There’s a new addition to the Samuels squad!

On Monday, Real Housewives of Potomac star Monique Samuels gave birth to a baby boy, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal.

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“Chase Omari Samuels was born Nov. 26, 2018 at 4:56pm,” the new mom tells PEOPLE. “He’s 8 lbs., 15 oz., 21 inches long, and absolutely perfect.”

It’s the third child for Samuels and her husband, former Washington Redskins player Chris Samuels. The couple are already parents to son Christopher, 5, and daughter Milani, 3

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Image zoom Courtesy Monique Samuels

Image zoom

Image zoom Courtesy of Monique Samuels

Samuels announced her pregnancy back in June, showing off her baby bump in a joyful Instagram boomerang.

The happy news came nearly a year after Samuels suffered a miscarriage, something she opened up about on season 3 of RHOP.

“As soon as I took the pregnancy test, Chris was grinning from ear to ear. And it never once dawned on me that we would lose it,” she told audiences at the time. “Until you’ve experienced loss, it’s hard to even put it into words, you know?”

“It kind of haunts you,” she told PEOPLE in July. “The first times I was pregnant, it came so easily. I took that for granted. Now that I’m pregnant again, it’s almost like I second guess everything that I’m doing. Even with movement. I’m making sure I’m not moving too fast so I stretch my stomach. It’s something I didn’t think about with my first two pregnancies.”

Image zoom Monique and Chris Samuels Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

Adding to her fears was the fact that in week eight, doctors found two tears in Samuels’ placenta that were causing subchorionic hemorrhages — a complication that could lead to pregnancy loss.

“It was very scary,” she recalled. “They say it’s not uncommon, but if the placenta detaches completely from the wall, you could lose the pregnancy [even if] the baby is healthy. … It just put more stress on the table. I was a week further along than I was in my last pregnancy. I thought I was past all that. Like, ‘Oh God, I don’t want [this] to happen again.’ “

Her doctor prescribed Samuels plenty of rest, meaning no workouts, no chores and no sex. Followup ultrasounds weeks later showed that the tears had healed, though not completely.

To be safe, Samuels waited until she she was well out of her first trimester to start telling people, even her family. She finally made the public announcement at 16 weeks. “We just wanted to be sure,” she says, adding that she’s been focusing on the good things to put the fear of miscarriage out of her mind. “I’m staying positive, staying encouraged, and trying to take it easy. I’m not trying to stress and making sure I eat right … I feel great.”

Since then, Samuels kept fans abreast to how she was feeling on social media, as well as on her parenting website and podcast, Not for Lazy Moms.

Just before Thanksgiving, she shared a video of son Christopher and daughter Milani cheering about how excited they were for their new sibling.

“How are you going to get the baby out?” Christopher adorably asked.

“I’m going to push it out,” Samuels responded.

“How are you going to do that?” Christopher wondered.