Adele Godfrey
Veronica De La Cruz is a mom.
The Early Today and First Look host welcomed her first child, son Hartley Eric, on Wednesday, March 13 in New York City, her rep confirms to PEOPLE exclusively.
Weighing in at 8 lbs., 4 oz., baby boy — whose name honors De La Cruz’s late brother — arrived with green eyes and a head full of dark hair.
The anchor founded the Hope for Hearts Foundation in memory of her sibling, who passed away in 2009 while awaiting a heart transplant after struggling to get health insurance with a pre-existing medical condition.
“Before my brother died, I started an online campaign to raise money for a life-saving heart transplant,” notes De La Cruz, 32,.
“Thousands of compassionate Twitter followers came out to support the effort and we lovingly referred to them as Eric’s Twitter Army. They all displayed banners on their online avatars that read, ‘<3 Eric’ — which is where my son’s name comes from. If you look at my own social media profile, you will see still see a heart followed by the name Eric. That is what inspired my son’s name.”
“After the pain and devastation of losing Eric almost four years ago, having a healthy baby feels like an incredible miracle,” she adds. “Of course, he couldn’t be any more beautiful. I think I can safely say I have finally met the love of my life.”
Prior to joining MSNBC in 2010, De La Cruz spent over five years at CNN, where she was correspondent for American Morning, anchored the Asian In American series and covered major breaking news stories. She also was a competitive figure skater for 10 years.
Adele Godfrey
– Sarah Michaud