baby grace

Aug. 15
thanks so much for loving and praying for me. well...we knew & believed God was able to do a miracle even if He chose not to...and this time He chose not to. but we are so grateful for the miracle of this pregnancy that He gave us. we were better prepared this time... i'm not sure it has hit me or when it will but there was not any progress. the sac has grown but nothing in it. she said she is 100 % sure this baby has not made it and highly recommended the d&c. we addressed all of our questions and concerns about moving forward with one but she seemed confident it was necessary in my case since the sac is still growing and my cyst as well. i found out that the OHSS is actually perpetuated by the hcg...so as long as my body thinks i am pregnant the cysts will remain and as long as the cysts are there my body will think i am pregnant. she said without the d&c it might take up to 4 more weeks for my body to realize the loss. i am nervous about the d&c but she assured me it would be best and that it would not adversely affect our fertility any further. we are scheduled for friday at noon. thank you for praying...

here is the email we sent out to our family & friends...and we consider you among them so i thought i would post this here also. thank you for your encouragement...i am sorrowful yet hopeful for the future.

Andrea and I have felt incredibly loved and encouraged by each of you...from celebrating the new life God created, to asking about appointments, believing & expressing that we would be great parents and the many emails, cards, & words of encouragement offered over the last several weeks. We have experienced the kindness of the Lord in a new way through you. We have seen what it means to "rejoice with those that rejoice". We can't thank you enough for your love & support.

There is no easy way to transition to our next bit of news ... last week, we went in for our first ultrasound and discovered that our little one had stopped developing. Although Dre's body believes she is still 2 months pregnant, the baby is no longer thriving. The doctor said she was expected to miscarry over the coming weeks. Today's follow up appointment revealed that there was no progress and the doctor said it might be weeks before her body registers the miscarriage. It was recommended that Andrea have surgery...so it will be this Friday at noon. We appreciate your prayers.

We are heartbroken, as we had so many hopes & a growing love for this precious miracle. After singing "Blessed be Your name" at church two weeks ago, Andrea & I discussed how powerful the chorus was...."You give & take away...but my heart will choose to say, Blessed be Your name." We know that there is purpose in our loss and were reminded recently by a friend that we do not grieve as some do, who are without hope.

We would love to be able to contact many of you personally as we did when we first discovered that we were pregnant, but we are finding it too difficult to process through our grief with others right now. Please know that we love and value your friendship and apologize for the impersonal nature of this email. Your love and support will continue to minister to us as you pray for both our emotional and physical healing. Please pray for a speedy recovery for Dre and for wisdom & direction as we seek the Lord for the next step in this journey. Also, please don't fear not knowing what to say or how to respond as we grieve...your ongoing friendship is the instrument through which we experience the kindness of the Lord.

We love you each,

Ryan & Andrea Poehl

Praise be to the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Compassion and the GOD OF ALL COMFORT, who comforts us in all our troubles" 2 Corinthians 1:3,4