‘She’s the sweetest, most perfect angel’: Duffys’ 9th child born with holes in heart, Down syndrome

WAUSAU – Sean Duffy and Rachel Campos-Duffy’s ninth child is still in the hospital, but is doing well a week after her birth.

Duffy, the former U.S. representative for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, and Campos-Duffy, a television personality and frequent commentator on “Fox & Friends,” welcomed the baby girl late in the evening on Sept. 30, after an emergency delivery.

Campos-Duffy took to Facebook Monday night to share a photo of the newborn, Valentina StellaMaris Duffy, and update her followers on the baby’s condition.

Campos-Duffy shared that the girl was born with two holes in her heart and valves that need to be fixed via open-heart surgery in three to four months, and that she was born with an extra chromosome, meaning she has Down syndrome.

“That extra chromosome certainly made her EXTRA cute,” Campos-Duffy wrote in her post. “Life is wonderful!!”

Valentina arrived a month before her due date, according to the post, and Campos-Duffy required an emergency C-section after it was discovered the baby’s heart rate was dropping during contractions. Sean Duffy posted on social media last week, updating his followers about Campos-Duffy’s early labor and the health of the baby once she was delivered.

Sean Duffy stepped down from representing Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District on Sept. 23 after learning of the baby’s heart condition. When he stepped down, he told his constituents it was so he could help his wife care for the new baby girl. He was elected to the position in 2011.

Campos-Duffy said she is now home and recovering from the C-section with her other eight children, who were all excited to meet their new baby sister.

“When we visit her at the hospital, the kids fight over who can hold her — I don’t blame them,” she wrote. “She’s the sweetest, most perfect angel we have ever seen.”

Contact Laura Schulte at 715-496-4088 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @schultelaura.