Today I had my 6 week postpartum exam. My doctor did an internal exam. I was on the verge of tears and was breathing so hard due to how painful it was. She had to stop the exam. She inserted one of those q tip things (sorry idk the technical term) and then did a check with her fingers. Both were pretty painful. I had a c section. I am not breast feeding but I am pumping. She said it (I assume "it" being the pain) is due to low estrogen from pumping (breast feeding) and it's similar to my body being menopausal. I assume i have vaginal dryness due to low estrogen. I tried looking online but couldn't find many answers. I couldn't even focus on what my OB was telling me because of how traumatized I felt (not her fault). I wanted to get an IUD as birth control. She told me I wouldn't be able to handle it since I couldn't handle the exam and I probably couldn't handle sex, unless i was maybe very well lubricated. I was pretty upset. I didn't expect the exam to be that painful. And I just feel like something is wrong with me.