Courtesy Aras Baskauskas
Aras Baskauskas is a dad!
The Survivor: Panama champ and fiancée Christy Petersen welcomed son River Juozas Baskauskas on Thursday, May 29, he confirms to PEOPLE.
Arriving at 1:54 p.m., River weighed in at 6 lbs, 10 oz. and measures 19.25 inches long.
“Christy and I are over the moon at the arrival of our son,” Baskauskas, 32, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Neither of us can believe that this little alien is ours, but we are madly in love with him.”
It’s been a big year for Baskauskas, who is pursuing a singing and songwriting career under the name Odd Us. He returned to Survivor to play Blood vs. Water with brother Vytas, then proposed to his girlfriend of four years, a model and clothing designer, on the beaches of Big Sur in November.
Courtesy Aras Baskauskas
Later that month, as CBS aired his Survivor elimination episode, Baskauskas told PEOPLE that he and Petersen were expecting.
“I’m most looking forward to having the baby fall asleep in my arms,” he said at the time. “We can’t wait to meet this little soul.”
Now that they have, Baskauskas cannot contain his excitement.
“River is a cool dude,” he tells PEOPLE, explaining his and Petersen’s name choice for their newborn. “Long before we ever got pregnant, we both decided we loved the name for a boy. His middle name is my grandfather’s first name – it means ‘Joseph’ in Lithuanian.”
Baskauskas first shared news of the birth on social media. “Welcome to the world, River,” he captioned an Instagram photo. “May 29th will forever be your day.”
– Steve Helling
