Almost five months after his baby was born, Alaskan Bush People star Bear Brown “couldn’t be more excited” to finally meet his son, River. After announcing on Instagram that he was hopefully getting the chance to meet the little boy soon, he exclusively told In Touch a little more about his plan.

“With the virus that’s been going around, [I] haven’t felt like it would have been safe to visit River,” Bear, 33, said, explaining the coronavirus outbreak was one of the complications keeping him and his son apart. “But now they seem to have [enough tests] to see if you’re infected, so I won’t have to worry about infecting River or my parents when I return home!”

Bear Brown Takes Selfie with Family
Courtesy of Rain Brown/Instagram

The new father first made the announcement on his private Instagram account on Saturday, August 1. “Hey, everybody. I’ve got some news. It looks like I’m finally going to be able to visit River soon. I’ll actually get to hold him, maybe rock him to sleep. There have been a lot of complications that have been stopping me, but I think I finally have it all worked out, and I’m going to be able to actually hold my son,” he said in the clip. “It is going to be really awesome. I cannot wait until I can actually just rock him to sleep. I’ll keep everybody posted. God bless.”

Raiven Adams, Bear’s former fiancée, exclusively tells In Touch her ex hasn’t reached out to her to make plans to visit, but she wants River and Bear to meet, too. “He has always been welcome to see him … I’ve even offered to bring our son to him,” Raiven, 22, said. “He hasn’t told me he is coming, but, if he is, I’m happy for my son.”

The couple revealed they were expecting just months after going public with their relationship in July 2019. “Quickly after deciding friendship was best for us, we found out we had a little surprise coming our way,” the new mom wrote on Instagram at the time. “After a quick engagement, because we felt that was the right thing to do, we talked about things and ultimately decided being coparents was best for us as well as our baby. We are super excited and surprised to announce this, especially due to current events. We are excited to coparent as friends and do our best to be the best we can be.”

Inset Photo of River Over Photo of Bear Brown
Discovery Channel; Courtesy Raiven Adams

However, the parents’ relationship was rocky by the time River was born in March, and both mom and baby spent time in the hospital after Raiven went into labor six weeks early. The infant, who was only 4 pounds, 15 ounces at the time of his birth, was kept in the NICU — the newborn intensive care unit — and the model told her fans that’s where she was staying, too. “They don’t want us leaving at all because of coronavirus. But I wasn’t gonna leave anyways. I would just miss him,” she said on Instagram.

It seems River is healthy and happy these days, and grandmother Kassy Michelle gushed about what an “amazing mother” her daughter is. “She spent two months in the hospital before [his birth] trying to keep him in until 34 weeks,” she told In Touch in March. “She literally risked her life to have this baby.”

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