Andrea Canning‘s baby boy is here!

The Dateline correspondent, 46, and her husband, USMC Lieutenant Colonel Tony Bancroft, welcomed their sixth child and first son on Tuesday, June 18, her rep confirms exclusively to PEOPLE.

George Anthony Bancroft III — who will go by Tripp — weighed 9 lbs., 7 oz., and measured 22 inches.

“We are beyond blessed to have this (big) little man in our lives,” Canning tells PEOPLE. “His five older sisters are over the moon and ready to welcome the first baby boy into the family!”

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Andrea Canning, 46, Talks Expecting First Son After Five Daughters: “We Wanted a Boy So Badly”

Canning first revealed the happy news of her pregnancy on New Year’s Eve. “In 2019, I’m having a baby! But will it be a boy or a girl? Let’s find out!” she said in the sweet clip, posted to Dateline‘s Twitter page, before revealing the baby’s sex by popping a giant balloon.

As blue confetti burst through the air, she added, “It’s a boy! After five girls, it’s a boy! Happy New Year!”

The Canadian-born journalist welcomed her youngest daughter, Elle Corbin, in June 2015. She’s also mom to Georgia Rapalje, 5, Christina Margaret, 6½, Charlotte Brewster, 9, and Anna Katherine, 10.

While the idea of having six young children at home can be overwhelming, Canning shared on Today in January that as her daughters have gotten older, parenting has actually gotten easier — and that she and her husband “wanted a boy so badly” after five girls.

“It starts to sort of feed off itself, where as they get older they start to help the other ones, and it gets easier and easier,” she shared. “I remember just pulling my hair out when they were little. It was so hard some days, and now it’s like, ‘Hey, can you go get this? Can you get her a bottle?’ And they start to do things for each other.”

She went on to praise Bancroft for being “the most hands-on dad,” explaining of the former fighter pilot, “He’s the dad that’s doing everything at night when I’m falling asleep. He’s Mr. Energizer Bunny.”

Noting the fact that she’s in her 40s, Canning added that the couple knew their “window was closing” on having kids and decided they had nothing to lose by trying to get pregnant again. “I honestly didn’t think it would work,” she admitted. “And here we are.”

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