what exactly is bloody show?

[FuzzyOne]

is it always accompanied by the mucous plug? is it always new blood or can it be brown blood?

some of you may have seen my post earlier this week about a painful cervix check that caused bleeding. i am still bleeding (nothing alarming) - light and all old blood, but am surprised to still have it friday (my check was on wednesday). so, i am wondering if this could still be from my cervix check or if i could be having bloody show (haven't had sex - am really going to try to go for that this weekend a few times - my due date is wednesday).

[MommyTeesa]

I'll share my experience - with DD I lost my plug on Thursday and had her Monday morning. I had a bloody show I want to say 2-3 hours before she was born (ctxs were 4ish minutes apart and I was 4 cm dilated). As I recall (it was 4 years ago) it was not a lot, just a good smear and was dark red or reddish brown. If you are STILL bleeding, I'm not sure it's the "show." I wouldn't think you should still be bleeding, but I am totally guessing. I'm interested to see what other more educated mamas say.

[roadfamily6now]

im sorry, I am no help at all. I have never lost my plug or had bloody show prior to labor. Never seen it.

[Synchro246]

Bloody show is often accompanied by the mucus plug because subtle cervical changes and dialation cause both. When the cervix changes it releases the mucus and tiny blood vessels break. Some peoples' plugs detach whole, some detach partly and come out in streaks, some are released just a bit at a time and aren't recognized in a "hey, that's my plug!" way. Some peoples' bloodvessels (I'm having a bad spelling day) are stronger than others' and depending on the type of cervical change occuring some people are going to bleed a bit more than others. There's just a big set of variation for these two things.

So the answer is that they don't always come in any particular way, but they do often come together just because the same thing brings both.

I would suspect that your initial bleeding from Wed. might be prolonged because you also have a bit of change happening too. But it's hard to say, YK?

ETA--because they are so commonly together I do honestly think of them as interchangable terms, even though I guess techniquely(sp, again) they probably shouldn't be.

[Adamsmama]

Well--with DS1 I lost my mucus plug at 38.5 weeks and it was a big glob with some brownish cm with it. I went into labor at 41 weeks and had bloody show after hours of contractions (following a cervical check) and DS was born about 17 hours later. With DS2 I don't remember losing my plug but remembered the bloody show at 41 weeks hours before my contractions became regular and I knew I was in labor. Both times for me it was bright red blood mixed in ewcm.