Tan Vaginal Discharge During Pregnancy: Causes & What to Watch For

Question
Hi!  I am 32 years old and have two children, a 6 year old and a 3 year old.  I am now pregnant with my third child and guess I'm about 7 weeks along.  The date of my last period was 8/25/2004.  For about the past two weeks I've been having a tan colored discharge, which I usually just notice on my panty liner.  Only once when I wiped was it on the toilet paper and that time it was mucousy.  I haven't really noticed any odor with it, but before I conceived, I was having odor with this same discharge at certain times during the month.  It always seemed to be before I was due to start my menstrual cycle.  The odor was sometimes musty and sometimes fishy smelling.  I just assumed it was something to do with hormones and PMS, but now that I'm not having a period anymore, I'm thinking differently.  Could I have had a bacterial infection all this time without any other symptoms (no itching)?  Can the discharge and odor with infections come and go?  Also, sometimes I have burning pain when my husband and I have intercourse...could this be linked?  If I do have a bacterial infection, can it harm my fetus in any way?  I don't go for my first appointment for another 4 or 5 weeks, so would you recommend that I go get this checked out sooner?  Thank you so much and God bless!

Answer
As long as you do not have any annoying symptoms of itching or pain, you can wait for your first exam to describe this to the doctor. Make sure that you get a "culture and sensitivity" of your vagina. It may certainly be a bacterial vaginosis or it can be of no significance at all. It may be a foul smelling odor (which can indicate bacteria) or it may merely be a very strong odor. In any case, have it checked out. If it is a bacterial infection, it can easily be corrected with Metrogel cream or Cleocin cream. Good luck.