Packing the perfect changing bag

I had to get us out of hospital by noon on Sunday. That was when I had estimated Baby Girl would run out of her own nappies.

I hadn’t exactly planned for us to be checking in at Chelsea & Westminster when we jumped into a cab to go to the A&E on Saturday night, and I certainly hadn’t packed for it. I had grabbed a few extra muslins, dummies, a sleeping bag and a sleepsuit for Baby Girl on the way out, so the changing bag was filled to the rim, but that was it. We had to survive on what was in there.

The good news was that I was pretty pleased with myself when I started unpacking in our isolated-room in the middle of the night. Baby Girl was fast asleep in her pram with a heart rate monitor attached to her tiny finger, and I had another hour to wait until the blood test results would be back.

The changing bag was like a treasure chest. Hidden at the bottom was a hairbrush, my glasses, a lip balm and hand cream. I couldn’t have been more excited. I felt so clever to have put some items for myself in the bag too.

But I had not been that clever when packing nappies. Swimming nappies were clearly not going to be essential for this outing. We could stay until noon, but that was it. I told Baby Girl she had to get well quickly. And she did. We made it. It was 11.30, and we were discharged. That’s our girl.

Tags: Baby health, Changing bag, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, Fever, Nappies