Hoda Kotb Returns To 'Today' After Daughter Hope’s "Scary" ICU Stay

After a worrisome two-week absence from Today, Hoda Kotb returned to the anchor desk this morning. The beloved broadcaster had been off live airways since February 17, dealing with what her co-hosts explained as "a family health matter."

Back at the studio, Kotb shared that her three-year-old daughter Hope had been quite ill. 

“My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week," she explained at the start of the show. "I’m so grateful she’s home. She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. And we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy."

In an emotional discussion with co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, Kotb expressed her immense gratitude for all the love and support she received during Hope’s frightening health crisis.

“You know what I realized, too, Savannah? When your child is ill, the amount of gratitude you can have for people who helped you out,” she said.

"I’m grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell who were amazing and the nurses. And I’m grateful to my family, and I’m grateful to friends like you who were there every single day. So, I want to say thank you for that. I love you.”

"I love you, too," Guthrie replied.

Kotb elaborated on the experience in the third hour of Today. Speaking with Jenna Bush Hager, she reflected on how something like a health scare can alter your perspective on life.

"I feel like, life is one way on a Monday—and we all have our Mondays and we complain about them. We're like, 'Oh, what a crummy Monday,' and then Tuesday rolls around and something really hits hard, and you realize that Monday was actually pretty awesome," Kotb said.

"So for us, it was little Hope had to go to the hospital, and she was in the ICU for a few days and then the hospital for another week and it was really scary," the mom of two continued. "And she's vibrant and brilliant."

Kotb did not elaborate on the nature of her daughter’s illness. We’re glad she’s home and on the  mend!