Jenna Bush Hagercouldn’t be more thrilled forHoda Kotb‘s newest family member.
Bush Hager — whoannounced her own pregnancyon April 22, six days after Kotb revealed she had welcomed a second daughter,Hope Catherine, via adoption — opens up to PEOPLE in this week’s issue about her excitement over becoming a mom for the third time, as well as how she put positive thoughts into the universe for a sibling for her friend and co-host’s 2-year-old daughterHaley Joy.
Nathan Congleton/NBC
“So when I told [Hoda] the news,there was a little trepidation becauseI wanted her happiness to come too,” she continues. “She looked at me and we cried. She cried out of happiness for me and I think she knew her time was coming too. But she said she was thrilled for me. There was not one ounce of anything butabsolute support in my joy. That’s why I love working with her and love being her friend. She really did want the best for me. She always wants the best for me like I want the best for me.”
Savannah Guthrie/Instagram
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager.Today Show
Bush Hager is looking forwardto adding a son to her familythat also includes daughtersPoppy Louise, 3½, andMargaret “Mila” Laura, 6. But she has so much love to give to Kotb, 54, too.
Hoda Kotb covers PEOPLE with daughters Hope and Haley.Brian Doben
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Calling her “one of the most empathetic people I’ve ever met,” Kotb tells PEOPLE that hearing Bush Hager confide in her about her pregnancy — and her feelings of guilt — made her love her pregnant co-host “so much more.”
“On your best day, somehow you’re worried about how I’m feeling,” Kotb muses. “I feel it’s one of the sweetest things that Jenna’s about.”
But after waiting years for her own daughters, Kotb says she can easily relate to Bush Hager’s mixed emotions.
“I understand a little bit because I’m sitting in this home with two children, and I’m hearing from people on social media who are waiting for their day. Like, ‘When’s my day coming?’ I get it. I get it because I wondered when my day was coming,” she says.
“It’s hard to read an article like this and go, ‘When’s my day?’ I know people who’ve been waiting longer than Joel and I have been waiting.”
Kotb adds, “I think babies come when they’re supposed to come. I think your heart has to be open, so when Jenna was telling me that, I was thinking to myself, my time’s coming too. I feel everything happens right on time.”
For more from Jenna Bush Hager and otherTodayshow moms, pick up the latest issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
source: people.com
