Too Many Babies???

Question
My daughter has a guinea pig who is about 7 months old. On Feb 19th she had 7 adorable babies. We do what we have to do to keep them comfortable. Before she had these babies she was huge. I have noticed today that she is getting pretty thin. The babies are constantly on her nursing. If its not two of them its another two of them. The mom is eating pretty good, we give her pellets, lettuce, carrots, apples, oranges, hay and vitamins in her water. She seems to have a decent appetite. Yesterday the babies were all over her. She was going around the cage, it looked as if she was trying to get away from them. They all go under her and lift her behind right off the ground. I felt she had enough, so I split her cage, which is 2 feet by 4 feet, we put a divider between her and the babies to give her some rest. I then called the vet today because I am concerned about the babies being away from the mother. The babies are eating all the things I mentioned above. I tried to give them water but so far they walk right through it. My question to you is, can these 7 babies be too much for this mom to take care of?  Is it harmful to the babies to keep them from their mom, they are only 6 days old, do they need to nurse from their mom?  One of the moms nipples seem to have a raw spot on it. Maybe one of the babies bit it.  I am concerned for the health of the mother but don't want the babies to suffer if the mom is separated. They still can see each other and the mom does not seem to mind being on the other side of the fence.  So what do you think I should do? I would appreciate any advice you could give me.  Thank you.  By the way, we got her in October 2003 and that has been the only experience we have had with guinea pigs.  Thanks again   Rozanne

Answer
your doing good. keep it up. the babies do need to nurse, but mom needs a break now and again its ok to give her a few hours by herslef every day but you have to let the pigletts nurse up to 6 times a day as well. now with allowing them to nurse at least 6 times a day, if they chose not to, then don't worry. 7 in one litter is normal, but sometimes it can be ovewhelming to mom. make sure that they all keep eatting.