Are we there yet?

I am not in a rush to get baby Lila out since it is far too early for that, but I am counting down the days. I have to say, we have one cute little girl. On our last doctor visit we got to see her on the screen again, and she just has the cutest nose and mouth (I know, I am biased). As much as I want to meet her, I feel like there is so much to get still and do. Every shopping trip we make includes some baby item as we are trying to get the things we need in little bits. As much as we have, I still feel like we need so much more-what if she comes and I don't have something she needs? This thought has crossed my mind so many times, but then I walk into her room and remind myself that we do have enough to survive a few days with her.

Girl and School

Our little girl has been growing very quickly. She has really made my tummy nice and big. At our anatomy scan we discovered that we are having a girl, but that she was growing big. I have had 1 more ultrasound to check her growth progress since then, and she seemed to have slowed down a bit in growth. I have another ultrasound in a week to check her growth again. I think she has her daddy's legs, since her weight is where she should be. Either way, I am now being monitored for her size.
The biggest news we have is that John has decided to go back to school to become a high school art teacher. If everything goes well, he will be done in 3.5 years. I am so proud of him for this decision. He has really thought it through and in the long run, this is the best thing for our family. He will still play music on the side, but it is no longer his career focus.

Baby

We have our anatomy scan on Wednesday. We are really hoping that baby cooperates so we can find out if it is a girl or a boy. The students at my school have been great. Almost everyday one of them asks me if I know what it is. I am pretty sure I will need to make a shirt to announce it and wear it to work so I don't have to answer the same question all day on Thursday. John has been very cute. I think he might be more excited that I am =).

Hopsital Visit-by Catheryne

On Friday the 13th, I went in to Vanderbilt hospital for heart issues. I have a heart arrhythmia, which sometimes causes me to get palpitations. Usually my palpitations only last a couple of seconds to a minute and then I am fine. Well on Friday I got a bad case of palpitations and after still have them for half an hour, I decided to call the OB nurse line and ask about them. They immediately told me to go to the E.R. John was playing a gig for Habitat for Humanity so I was unable to reach him, I left him a voice mail telling him where I was going and why. I got to the hospital around 5:00 pm and checked in, with my palpitations still occurring. Within 5 minutes of checking in I was brought to the triage room and they took my pulse, and blood pressure, they also did an EKG. My pulse was 180 beats per minute. I was placed in a room in the emergency department. Within a few minutes I had two cardiologists, two e.r. doctors, and a bunch of other nurses in the room with me. They told me I was a high priority. My heart was not only beating too fast, but it was stuck in an off beat pattern. The doctors tried several methods to naturally get my heart back to a normal rhythm (normal for me), but it was unsuccessful. They had to give me a drug that shocked my heart into a normal pattern. This was all very scary and John was still unable to get to me. After a couple of hours after the drug treatment, John was finally able to get to me. My rhythm was regular, but my pulse was still way too fast. John walked in to me in abed hooked up to three heart monitors, and I.V. and an oxygen tube in my nose. A very scary sight for him. The doctors were trying to figure out what caused this and though that it could have been due to a blood clot in my lungs. We had to make the agonizing decision to allow for a ct scan. We decided to go ahead an have one because they were going to place me on blood thinners without knowing if I had a clot, which would not be good for the baby. So we took the risk to expose the baby to the radiation hoping that I would not have a clot. Luckily I don't. The doctors knew that I would have to be admitted because my hear rate was still too high and they wanted to watch me. I was finally moved to room at 5 a.m, 12 hours after coming in. We were able to get some sleep in the room. Saturday afternoon the cardiologists came by and said they wanted to keep me another night and to also put me on a beta blocker to try to slow my heart rate down. Before I agreed to take the medicine I knew I wanted to talk to an OB to see the risk it would have to the baby. The OB came by and brought an ultrasound machine so we were able to see the baby for a second time while in the hospital, she was also very good at answering our questions. The beta blocker would not affect the baby, so I agreed to take it. The medicine worked and my heart rate finally dropped Saturday night. On Sunday I was discharged. We had great care while there, they pulled a chair that folds out to a bed by my bed so John could stay by my side. They also brought him food when they brought me food. We could not asked for better care during this scary time. We are also very grateful for the baby being OK during this all.

Open Doors

The last two weeks have been very eventful. John's band recorded three songs, and were able to get two of them mixed. His band also played on the 4th of July. This last week he made contact with an arts academy that is through my school, and if everything goes well, he will be able to teach drum lessons in the afternoons. We have been praying for many things, and if things go well with the drum lessons, that will be one answer to prayer. We are still very hopeful that the Lord will continue to open doors for us. I will be going to NM to visit my Grandma Marion for her 91st (!) birthday, my parents will also be there. I am so excited to be able to see them all, I really have missed them. John gets to stay behind and work and watch the animals. Not too exciting for him. The baby is making my tummy very big, I am not convinced that is looks like a baby bump to all who see, I still think that I look like I have a big belly to people who don't know I am preggers. John keeps telling me otherwise.

