The Challenge star Hunter Barfield is a new dad!
Barfield welcomed his first child, a son named Kohen Brian Barfield, on Wednesday, November 6, PEOPLE can exclusively announce.
“Mom and the baby are both doing great!!! It was a very fast labor and they are both perfectly healthy,” Barfield tells PEOPLE.
Baby Kohen was born at 8:37p.m., weighing a healthy 8 lbs., 6 oz., and measuring 19.5 inches long.
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While Barfield, 26, admits the birth was an “emotional roller coaster,” he says he started bonding with his son immediately.
“Being a first-time parent, the process was an emotional roller coaster but it was the most beautiful moment I’ve ever experienced. I’m a crier so I definitely cried a little bit! I never knew I could love something so much so fast but he’s already my best friend!” he says. “We are overwhelmed with support from family and friends and we could not be more thankful and blessed.”
Barfield announced he was expecting his first child on Instagram in May.
“We are excited to announce Baby Barfield coming soon!!!” he wrote. “Ive always wanted to be a Daddy and now my dream is finally coming true!!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by MTV Hunter Barfield (@mtvhunter) on May 9, 2019 at 2:35pm PDT
Two months later, the reality star shared a video from the “gender reveal party,” showing Barfield hitting a ball that exploded with blue paint.
He later tweeted his excitement over having a boy.
“I’m just ready to play catch with my little dude and take him to his first baseball game,” he wrote.
I’m just ready to play catch with my little dude and take him to his first baseball game
— MTV Hunter Barfield (@hbarfield13) June 28, 2018
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After rising to fame on MTV’s Are You the One?, Barfield made his Challenge debut in 2017 on Invasion of the Champions. He quickly became known as a tough competitor and went on to compete in Dirty 30, Final Reckoning and War of the Worlds.
Though he technically came in first place during the Final Reckoning finale, his partner Ashley Mitchell decided not to split the prize money, costing the star $500,000, and leaving him empty-handed.