The CNN anchor revealed to Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest how he told the late actress and fashion designer about his plans for parenthood prior to her June 2019 death.
Anderson Cooper made an appearance on Live With Kelly and Ryan on Monday, during which he spoke about becoming a new dad to his baby son, Wyatt Morgan — and revealed that he was able to tell his late mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, about his plans for parenthood prior to her 2019 death.
"I was able to tell her shortly before she died that I was going to have a baby," Cooper told co-hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest via video chat. "I hadn't actually — Wyatt hadn't been created at that point. Wyatt wasn't actually a being at that point. But he was an idea in my head and I was in the process of it."
Cooper also explained how his son's middle name is a nod to his famous mother. "I've been going through my mom's things because she passed away in June, and I found a list that she and my dad [Wyatt Emory Cooper] had handwritten out of possible names for me before I was born and one of them was Morgan," said Anderson Cooper. "So, I knew that they liked the name. So yeah, I went with it."
Asked how fatherhood has changed him since welcoming Wyatt via surrogate last week, Cooper replied: "It's weird. I was trying to think about this last night actually. I keep coming back to the word astonishing. It's amazing, astonishing. I don't know. I just stare at him. Hours will go by and I realize I've just been sitting there holding him."
He continued, "After a baby's born, you do this thing skin-to-skin where you hold the baby on your chest. I still do that all the time. There's nothing better. He's like a little amphibious creature all curled up with his feet up and he's like a little tiny frog or something. It's so cute and I just can't help but stare at him."
Cooper also said that although he was never a coffee drinker before, taking care of a little one has forced him to change his habits. "I've become addicted. I've never had it before. I mean, I've had it like once or twice on TV and never in real life. And now I can't believe I've lasted this long," said the new dad. "I understand why people drink coffee now."
Despite less sleep, Cooper said that having Wyatt is "something I've always dreamed of." He added, "I'm very lucky. I'm very, very blessed."
Watch Cooper's interview on Live With Kelly and Ryan below.
