very painful postpartum exam
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.
Has anyone experienced this? I'm definitely afraid to even try to have sex with my husband now because I don't want to experience that same pain i felt during the exam. I also almost feel like giving up pumping and I feel guilty about that because I want my daughter to get my breast milk.
Anyone have the same experience? From my pregnancy to my labor/delivery to my current state I feel broken. Like my body is dysfunctional. No one tells you about all the possible postpartum stuff.
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