Her name was Twinkie, but I called her Twitchie because she couldn't sit still.  Her tiny body was in constant movement; eyelids fluttering, body quivering, tail twitching.  She was a 4 year old Chihuahua and the mother of 3 very hungry puppies.  "She's such a great mom" Twinkie's dad boasted "she's never away from them and after 3 weeks the pups are doing great!".  "Too bad Twinkie's not" Vonnie whispered so that only mother, Bea and I could hear.  Bea took an instant interest in Twitchie, not so much because she liked Chihuahuas but more because the smell of milk and fresh puppy was irresistable to her.  "I don't miss it one bit" Bea mumbled, licking her lips, mesmerized by the helpless little pups. 
Twinkie's dad continued to give us the rest of the story, "She stopped eating yesterday, and just isn't acting right, like she can't get comfortable.  She's always moving."
"Unfortunately, this is really common in the tiny dogs when they have puppies" mother advised, "The mom's can't keep up with the milk demands of the puppies and they rob their own bodies of calcium to make milk.  But without calcium your body shuts down.  It's very serious...but also pretty easy to fix" she added. 
As Twinkie's stunned father tried to understand what could have gone wrong with his plan to breed his tiny little princess, mother and her helpers went to work. Red syrup tests confirmed what mother had thought, "Her calcium is down to 5, it should be at least at 8.  We'll start an iv and give her calcium slowly, and she should be alright.  She won't be able to feed the pups anymore, though." mother instructed.  "Well, if she's not going to do it, who is?" Twinkie's dad questioned.  "You can do it" Sweet Sally said encouragingly, "and you don't even need milk. I can give you a recipe for them".
So Twitchie stayed with us for the day.  After the first few hours, she became Twinkie again and fell fast asleep.  If I didn't know better, I'd have thought she enjoyed the time away from her brood.  "Enjoy it while you can" I heard Bea panting to her.
After seeing everything that these moms have to go through I'm sure that I don't want any puppies of my own.  My mom has always said that I'm too small anyway; plenty tough, just too small!