Tracey and John Stewart stepped up in a big way to help a pregnant stray dog found on the side of the road a few years back.

They offered to take in Bess, but got quite a surprise when they took her for a checkup only to find that she was pregnant with 12(!) puppies. And not only that, she had to be rushed to the emergency room because one of the puppies was blocking her birth canal.

Tracey even said the couple was “incredibly excited to help”!

And while we can imagine liking the thought of having 12 puppies around, we don’t know if we’d ever actually let it happen. That’s a LOT of work!

Nevertheless, after a long birth, the couple agreed to not only take home Bess but all of the puppies as well until they were old enough to be adopted.

Little Burrdie, the puppy who was stuck in Bess’ birth canal with limited oxygen needed some special care, but she became a family favorite.

Raising 12 puppies is hard on a dog, especially one that has been on the street and might not have a lot of nutrition to give. It seemed likely that not all of the puppies would survive.

But the Stewarts vowed to do everything in their power to help the dogs.

But that type of responsibility requires some sacrifice.

In order to make enough room for the puppies, the couple had to remove all the furniture from their living room and dining room.

And while they did it without complaint, it soon became clear that even they were going to need a hand.

Someone needed to be with Bess and her puppies 24/7, so the Stewarts enlisted anyone they trusted enough to spend the night at their house to come help with the puppies.

And all that extra care paid off – especially for Burrdie.

It took a few weeks, but eventually, she grew to the same size as everyone else, and all 12 puppies with thriving!

It helped that Bess was also the perfect, caring mom. Always patient and gentle with the babies.

The help was just needed because there were so many of them.

In fact, the Stewarts said the humans were just there to help her “co-parent.”

“We had thoughts of keeping them all,” said Tracey.

But one look at this will tell you why it just wasn’t possible.

Bess herself was the first one to be adopted into a good home.

Now she even has some human kids to play with and loves being a “nanny” dog.

Once the puppies were 8 weeks old, it became clear that their personalities and space needs meant they would need to go to new homes.

And that’s normal (no matter how much humans want to think they should have all stayed together).

With some more help from their friends, everyone found a home!

A year later, the new dog parents decided to get the dogs together for a reunion – Bess included!

Would they all recognize each other? And would Bess know her puppies all grown up?

Just look at baby Burrdie!!

Bess, Burrdie, Ginny, Gracie, Ruby, Osa, Louis, Drake, Rupert, Ranger, Seven, and Sandy all had a blast reconnecting (or at least playing with 12 other dogs for the day) on the puppies’ birthday.

Bess was the last to arrive – and it’s safe to say you’ll want to scroll down below to see the sweet moments that followed.

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Source: YouTube – The Dodo, Instagram – @everydaylouie, Instagram – @bess_is_love