The Bubble got too big!

On Friday morning I got a shout from Pete to say that my guinea-pig (Bubbles) had given birth... normally it takes me ages to get up in the morning during school holidays, but on Friday I was up tout suite.
Sadly, of the 6 she had, only one was alive, and only just.
Pete, with his baby nursing background, was giving the tiny baby a warm bath to bring up it's temperature, it was the runt of the litter so concequently the tiniest, it was small, weak and closer to being dead that alive, it didn't even have the energy to squeek but was making a popping noise in it's nose/throat, we've heard it before in other dying guinea-pigs when they couldn't clear air passages... not a good sign, we called her Poppy.
I rubbed Poppy dry then gave her a small syringe full of warm milk with sugar, then gave her back to Bubbles.
Bubbles herself was really weak and rejected this tiny baby, she refused to eat or drink anything and was still losing blood following the births.
I neglected all else to be an intensive care nurse for these 2 weakening pets of ours, Bubbles didn't want to know the baby and Poppy, following all her instincts, followed Bubbles round faithfully.
The first night was the biggest challenge, if they were alive in the morning then there was a high chance of survival. Friday night, we all gave them what we thought might be our last cuddles and said goodnight.
The next morning we were elated to see them both snuggled up together, breathing.
Poppy has stopped popping, has stronger legs so doesn't wobble anymore, she can climb over the hay rather than it causing her to fall over, she now nibbles at the food we put in the cage and has a tiny squeek...
Bubbles, on the other hand, had given up, she was probably bleeding internally from having had so many babies, and couldn't get better, despite our best nursing efforts she died Saturday afternoon, so sad, she was such a beautiful and gentle piggy. We buried her in the garden and Molly made a twig cross to put in the place...
Just to get this in context...
We have had 2 American girls staying for a week, the day they left another arrived for 2 weeks, Pete bought a little girl from our French church round to stay the night, and I was preparing tarte flambe for the 14 guests we were expecting that evening, I was also making a cake, salad, etc for the meal, and rearranging the downstairs to accomodate us all... to throw a guinea-pig funeral into the equasion seemed about right.
Thank you Bubbles for being such a lovely piggy, and thank you for Poppy, she will be loved and looked after well.
piccies to follow