The things we carry

My midwife work-bag has been getting heavier lately. I am making copies of my favorite handouts to cart between my two different clinics (now three until I start at the hospital), updating my go-to resources with new phone numbers and scribbles of billing codes, and starting to keep my monthly stats and hours to ensure accurate paychecks and personal record-keeping. The load is heavy but wonderful. Here's a list of my work bag currently:

• A Pocket Guide to Clinical Midwifery: The Efficient Midwife
• Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia: suggested by my final preceptor, super valuable
• Managing Contraception, For Your Pocket (2005-2007); gifted by my current boss, super valuable
• Gestational age wheel and mini tape measure
• ACNM Membership Renewal Request
• ASCCP Guideline booklets
• Quick-start birth control algorithm
• DEA license paperwork
• Collaborative MD agreement
• Employer cell phone reimbursement submissal
• September call schedule and daily clinic statistics for the month
• Dried mangoes
• Recommendation letter information for one of my Gambia group members applying to Women's Health Nurse Practitioner programs
• Final packet of all the info I studied for midwifery boards for time in-between patients
• Spanish/English pocket dictionary
• All of my licenses, memberships, and certifications: RN, APN, AMCB, NRP, CPR/AED, ACNM
• Business cards with the address of my two clinics
• Information about the employee discount program for tickets to movies, theaters, shopping, and sporting events
• My mini bag: Lara bar, hair ties, Chapstick, lotion, hand sanitizer, travel toothbrush and paste, peppermint oil, contact case, bandaid and Neosporin
• Stethoscope
• Name badge with two buttons: ACNM-PAC "Soy partera" and WW (wonder woman) button from my dear friend Ellie, WHNP
• Lab coat, on the off-day that I wear it, or if I am in the hospital and it's required
• Final edits of a research paper with a former nursing professor
• At least two of my new favorite pens, the Pilot Precise V5 Rolling Ball (I've learned that clinicians are very particular about their pens)
• My metal waterbottle
• Airborne tablets
• Daily vitamins, B12 supplements, and Ibuprofen
• Cellphone and charger
• Moleskin for my endless to-do lists and notes
• Phone earpiece for calls to family and friends while stuck in traffic on the drive home
• And, when I can, a homemade baked good for the Medical Assistants, Clinic Managers, Social Workers, and Receptionists at the three clinics

The travel to work every day is also filled with what I carry mentally and emotionally. Remembering the patients from last week, hoping for certain outcomes on lab results, worrying about what sometimes seems like tenuous new relationships with coworkers, and anticipating what surprises might await with every new patient visit. This is a wild ride, and no amount of bag-packing could prepare me for each day. Thus, perhaps, the most valuable item I carry is my fellow midwife and WHNP's contact information, for texts and emails asking advice and support. Like recently, when a flowery cervix confounded me, and smiddies came to the rescue with documentation language and differentials. I carry lots of friends, fellow providers, and support with me. Some days are tough ones, and being able to reach out to others has been an incredible help. Thanks y'all.