Living in the South

Yesterday I was talking to my dad on the phone trying to get some travel plans finalized to visit my parents and grandma for her 91st birthday. Anyway, the topic of food came up, as it usually does with me now. I was telling my dad that the South has great food, and they have a lot of fried foods, but we have yet to find a place that has fried zucchini. There is also only one place that has fried mushrooms. Back in California, those were two things that were fairly common to find at fast food places. I think Nashville could learn a thing or two from California's "fried side." John and I joke a lot about this baby. I have never been a big eater, I like to eat, but I usually am never able to finish a meal. Being pregnant has changed that, I am hungry ALL THE TIME.

Big things?

We are hoping that this week will be a life changing week. John's band has a photo shoot tomorrow and then they are going to record two or three songs on Tuesday. The band's management had a meeting with Word Records a couple of weeks ago, and according to management, they said it went very well. On Wednesday the management is going back for another meeting with Word to show them the new songs. We are praying very hard for the band to get a record deal. We would love it if you could join us in praying for this. All prayers are welcomed.

We finally got to meet our OB on Wednesday. We were a bit nervous about whether or not we would like her. After meeting her and her nurse, we are so happy with our choice. I go back in about 4 weeks for another appointment. I am super excited. We got the see and hear our baby's heartbeat a few weeks ago, but the baby was still too small to hear it on the Doppler. The doctor warned us that we probably wont hear it before she tried so it wasn't stressful to not hear it. I am just excited to go back and hear it. It is the most amazing sound to me!

Belle

This is just a quick post to talk about our dog, Belle. I (Catheryne) have always been amazed by animal intuition. She is no exception. I have had a fairly easy pregnancy so far, I get a bit queasy, but not nearly like what I was expecting. There have been some days where I just don't feel well-tired, queasy, and a backache-it is on those days that she has been even more attentive to me than normal. She is our dog, but really more my dog in her attention. Just this morning as I was in the other room with the door closed, she laid down by the door as if she were guarding it. Her behavior is encouraging to me and helps me when I am home on Summer break when John is working. I believe that God chose her for us. When we went to the humane society to look for a dog, she was not the first dog we noticed. In fact, she was the last dog. Usually you have to wait to take an adopted animal home because the have to spay or neuter them. After we noticed her and asked about her, we were informed that was were able to take her home that day because she was already spayed. She has truly been a blessing to us. She is also a great guard dog. She growls and barks at people and strange noises in this apartment, which makes John a very happy person.

Baby, band, and flood

The McFarland's are having many exciting things happen. Catheryne is pregnant, she is due Jan. 11, 2011. This is very exciting for us, but it is also scary. We really want this baby, so all scariness it just anxiety over the newness of life. John's band has been very busy. The band won a battle of the bands a few weeks ago. One of the prizes was a 6 month free contract with an agency/management company called Fastrax. Fastrax has really been working hard for them. The company is meeting this week with Word, which is a record label. We could really use your prayers for this meeting. We are praying that the band will get signed, and that John will be able to quit his day job. The band's heart is truly for the LORD and their goal is to spread the love of Jesus in a way that can reach all people. All prayers are welcome no matter what. Hopefully, we will get better at keeping up with this blog. I think we are going to have many more things to write about now.

The national media did not do a great job with covering the Tennessee flood. The area of flood damage is equivalent to New Jersey. It hit more areas than just Nashville. According to news reports, this is the worst flood ever recorded for Tennessee (by the way, it also affected parts of Kentucky). The media is calling it the 1,000 year flood. Catheryne's school was greatly affected by it. The only part that remained dry was the top level. The entire school lot, portable classrooms and first floor were completely flooded. To help put it into perspective, this picture was taken before the bottom level of the school flooded. The building in the picture ended up having water all the way up to the roof line.

Music and Moving

John's band, Twelve South, has released their EP album. It is available on CDbaby. The band will be recording their newest songs this Saturday. We have also moved into our new apartment. It is much bigger than our old place. Thomas seems to finally be adjusting to it. He had a rough couple of days when we first got here. John is doing a great job with moving all of the heavy stuff. We have a lot of unpacking left to do.

Changes

The past few months seem to have been very busy. We celebrated Christmas with Catheryne's parents and Grandma Marion. It was perfect. All of the cooking turned out well, and we even had flurries on Christmas day. We also are moving March 6th to a bigger apartment that is A LOT closer to Catheryne's work. This will mean that whenever there is a extra event, she wont have to hang out at the school for 3 hours. January brought snow with it. Tennessee is not really designed to handle any amount of snow. Catheryne has had 5 snow days since January. This last storm actually produced what was predicted. We had about 2-3 inches of snow, with 1/2 an inch of ice on top of it. January also brought with is a 21 day time of fasting and praying for God's direction. We have been praying really hard for John's music career. Anyway, about 2 days into the fast a band called Twelve South called John about playing with them. John had practiced with them once before, but nothing really happened. John is now playing with them and loves it. Catheryne even likes the music as well. The band is having an EP release party on February 28th.