It seems that we might have bed bugs for the fourth time. We live just outside of NYC.
I've woken up three mornings in a row with very suspicious bites. We are having a canine inspection at 3 pm this afternoon.
Past Infestations
First: We had them bedbugs in July2012 - we had the house treated twice and they disappeared.
Second: We moved house in the summer of 2013. We got bedbugs a second time in June 2014. We had the house treated once and the one treatment seemed to work.
Third: They then reappeared in May 2015. We had the house treated three times that summer. After the third treatment they disappeared.
Now it is July 2016 and it seems we have them yet again. I am devastated and do not understand how this could have happened.
Precautions
We have a K9 inspection of the house every quarter and the last one which was just a month ago gave us the all clear.
I treat everything that comes into the house (either in the dryer or the heat box) and after a function at a restaurant or someone else's house etc I make the entire family strip down to their underwear before I let them into the house. The clothes, shoes and bags are then treated.
We often make our guests put their bags, shoes and coats into an airtight container when they enter the house. Our guests are often offended when we insist on this.
If we judge someone to be high risk and they have been at the house we vacuum after they leave.
We have bedbug moats permanently on the feet of our metal bed frames …
So if we do have them, we don't know how we got them again ….
[b]HOW????
So would you, if you can, please answer these questions - keeping in mind the massive precautions we take on a day to day basis:
1. Is it possible some bugs survived the treatments and hibernate or go dormant over the winter only to reappear every May or June?
2. Is it possible our pest company accidentally gave us bedbugs during one of our regular K9 inspections?
3. Is it possible an unscrupulous pest company deliberately infested us so we'd spend more money?
4. Are we being reinfested over and over again by friends who have them? (my husband works from home so it isn't the office).
What to Do?
What do you advise we do re treatment? Especially if the problem is that the bugs are deep in the walls or floor boards and not being reached OR are resistant to the chemicals?
What do we do if it coming into the house via friends?
Prayers[u]
Finally, those of you who are Christian, we'd would be super grateful for your prayers.
We were saving up to adopt a baby and the money for treatment will have to come from our hard-earned savings… we are devastated.
Thanks,
Rachael