Happy to help, and happy to hear your girl is doing alright. Can be scary seeing things change in your girl the first time. Or any time for that matter. Given the scent you describe, and her age, I'd guess she is probably in the early stages of proestrus. As
@egoldstein mentioned, occasional small discharge is normal, and you can sometimes see that before she starts swelling, or showing any other signs she's getting close to starting a heat cycle. The rest of what was mentioned is solid advice as well. Watch for changes in behavior, or changes in the discharge. I also recommend checking out that linked thread and doing some reading.
10 months does seem late for a dog to have a first heat for a late bloomer or a large breed. Depending on the dog I've heard some XL breeds can hit around a year old before having their first heat cycle. I've never seen that myself though. Definitely nothing wrong with learning, and hearing about what others here know.
But, like we've all said, no way to be sure about these kinds of things just from descriptions. So definitely keep that vet appointment. Their tests will be sure and they won't bother you about noticing that kind of thing. I'm not sure about your neck of the woods, but for a vet visit like that it really shouldn't be too costly just for those kinds of tests. I hope they don't leave you stuck with ramen!
Again, happy to help. Thanks for the compliments too, of course I'm gonna answer someone who also has a foxy profile pic lol. Maybe give us an update in here after your vet visit and let us know how your girl is doing.