• Giuliana and Bill: We'll 'evaluate' putting baby on TV

    By Scott Stump, TODAY contributor

    While Bill and Giuliana Rancic are comfortable living in front of reality show cameras, they're still deciding if they want their baby to do the same.

    The centerpiece of Tuesday's season five premiere of “Giuliana and Bill” is Edward's birth on Aug. 29.

    “I think having a baby has changed our lives dramatically and we’re going to evaluate it,’’ Bill said of whether the three-month-old will become a regular fixture on the show, which kicks off the season at 8 p.m. on the Style Network. “We’re going to just see where we go from here. Whether he lives his life with the cameras on or not is yet to be determined, but we felt we owed it to all the people who have been on this journey with us to show them that hey, one in six couples struggle with infertility, and if you stick with it and never quit, it can pay off.’’

    The show has previously shown the couple’s struggles with infertility and Giuliana’s battle with breast cancer. As the couple started the process of in vitro fertilization, Giuliana learned that she had breast cancer, and underwent a double mastectomy.


    Giuliana told Savannah Guthrie on TODAY Tuesday that she recently reached out to Miss America Pageant contestant Allyn Rose, who has announced that she is having a preventative double mastectomy because she lost her mother to breast cancer and is a carrier of the same rare chromosomal disease.

    “We spoke on the phone the other day, and she’s lovely,’’ Giuliana said. “I said, ‘Good for you. Good for you for getting out there, for getting in front of your health and for being an inspiration to young women.’ She’s choosing her health over vanity.’’

    Giuliana, who is now cancer-free, will be on medication for the next 4 1/2 years. Baby Duke was born via surrogate.

    “All my buddies were telling me what it was going to be like, but until you actually experience it, you have no idea,’’ Bill said about fatherhood. “It’s been absolutely magical for us.’’

    “It really is wild when I look back,’’ Giuliana said. “I just can’t believe it. That feels like so long ago that we held him in our arms, and it was just three months ago.’’

    Edward Duke was named after Bill’s late father Edward and Giuliana’s father, Eduardo. As for his middle name, the couple said they thought it was "cool." 

    “It means ‘leader,’" Bill said, "so we’re kind of going back and forth, and we’ll see what sticks.’’

    “I’m not going to lie; he does have a onesie that says, 'The Duke,''' Giuliana said. “It’s right on his butt, and we love when he wears it.’’

    The couple just moved into a new house and haven't been getting much sleep as the baby gets used to his new surroundings.

    “He was not happy, so he was up about every hour and that’s OK, that’s all part of this,’’ Giuliana said.

    “He eats like a horse,’’ Bill said. “He’s almost 17 pounds. He’s more than doubled his weight in three months.”

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  • Giuliana and Bill Rancic share first photo of baby Edward

    Life & Style

    By Natalie Finn, E! Online

    Giuliana and Bill Rancic are showing off their baby boy!

    Two weeks after becoming a family of three, the proud parents are revealing the first photos of their new addition, son Edward Duke Rancic, in the latest issue of Life &Style.

    The regally named baby boy was born via gestational carrier in Denver on Aug. 29, leaving Giuliana and Bill "blessed beyond words."

    What a wonderful anniversary gift--Giuliana and Bill celebrated five years of marriage Sept. 1

    And, no surprise, it turns out Edward is pretty blessed in the adorable department.

    "[He's] got Giuliana's dimples!" Bill tells Life & Style, marveling at how naturally his wife took to motherhood. "It's amazing how maternal instincts have taken over, and Giuliana's just supermom."

    The happy mom, meanwhile, reveals what inspired their son's name.

    Remember when Giuliana and Bill made their big announcement?

    "Edward is Bill's late dad's name and my dad's name," Giuliana explains. "It was a way to honor them. And Duke means leader."

    And while Giuliana is taking some time off from Fashion Police and E! News to spend time with Edward, she will be on the air hosting our Live From the Red Carpet Emmys coverage Sept. 23.


    "Coming back to E! for one night then back to changing diapers:)" she tweeted yesterday.

    Read more about Giuliana, Bill and baby in the latest issue of Life & Style Weekly, on newsstands now.

    Check out more cover babies right here!

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  • Giuliana and Bill Rancic's baby, Edward Duke, arrives

    By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

    Bill Rancic announced the birth of his and Giuliana Rancic's first child, Edward Duke, early Thursday morning. 

    "The 'Duke' has landed!" tweeted Bill. "Edward Duke Rancic was welcomed into the world last night at 7lbs 4oz. G & I feel blessed beyond words...We did it!"

    E! reported that the four-hour labor went smoothly, and that both Bill and Giuliana were in the delivery room for the birth via a gestational surrogate hired by the Rancics. Bill cut the umbilical cord, and Giuliana was the first to hold the baby, then passed him over to her husband. They both fed little Edward, and told E! that the child was doing well and already had been bathed for the first time. 

    "Bill and I are blessed beyond words to welcome Edward into our lives," Giuliana told E! "Thank you so much to everyone who supported us along the way. We are so in love with the little guy already!"

    It was a long road for the Rancics, who shared their journey on TODAY in multiple appearances. Last year, they shared Giuliana's fight with infertility and the breast cancer that was discovered while she was in treatment, then returned in April to explain how they would use a gestational surrogate to bring their child into the world.

