Jenna Bush Hager Says She Felt 'Guilt' About Being Pregnant When Hoda Kotb Was Trying to Have Kids (Exclusive)
The mom of three recalls feeling guilty that she was pregnant with son Hal when she joined 'Today with Hoda & Jenna'
Jenna Bush Hager is opening up about some complicated feelings she felt when she first started at Today with Hoda & Jenna.
Speaking with PEOPLE in an exclusive interview broadcasted from The Loren Hotel in Bermuda, Bush Hager, 42, and Hoda Kotb, 59, share whether or not they felt they were on a timeline when deciding to grow their families.
“I feel like I don’t really live my life on a timeline, only because your blessings come when they come. Like all of mine came after 50," Kotb notes. "If I had been on my timeline, like what’s going to happen when I’m 30 or I’m 40, I would’ve already been too depressed to even appreciate or get them. I probably wouldn’t have gotten them."
"So I think everything comes right on time. Your kids come right on time. All your changes in life happen right on time," she continues.
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“I remember when I took this job, I was pregnant with Hal. And I was really worried about it," Bush Hager remembers. "And I went to Hoda’s dressing room because I knew she wanted to have another baby and I knew she was in the process and I was really hoping that she would get the call any moment."
"And I also knew my sister wanted to be a mom so I felt, like, guilt, around the fact that I could have three babies. And I went to Hoda and I cried. At first she thought, ‘Wait, you’re not taking the job?’ ” the mom of three recalls.
“I thought she was quitting," Kotb shares.
“She went, 'So are you not going to take the job?' And I was like, 'No, no not that. But I just wanted to tell you.' And she looked at me and I said, 'You know, my mom says that everybody get your baby right on time but I feel…I can’t help but feel so much worry around this,' " Bush Hager says of her conversation with her friend.
"And then, we started the show, and one week later. We started the show on a Monday, Sunday. She FaceTimed me, I was in Times Square interviewing Cher and she said, ‘I want you to meet Hope.’ And she had her baby before I had mine!" Bush Hager shares.
"And it was this beautiful thing about blessings really do come when…and my mom’s right, you know. We get our blessings when it’s time," she continues while tearing up. "So if you’re so caught up in the, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m 30 and I’m not even loving it.’ It’s like, work towards that love."
"We need makeup again,” Kotb jokes, brushing tears away.
Bush Hager shares daughters Mila, 11, and Poppy, 8, as well as son Hal, 4, with husband Henry Hager. Kotb is mom to daughters Hope, 4, and Haley, 7.
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