$PUPPY

Somewhere between the exhaustion and the pride, this brand new mom looked straight at the camera and gave the most human expression a dog has ever made. The photos capture that unrepeatable first hour of motherhood: a fluffy Pomeranian fresh out of delivery at the vet clinic, two tiny newborns tucked against her chest, and a face that says she knows exactly what she just accomplished. One puppy black as midnight, one wearing a little white blaze, both barely the size of a hand, eyes still sealed shut, sleeping off the enormous work of being born. And their mother, half winking at the camera with what the internet unanimously declared a proud smirk, leaning into the vet team like a patient posing for her first family portrait. Veterinarians will tell you newborn puppies spend nearly 90 percent of their first weeks asleep while mom stays on constant guard, which makes this brief photogenic pause even more precious. https://www.instagram.com/p/DbZbQl8oOyV/?img_index=3&igsh=MTcwcnp5MzVzdGd5Zg==