Okay, so today was a big milestone for me. I unpacked all of my belongings out of plastic bags. I have faith that they are now gone or on the way out (as the dust takes a couple of days to kill them) and I will be able to resume a normal life. All of our beds are isolated and I made sure that they will have to cross pesticides before they reach us and realize they cannot get to us.

I prayed in all the corners of my upper levels. It really helped to calm my nerves. Last night I thought I seen a bump on the back of my six months old's neck. I was wrong. My mind playing tricks on me I guess. Today, I thought I saw a blood spot but realized it was not. LOL! It was take some time before I can live life without being so hyper vigilant but at least all of my belongings are as they should be and I am not being ruled by those pests anymore.

Its funny, they are so good at hiding that you sometimes feel that you are fighting an invisible enemy that out smarts you at every turn.

I have learned that that is a false reality. In reality, they are just bugs. Even the smallest ones are visible to the naked eye. They have been eradicated from hundreds of homes and have been eradicated from mine.

God Bless

Thought they were gone but they are not

So, I have dusted, had the PCO treat twice, I have sprayed, I have isolated, and then I have done it all again and guess what, my baby got bite twice this week. Sigh. I don't know if it was while he was in his crib or pack n play. I don't know what else to do. I treated the pack n play. I will treat his bed and re isolate it today. He slept with me last night. I have yet to inspect for any new bumps. When will this be over? I wouldn't mind all the hard work if someone could just tell me I will eventually get rid of them. I cant go through this forever.

I awoke with an itchy thigh and a small bump but I do not think it is a bite. I wasn't going to have my PCO treat again but know I am. This will be the third treatment. Ugh!!!

Oh, and last night, when I was preparing for my shower after dusting with the powder, I noticed a tiny bug in my bath tub. I thought, how in the world could it survive in my house with all the DE powder I have. Then I thought, here is my chance to have a bug in captivity and see how long it takes the DE powder to kill it. So I capture it and it died in the process. Drats!! I examined it as best as I could and I do not think it is a bed bugs. But if should have not been able to get in my bathroom without coming in contact with the powder. Maybe it had and was going to die soon as a result. Who knows?

Calm enough now

Okay, Tuesday was a really bad day. I notice a bite at work. I freak out on the inside. Shuddering because I think I brought them to work. What if I infect my coworker! Oh, the horror!. I am so careful, how did this happen? Now, my car is no longer secure either. I cant believe the toll that bed bugs have on people's lives. It just seems so unfair. These horrible little creatures trying to feast on you!!!. Disgusting!!! Tracking you down, basically hunting you.

I was so upset I came home and torn my bed apart. Took off the cheap encasements, they were ripped anyway. I inspected my mattress the best I could and then made a non-toxic killing solution and sprayed my mattress and box spring and frame. Today, I sprayed my carpet with another type of mixture that contains DE. Sigh, when will this be over? That's the worst thing about all this, not really knowing when they are all gone. You could go months with a bite and then all of a sudden your world comes crashing down because you noticed a small itchy bump on your arm. Its such a nightmare. I dont know if the bite I noticed at work was a delayed reaction to a bite I received at home or not. The not knowing is rough. Yesterday, I quite dreaming that bed bugs were crawling on me. A couple of nights before that, I dreamed that I was able to follow a bug back to it harborage place and I was like yay! Now I know where to strike. Since that dream I have been praying to good to reveal there hiding places to me.

I also received word from another PCO that the chemicals my PCOs are using are not very effective. So, I am going to have to fight to see if I can get them to use more effective stuff next time.

Things are looking up again, they always do after I self-treat. It soothes me, makes me feel more in control. I am think of throwing out my bedroom set completely. But buying another set just so it can get re-infected is not smart. I am still on the fence with that one.

My baby just spit up, I have to go.

Clears her throat......

to try and soothe the burning she feels inside it. Thats right, she has been applying DE dust (the powder that kills them), which means she has been inhaling the dust and now her throat burns. She wore a mask but she guesses she still was inhaling the dust. Not good, not good, but neither is going insane as her family needs a sane wife, mommy, and daughter.

