Hi and thank you all for your advice - its very very welcome!

Our cousin (whose dog is the daddy) & his wife a very willing to help so we should be able to make sure someone is there all the time, at least for a few weeks. We have a huge family and having puppies around will draw them in like flies so we're going to sit down tonight and arrange a roster :-)

I like the idea of having a separate room for mum and pups (laundry will be nice and easy to clean too)

Moboyd, I'll have to have a look for something after work today that will be suitable. It would be great to have a nice clean, warm covered area for Kit and the pups so that we can easily separate them if Choco becomes too rambunctious!

I'm actually in Australia (I'm an imposter! ) but really like the advice on this site. We're coming into our summer here now so it's very warm out - but I definately won't take the pups outside until 4-5 weeks old.

Thanks again for all your great feedback!
Cheers!