Battley's middle name

I don't think we have officially posted Battley's middle name yet.  Here is a little background first:

* my name is obviously Catherine and I've always thought if I had a daughter I'd name her Catherine and call her "Kate"

* but my "Catherine" starts with a "C" so that would make her "Cate" and I always thought that looked silly

* did you happen to notice that my Aunt posted something about my Gramma saying that you could spell your name any way you wanted?  well, we decided she is

Battley Catherine Terhune

"Battley Cate"

***

Back to my Aunt for a few...

If I could only tell you one thing about her, it's that she can tell a story like no one else in this world.  She could talk about dry toast for an hour and have you laughing till your side hurts.

She has lived in Oregon with her family for at least as long as I have been alive.  You can imagine that living that far away, we don't see each other often. 

A few months ago I received a package in the mail from her.  Inside there was a box and a note.  I read the note before I opened the box...SO unlike me.  I'm more of a rip the box open and then see if there's a card later gal.  Anyways, the letter said that my Grandparents (my Gramma being the person she is named for) bought this ring, a baby ring, for her and she wanted to pass it on to Battley.

Here's the thing about when I received the package...it was VERY soon after we learned that B has T18.  We hadn't dreamed of buying anything for her and didn't have hope that we would ever need/get to.  The ring is super special for many reasons, but it was the first thing that was hers.

And then a few weeks ago another package showed up from my Aunt.  She made this blanket for Battley.  

She is a part of a group at her church that makes baby blankets for babies that may be sick or in the NICU for some reason.  The group has the blankets blessed in church by their priest before donating them.  My Aunt had a special blessing done on Battley's blanket in their church in January.  We were honored.

Now here's the other reason these gifts from my Aunt are so special to us.  My Aunt has suffered the loss of her own child.  My cousin, Robert, died suddenly a few years ago from heart complications.  It was totally unexpected.  He was in his late 30s.  My Aunt has been a wonderful source of comfort to me and lets me share my crazy thoughts because she understands them. 

***

Our doctor's appointment was this morning.  

We had an ultrasound.  Here's a pic...sorry it's kinda blurry:

Stats from today:

* weight up to a whopping 3lbs-3oz...woo-hoo!!!

* she was practicing taking breaths...apparently something they look for at this stage...yea!!!

* heartbeat was 146...wonderful news!!!

* all the organs we have been checking are still looking good...Amen!!!

* the tech measured her foot for us to have some kind of reference to her size...it's 2-1/2" long

We went over our birth plan with the doctor...not much fun, but just one of those things you have to do.

Now we will start seeing him once a week.

C