Understanding Vaginal Bleeding & Cramps in Pregnancy: Is It Normal?

Question
I am pregnant with my first child and i had a quesiton. I went to the bathroom and wiped and seen i had blood on the paper. It was a bright red blood. I am also having cramp like pains and pains in my lower back. Is everything normal or am i getting ready to loose my plug and go into labor. Should i go into the ER or what

Answer
When is your due date? If you are close to your due date, any bright red or pink discharge with mucus can mean that you are losing your mucus plug ("bloody show"). This does not necessarily mean that you will go into labor right away. If this is your first pregnancy, you may lose your mucus plug up to a few weeks prior to going into labor. Soon you will start to have contractions in your lower abdomen. This will move upwards to your belly button. When you start to have contractions at the level of your belly button that come every 3 minutes (from the beginning of a contraction to the beginning of the next contraction) and each contraction lasts (stays hard) for at least 45 seconds, THEN you will have started labor. That is when you should call your doctor to be checked. When you are at least 4cm dilated, you will be admitted to the hospital.  Another cause for bright red blood on the toilet paper is hemorrhoids. These are dilated blood vessels in your rectum and it is very common to have them during pregnancy.