Babcia, who is the oldest of the BIGGEST Challenge Kids at 6 years old has a secret she wants to share with you ... she's going to have PUPPIES soon!!!! This was a total surprise to everyone, well except Babcia who says she's known for a little while, but was very good at keeping her girlish figure and hiding her now bulging tummy.

Babcia is due to whelp sometime within the next 10 days from what can be determined.

Now, I have to tell you, Lauren had agreed to foster Babcia long before we knew she was pregnant. When I called Lauren last week with the news, I was all prepared to start searching for another foster home as there aren't very many willing to whelp puppies and then take care of the family for 12 weeks until they can be adopted. NOT THE CASE WITH LAUREN!!! She was so excited and just wanted to be sure that she would still be able to foster Babcia and her soon to be born family.

Attached are pictures of Babcia and her soon to be born babies, otherwise known as her bulging little tummy. BTW, Babcia received her name as the oldest girl of the group. Babcia in Polish means grandmother. I like to think it means GRAND MOTHER!!!

The puppies came between 11 PM and 2 AM last night. All 5 were boys. Unfortunately, the littlest one didn't make it. The other 4 are all fully active, nursing, making noise and doing fine with Mama Babcia.

Since these kids won't have their formal names for a few more days, I'm calling the two reddish one's Big Red and Liddle Red, the two darker brindles (not black though - yet) are smaller and they're Eeeny (the smallest) and Mo. Yes I did get about 6 hours sleep (in shifts), but it was darn hard to walk away from Mama Babcia. She's eaten 3 times since 6 this morning, and I check on her about every 15 minutes. Everybody is doing fine!

Lauren in Portland, OR

I've been putting ice cubes in her water, and serving her food cold, but I didn't think of ice cream, Maureen! I dished up a teaspoon and let it soften, but she didn't know how to eat it. When I could see she was going to drop it on the puppies - even half melted, I decided to wait until she's come out of the box for a break. She's eating good food, and plenty of it, so she'll just have to wait a bit for her treat.

Danielle has assured me Babcia will relax in a couple of days, so I'll wait to get more pics. She's a good mama, but stresses easily. I don't want to add to that. In the meantime, enjoy Lori's pics of Hattie's babies.

Mine are more brindled, but that's about the only difference at this age!

Lauren in Portland, OR

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