevin Spackman to the world on January 1; the first baby born in Orange for 2022

Entering the world in the very early hours of the new year at exactly 3:35am on January 1, 2022, Harley Spackman weighed a healthy 3840 grams.

"It's been wake up, feed, sleep and repeat ever since then," the couple laughed.

Baby Harley's first-time mum, Jessica Toohey carried the couples' soon-to-be-born son to full-term gestation, giving birth at 40 weeks and two-days of pregnancy.

"Our original due date was December 30, 2021, so we thought we'd be having an end-of-year baby," Miss Toohey said.

"We arrived to hospital in Orange [from Blayney] around 9pm on the night of December 31, but he still wasn't ready."

Returning a few hours later, the couple said they knew their baby was ready for world-entering action.

"There was no turning back once all of the action had really started after midnight," Mr Spackman said.

"2am came around, and it was just all go from there."

With the current COVID-19 restrictions across all health facilities in the state, Mr Spackman had to hang back after the birth of baby Harley, where mum and bub were transferred to the ward until the daylight hours.

"I was allowed to stay in the delivery room during labour, but I wasn't allowed on the ward with Jess and Harley," Mr Spackman said.

"It's been a very hard process with COVID restrictions, even with some of the ultrasounds and appointments with not being able to be there because of limits to people in the room."

With the one-person limit currently in place, Miss Toohey said she also wished she could've had her own mum in the delivery room there as planned.

"[Pregnancy and birth during COVID] has been so hard," she said.

"We couldn't have fun events like a gender reveal party or a baby shower because of gathering limits and lockdowns, and I really wanted my mum in the delivery room with us, too."

Discharged the same morning around 10.30am, Miss Toohey's mum arrived with joy on the couples' doorstep with balloons-in-hand some hours later, with the couple feeling relieved to all be together with their newborn baby in their hometown of Blayney.

"We did have the option to stay at the hospital, but we were happy to leave," Miss Toohey said.

"My partner wasn't allowed to stay overnight with us on the ward, and I felt more comfortable with the choice of having [my partner] around. We both wanted to be home so we could rest after a huge morning, and just be together."

Leaving hospital in Orange felt surreal for the couple, and the morning's events felt like a blur for them both.

"Walking out of the hospital with [baby Harley], it felt like we'd stolen him or like we were babysitting somebody else's child," Mr Spackman laughed.

"The reality of it all is really only just starting to kick-in for us now."

While the first-time parents are understandably fatigued with their real-life addition to the world, they're mostly feeling blessed.

"It still feels surreal, but he's completely healthy and such a peaceful baby," Miss Toohey said.

"We're both really happy and over the moon," Mr Spackman added.

"He's everything we could've wanted."