Swim,
My dog just had a litter of pups (it was an accident, not planned). It is such hard work! During her pregnancy and especially now, we are totally bound to very short trips. Our life revolves around the dog, pups and constant trips to the supermarket to pick up even more food ( she is eating five times her usual amount, and it is something we are still adjusting to) and goats milk supplement for the pups.
We didn't get more than three hours sleep for the first week. Now if is an interrupted five hours, with one ear cocked for any sounds the pups might make. (and when she was pregnant she was uncomfortable and paced around a lot, so didn't get much sleep either then).
From next week, when they are three weeks old, we will need to make a bigger whelping box with a seperate toilet area to start potty training. That will mean constant vigilance for another week at least.
We used to love our life, with evenings at the pub, coffee out etc. All that is on hold. We cannot go for weekend aways or meet friends or anything for ourselves really. Then, after they are old enough to be really interactive and fun, we will be giving them away to their hopefully forever families. But there will always be a little anxiety at the back of our mind whether they are happy or not.
We will be keeping one of the pups. They are gorgeous looking and have the gentle, loving nature of both mum and dad. But gosh, it would be so much better and easier to get one from a rescue!