Ruiz research and a genealogist cousin willing to help

I have found another genealogy nut like me! Jeri's mother was a Ruiz and she is a font of information that has given me a list of tidy questions. It pertains to birthdates. Grandpa Ben Ruiz had many siblings from his biological mother and others from his step mother. Trying to piece together birthdates by using a census or ship's manifest is not documentable evidence (I know, author's license with new word there).

Census takers did not always get the names or ages correct. For example, a German census taker listening to a Spanish woman pronounce the names and ages of her family 'sounds' foreign to their ears. Hence, when the r is rolled or the s is pronounced th --- the German would automatically put his/her own connotation and pronounciation on the names and his/her brain would assimilate what he/she hears into his/her own language. So, Ruiz was often spelled RING, RUEY etc. Then, the names of the children were changed to nicknames or Americanized. The lovely little things that make a genealogist's eyes cross and heart speed up is 'finding' a relative whose name is spelled like a German, Russian, Italian etc.. and the clues tell us it is our family!

And ship manifests?  Jeri brought something very important to my attention and it mirrors what my friend, Steven A. has told me during his transcription of the ORTERIC manifest.  Jeri stated that great grandmother Maria Rey Ruiz was listed as pregnant on the second page of the HARPALION manifest but then the word, pregnant, was crossed off.  Steven A. told me the pages were started at Gibraltar but upon arrival, the list was checked as the immigrants deboarded.  Many people either birthed babies on the ship or miscarried on the ship since the manifest differed from one end to the other.  Our question is:  Was bisabuela Maria pregnant and lose the child aboard the ship?  The baby closest to birth after their arrival was Delores (Dee Dee) and she was born about 1914.  If any of the Ruiz sibling's descendants can help us here, please do!!

I am off and running now, filling my Ruiz file for my research trip and with the help of fellow Ruiz family members, like Jeri, I will be smiling every mile of the way.