2024-05-12 04:00:00
Mother’s Day takes on a special character for a courageous young mother who had to overcome four months of hospitalization, seven operations and unbearable pain during her pregnancy before giving birth.
Jessica Colpron, from Mascouche, had already experienced the joys of motherhood with Liam, her eldest, now eight years old.
Photo Martin Alarie
“It had gone really well. I was in the woods hunting and fishing until the 36th week,” says the dynamic 31-year-old woman enthusiastically.
But for the next one, Maïka, problems arose in the middle of the pregnancy, at the turn of 2022-2023. Her uterus came to compress the ureters, the tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder. The more the pregnancy progressed, the more the pain intensified.
“I had to take a lot of antibiotics because I had pyelonephritis [infections du rein et de l’uretère] repeat. This is an extremely rare complication. The urologists at Le Gardeur hospital had not seen this for 20 years,” she remembers.
Photo provided by Jessica Colpron
She underwent two operations to insert double J catheters.
“These are small, hard silicone tubes that are inserted into the kidney. They didn’t stay still. So we installed drains in my kidneys four times which came out in my back and which were connected to pockets.
A Way of the Cross
“I had to be hospitalized for four months. Sometimes I would go out for a day or two, but inevitably I would return to the hospital. I had a new infection, my drain had moved or crystallized. It was unbearable pain, like removing a hook,” explains the young woman.
As we can guess, Jessica Colpron did not experience the birth – with drains coming out of her back – that she dreamed of.
“They provoked me with all possible means and it didn’t work at all. After 29 hours, I went from 1 to 8 [de dilatation] in 5 minutes and 8 to 10 in one minute. The hasty exit caused Maïka to suffer a pneumothorax. The doctor barely had time to put on his outfit,” explains Ms. Colpron.
The little girl’s heartbeat often dropped during childbirth, nothing to reassure the father and grandmother who accompanied Ms. Colpron. Caesarean section was also considered.
Photo Martin Alarie
Maïka was born at 38 weeks on May 13, 2023, just four hours before Mother’s Day.
Her mother having had no other choice than to take powerful painkillers due to complications, little Maïka had to spend her first five weeks in hospital in withdrawal.
In health
“She is very small, but she follows her curve,” enthuses the mother about her baby in great shape.
This Mother’s Day, Jessica Colpron will focus on celebrating Maïka’s birthday. “It puts a balm on my heart.”
Photo Martin Alarie
And besides, to mothers who experience adversity, she sends a message of hope.
“Mindset plays 80% of healing. No matter what obstacle lies ahead of us, there is always a way to be resilient and keep moving forward.”
“If I had had to let everything that happened to me during my pregnancy get me down, I would probably be in major depression today.”
–Jessica Colpron
Mourning to do
Jessica Colpron must make an X on the possibility of expanding the family. “I can no longer have a safe pregnancy otherwise I will have to do dialysis for the rest of my life, which does not appeal to me at all. This is one of the grievings that I had to grieve. I was not able to give birth as I wanted or breastfeed because the little one was not strong enough,” she explains.
Judgments that hurt
“It’s sad, but I was judged a lot by some nurses because I was taking a lot of Dilaudid [puissant antidouleurs], but it was the doctor who prescribed them. I found it deplorable, it affected my morale. And my heart was still beating above 110 from the pain. But other nurses made up for it and were real gems. In the birthing unit, I was treated very carefully,” confides Jessica Colpron.
A spouse present
Ms. Colpron’s entourage was of great help to her, she says. “My family was very present. My partner [Éric Gaudet] is a pearl. He would drive and pick up my son from school even though he is not his father and came to see me at the hospital every evening. The last three weeks, I was in a room with a wonderful 65-year-old gentleman, Réjean, who also had kidney problems. He had such a great personality that we remained friends. He played a crucial role in keeping me from loneliness.”
In great form
Fortunately, Ms. Colpron was in excellent physical condition when misfortune befell her. “I was doing a paramedic course before I got pregnant. But I had to start from scratch. Taking five steps was too much for me at first. It took me six months to get over it,” she says.
Rotational work
Not knowing if her condition will one day allow her to resume her training as a paramedic, Ms. Colpron focuses on her career as a 9-1-1 dispatcher, which however requires her to work day, evening and night rotations. “Several of my cases have gone to court against criminals who committed assaults,” she says proudly.
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