I (18m) tried to have sex with my girlfriend (18f) after 9 months and we couldn’t get it in

I’ve never really posted anything like this before but I (18m) and my girlfriend’s (18f) tried to have sex for the first time on our 9 month anniversary. We’ve done pretty much everything else before and have essentially gone through the motions of sex without any actual penetration (unless you count fingers) and we only just decided that we were ready and wanted to take that next step together. I keep a condom on me that was given to me by a friend just in case and after a bit of fiddling I quickly figured it out and it very much was lubricated and I know that my partner was too from genuine hours of foreplay.

We tried for almost an hour to get it in but it just kept bending or only partially fitting. I tried adding spit incase it was just a matter of lubrication but no dice. We tried to do it in several different positions but we just couldn’t get it to slip in. Every time I pushed and kinda felt like I was getting somewhere she would say ouch and I would immediately stop. I’m not sure if maybe the pain was from her hymen and that I needed to push harder to break it in order to get in but I really didn’t want to hurt her so we decided we’d just cuddle for a bit and call it a night but I could tell she was upset about it and maybe felt like it was her fault or something.

I kept reassuring her that it was ok and that I love her for so much more than that and it wasn’t that important but she didn’t really respond to me, just buried herself deeper into my chest. It sucked that maybe I ruined our possible first time and I’ve been open with her for a while about wanting to go all the way but I don’t even really care about that rn because I don’t even need that to have a healthy relationship with her. Regardless I just want to be informed on what maybe happened or how we can work around this or proceed in the future if we decide to try again. Legally I’m an adult but really I’m still just a kid and I’m really inexperienced with all this since she’s my first real girlfriend.

I’m not sure if this is the best place to ask for it but how can I make her feel comfortable again and how could we get it to actually work if we ever try again?