Hello everyone.
This is my first experience with bed bugs. I'm devastated that my home, my sanctuary has been infiltrated by these disgusting pointless creatures.
We went on vacation and our house/pet sitter brought them in. She had complained of her son getting bit but was adamant it was not BB's because no one else was getting bit. This should have been a red flag to me but until now I was ignorant about BB's.
Four weeks ago I began having bites I shrugged off as mosquito because it was one bite. But it kept up nightly which seemed odd to me so I brought it up to my husband who was less than concerned and didn't agree with my belief of it being BB's, because he was not getting bit! Sound familiar?
The bites increased to two or three and appeared on my arms and or legs.
We still hadn't connected the dots between the phantom bites and my sitters complaints.
Finally fed up I decided to go on a bug hunt.
It was incredibly difficult to find anything. I searched my matress and bed frame
No fecal marks, no blood spots, no bugs...
Then, Eureka! In the shoe totes under the bed I found one bug casting. With this find I triumphantly texted my husband that I was right! Ha!
I deepened my search on the bed frame and an hour later came up with one adult live bug, a live nymph, and another casting. I stored them in a tight container for proof and called the PCO.
They came and agreed my bugs were infact BB. They treated by vacuum, steam, and an aerosol pesticide that makes a white film. They placed climb ups under the legs and that night I slept sound. ( naively)
But it wasn't to last. I checked the climb ups in the morning and found four nymphs in them.
I was again devastated. We and the PCO agreed it was a very small infestation and caught early! Why hadn't the treatment worked! Two nights passed and the bites came back. Its thanksgiving so we have to wait until Monday to get reinspected and treated again. I'm also deeply depressed by this point and find it hard not to cry at any given moment, I don't feel I have anything to be thankful for, I'm not in a festive mood.
I decided as I wait that I will do nightly bug hunts because I can't just lay idly by doing nothing and getting bitten for a week as I wait for the holiday to release my PCO to me.
I strip down, grab my tweezers , a container with an alcohol bath for them and a flashlight. Two nights I've spent hours painstakingly, methodically, pouring over every inch of my bed frame that I can reach without disturbing the climb ups. I've carefully and slowly tweezed out - 41 eggs, 12 live nymphs in first or second life stage, and 4 dead various aged. My bed frame is adjustable so this makes it convenient to search as I just hit the remote and raise the head and legs of the bed frame. I've become adept at finding the spots they like on my frame. They've become predictable to me, and they make themselves easy to catch because they just sit there while I wrestle with getting the tweezers in the right place to grab them . Since doing this I've had two nights bite free. I'll continue to pick at them until my second treatment. And I'll continue still until I'm satisfied.
One question for you all, we have chosen to store our clothing in totes in our safe zone rather than bags. Do you feel this is wise?
Thanks for reading.
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Bedofnightmares on "Crazy or determined, call me captain tweezers"
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