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I have a herniated disc. It's located between L4-L5 which is low on your back, close to the bottom of the spine. In this picture, its the middle disc - the one black part that's pushing to the right white stuff (into my spinal cord). The one above it is how it should look like. The one below it is another small bulge, but is not the herniated one we are concerned with.

I still have some pain, but not much. I do think the PT is helping with that, but now my issue (and bigger concern) is the numbness in my right foot. My doctor is concerned that I will have permanent nerve damage if I don't have surgery. I'm concerned about having back surgery at age 30 and what that will mean for the rest of my life. I also don't really want to walk around with a numb foot.

So, I'm trying other things first. I'm continuing PT, twice a week now instead of just once, to try to increase my core strength. I didn't know that your ab muscles completely separate when you are pregnant, but mine are still not completely back together yet. We are also working on the muscles that wrap around the spine deep in there. I'm doing a lot of bridge exercises and planks to work on these things.

I'm also going to a chiropractor to try decompression treatment to see if they can literally stretch my spine enough to allow the bulge to come back in its happy home all on its own.

In other news - my little chunk baby has rolled over (at 18 weeks old) and is now constantly rolling onto his stomach and refuses to lay on his back. I'm learning how to dress and change a baby that is in upward dog position. We also started feeding him rice cereal last week (19 weeks old) after the all-clear from his pediatrician. We are thinking carrots will be his first veggie, with peas soon to follow. He just needs to master eating with a spoon first.