Jenna Bush Hager Once Suffered an Ectopic Pregnancy: 'There Is Joy and There Is Pain'

Jenna Bush Hager may be pregnant with her third child, but her road to motherhood wasn’t easy.

During the fourth hour of the Today show Tuesday, Bush Hager opened up about her past fertility struggles, revealing she once suffered an ectopic pregnancy.

“Before I had [first daughter] Mila, I had a pregnancy in my fallopian tube,” she said while speaking with Meredith Vieira. “It was my first pregnancy.”

Bush Hager said she discovered she was pregnant while on a vacation with friends and family. But when she returned home and went to the doctor’s office, she learned there was something wrong.

“I got to the doctor’s office and she said ‘Yeah you’re pregnant, we gave the blood test, but we can’t find the baby,’ ” she recalled. “I had no idea what an ectopic pregnancy was. They looked up and the baby was in my fallopian tube.”

An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus. If left to grow, the pregnancy damage nearby organs and can be life-threatening.

Bush Hager was immediately rushed into emergency surgery.

“It is very isolating,” she said. “There is joy and there is pain.”

Jenna Bush Hager
Jenna Bush Hager

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RELATED: Surprise! Jenna Bush Hager Is ‘Very Pregnant’ with Her Third Child

On Monday, Bush Hager surprised her Today co-anchors by announcing that she and her husband Henry Hager are expecting their third child.

“Yes, I’m pregnant!” the former first daughter, 37, revealed, leaving Today costar Craig Melvin gasping. “I’m very pregnant. I don’t know how you missed this! I’ve needed seven or eight sports bras.”

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“It is a shock, it’s a lot,” she added. “We’re grateful. … Henry needs the congratulations because he’s a little terrified!”

Bush Hager said that she broke the news to daughters Poppy Louise, 3, and Margaret “Mila” Laura, 6, on Sunday.

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“I’m only telling because they found out yesterday in their Easter basket,” she said. “They told the man behind me on the airplane, they told the people at church … The girls are so happy.”

Later on the show, Bush Hager revealed she will be having a boy.