My friend came over Thursday night and brought her backpack and books as we were studying.
Here's the catch, early last year we were sitting in class and she opened her notebook and an adult bed bug came running out. I was horrified and was absolutely sure that's what it was cause my family had dealt with them once before and successfully eliminated them. She quickly smashed it and I was too embarrassed to ask her any questions so I ignored it. If someone has bed bugs coming out of their books they have to be pretty infested right? She also had crazy bumps and scars all over her arms but claimed it was eczema and I foolishly believed her.
Fast forward to Thursday night and I let her bring her backpack down to my basement (more like a den) and open it near our couches. She also held her book on her lap on our couch.
After she left I remembered the incident and freaked out, vaccumed the floor and washed the throws in hot water. I didn't go back to the basement (no one did) until yesterday night to thoroughly inspect the sofa with my mom. We found nothing so we decided to hang out on the sofa to see if we spot anything/get bitten. After about 2 hours we left to bed and as soon as I climbed into bed my arm started itching like crazy.
Lo and behold, 3 small itchy bumps near my wrist in a diagonal line. I had been bitten during the last time we had bed bugs and these bites looked identical. So we checked the sofa more. Nothing. At this point I'm in hysterics so my dad offers to sleep the night on the couch to see if he gets bitten. This morning he reports back that he didn't see anything and has no bites.
I do not know what to think anymore, but my gut is telling me theres something in that couch. Can anyone offer some advice? Can my friend really live with bed bugs for 8 months plus? Is that even possible without getting eaten alive? I read about monitors but I don't understand how to set them up. Should I just wait it out and check the couch some more, or use myself as another bait? Bed bugs are my worst nightmare and cost us so much agony last time my sister brought them home from work.
Any help would be appreciated thank you.