    Giuliana was true to her word, promising back in June that she wouldn't give their upcoming baby boy any "Hollywood-type, weird name that people can't pronounce."

    As for whether little Ed Duke will appear on their Style network reality show "Giuliana & Bill," fans will just have to wait and see. "We've thought about that," she told E! in June. "It's definitely come up in conversation, and it's this sort of thing where I think we just need to have the baby first and then figure out is this going to work or not."

    Congrats to the new parents!

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  • Will Giuliana Rancic miss the birth of her baby boy?

    By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

    E! News correspondent (and expectant mom-to-be) Giuliana Rancic dropped by the TODAY studio Monday to talk celeb gossip, but some of the news everyone really wanted to hear was about her baby-to-be (a little boy, they announced last month), who is being carried via surrogate.

    Well, the truth is that there's a small chance Rancic may miss the child's actual birth. "The baby is due the end of August. And so I wrap at the Olympics August 11th, so we are going to be on standby," she said. But they've been assured by doctors all should be well, and Rancic promised to bring the newborn by the studio just as soon as she could.

    Check out the rest of the interview and catch up on the latest celebrity news in the attached video!

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  • Giuliana and Bill Rancic: We're having a baby!

    By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

    Giuliana Rancic learned she had breast cancer last October while she was preparing to undergo fertility treatments. But as she and husband Bill announced on TODAY Monday morning, her cancer treatments won't delay their family expansion: They're welcoming a baby into their home, thanks to a gestational carrier.

    "It was pretty much one of the best moments of my life, if not the best moment of my life," Giuliana told Ann Curry about learning that one of the embryos they had banked prior to her diagnosis had resulted in a pregnancy. "It was just another world, on another level."

    The difference between a gestational carrier and a surrogate parent is that biologically the child is Bill and Giuliana's; the gestational carrier brings the baby to term, but is not genetically related to the child in her womb.

    The baby is due in late summer, but they would not reveal the child's gender, which they say they know.


    Giuliana, who co-hosts "Fashion Police" on E! and who shares a reality show with Bill ("Giuliana & Bill" on Style Network) explained that her baby's carrier lives "out of state." The couple wants to guard her privacy and not cause additional stress during her pregnancy, so they did not go into many more details about her, though they say they visit "every month" and appear to have a good relationship with her. Giuliana calls the carrier her "my baby mama."

    "This was our last stop," said Bill. "This was it. We had those two embryos that we had banked prior to learning about the breast cancer, and with the medicine she was on (which meant Giuliana will have to wait years before trying to personally get pregnant), this was our last effort. The prayers were answered."

    Both smiling parents-to-be were upbeat, and talked about turning "negatives into positives." And Giuliana seemed particularly grateful: "The more you focus on the positive, the more you are grateful for the good things in your life, the more good things come to you. I've really seen that. I have a great husband ... and I have a baby on the way. What more can I ask for, really?"

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  • Giuliana Rancic to have double mastectomy

    By Courtney Hazlett, TODAY

    When Giuliana Rancic announced on TODAY in October that a mammogram revealed that she had the early stages of breast cancer, the E! News host received an outpouring of support. The scores of well wishes and prayers are in part what lead her to go public with the newest, more radical development in her treatment.

    Rancic, who initially underwent a double lumpectomy, told Ann Curry on Monday, "I'm going to go ahead and move forward with a double mastectomy."

    When Giuliana's husband, Bill, was last on TODAY, just after his wife's first procedure, the hope was that lab results would reveal all the cancer was removed during the lumpectomies. Bill, who was by his wife's side Monday morning, said ultimately, "in the one breast they weren't able to clear the margins and get all the cancer out. So we were then faced with a decision to make." Bill explained, "do you go back and do another lumpectomy, and try to clean it out or do you go for a more radical procedure?"

    The decision to opt for that more radical procedure stemmed from several factors. Among them, wanting to have children. Giuliana, who is 37, told Curry that the anti-estrogen therapy involved with another lumpectomy and radiation could delay that process by years, but ultimately choosing the option that provided the best odds is what tipped the scales.

    "In the end, all it came down to was just choosing to live and not looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life," Giuliana said.

    Bill added, "This is a decision that wasn't made lightly. We talked to as many experts as we could, we got the best information that was made available to us. And one of the other factors that came in was quality of life. If she had chosen the lumpectomy and radiation, then you have to go in every six months for the rest of your life getting mammograms ... You're always looking over your shoulder. In this particular case, this was the best option for Giuliana."

    "For me, it was very important to just get the cancer out," Giuliana said. "That's what I wanted to do. Just get it out. With the double mastectomy I have less than 1 percent chance of getting it (the cancer) back. With the lumpectomy, radiation and medication, I could have seen 20 to 30 to 40 percent chance in my lifetime, and for me it just wasn't worth it."

    Although Giuliana was quite stoic and decisive during the interview, she made it clear this decision was not an easy one. "lt was a very hard decision to come to. But in the end what happened was, Bill said to me, 'I just need you around for the next 50 years, kid. I don't care what you look like, I don't care about the physical portion of this, I just need you around for the next 50 years. So let's just get you healthy.'" 

    Speaking of Bill, Giuliana said his support has been essential to her personal and emotional survival. "Bill's been the world to me through this. I couldn't have done it without Bill ... I couldn't be more at peace with the decision," Giulana said. "I still break down some nights. When it's quiet in bed, it's easy to start crying and just be sad. But I'm OK."

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