Ok, Third person ends now.

No more signs of the bugs but I am sooooo super paranoid. It sucks soooooo much. I am soooooo tired of all this. This is sooooooo unfair. And I read news that it will get worse before it gets better. Some estimate that in the next ten years, everyone will have had bedbugs at least once and it will no longer be a stigmatizing ordeal.

This may be wrong but I long for the chemicals of old that killed those bastards so efficiently. There has to be some way they can be used safely. I would rather have to live in a hotel for a week while the harsh chemicals dry thoroughly and pose no threat to me than have to be treated by the chemicals that we use now. Chemical, I might add, that are needed to sprayed two and three times before they actually kill the bugs for good.

And it is sooooo frustrating that it seems I know more than my PCO. And in Columbus, people are just not very knowledgeable yet, which means that our PCOs are not efficient. Most of the Bedbug forums say, "dont just self treat, find a knowledgeable PCO to treat your home". Well, what if there are no knowledgeable PCOs, then what. What are we suppose to do then?

And the bed encasements that trap bedbugs or stop them from nesting in your mattress are ridculously expensive!! On top of everything else it takes to kill them (and I remind you that I have spent more than $700 so far), these encasements cost at least $100 a whop. It would cost over $500 for me to properly incase all my mattresses. That is soooooooo unrealistic for poor families. What are they suppose to do, just live with them. I would like to know what is it about the technology of keeping bugs out that makes them have to charge you over $100 for one encasement. And if the technology is that expensive, why not give vouchers to poor folk who cant afford it.

Bottom line, it probably costs upward of at least $800 to get rid of these pests. My family is lucky we can fit the bill (good bye vacation) but what about others? Are they just suppose to get bit? Well, you know what? They get bit, their infestation continues to grow until guess what? The poor people's bed bugs spread to every one else's houses as well. And then, welcome to shelling out the $800 or more bucks again.

Man, this vent feels soooooo good.

Peace

Saw a bug

So I am snoozing on my coach (my right on a Sunday afternoon) and feel something crawling on my neck. Me being hypervigilant (and a little looney), I jump up and flick my neck only to see a very small clear bug running for its life on the arm of couch I was just snoozing on. I jump up and run to the kitchen for my bug spray (99% alcohol) and when I got back, it was gone. Hidden in the crevices of my couch. I explored, and could not find it. The good news is that it didnt bite me. I just hope and spray the the residual pesticide applied to my couch will make it sterile and kill it. Why isnt it dead already. Ugh!!!! I think a third spray treatment may be in order.....

Please pray for my success
Warrior

So far......

Well, well, no bites thus far. I am cautiously optimistic though, since they tend to go a fews days (sometime weeks) w/o needing a blood meal. I ordered an instrument that applies dust in a light coating, its called a Bellows Duster. I was using it last night to dust DE (a powder that kills bugs) on my baseboards along the walls where my apt joins my neighbors. I freak out every time I inch anywhere. I still feel phantom bugs crawling on me. I was reading some posts and discovered that some people have indeed had them for more than a year. It all just seems so unfar. These hideous little creatures hiding all day long in your home and coming out at night to feast on you while you sleep. Ugh, I tell you, Ugh!

I found out that the stain on my bed probably was not fecal spots. That is good news. I will continue to apply a light coating of DE along the baseboards and spray the solution on the carpets in the living room and basement. Pray for me.

Warrior

Feeling kind of optimistic

I guess the treatment went okay. I couldnt follow them through the house like I wanted due to the chemicals they spray and the lack of a respirator. The PCOs actually praised my methods of self treated. Take that hubby! I think this spray may do the trick, at least I pray so. No bites last night. I did find a weird stain on the bed but I was able to peel it away so it wasnt a blood stain. At least I pray it wasnt. Will keep you psted. Please pray for my success.