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.

Whew!

Just finished preparing for my next treatment. I am having more rooms treated this time, both baths and my finished basement plus living room closet so I spent about 5-6 hours after work prepping. You wouldn't believe how much prep work it takes. They come tommorrow between 8-10am. I plan on staying during the treatment this time to ensure things are treated to my standards.

I still dont know what the red streak on sheet was. I inspected my bed and found nothing. I stop sleeping on my piillow in case it i harboring bugs.

I think I had a break through with my Mom. Tonight, while prepping for treatment, she stated that she cannot wait until this is all over. I consider it a break through since she is admitting there is something to get over instead of denying that there our bugs still present.

Well,i am off to find a nice bed bug free hotel to stay at while the chemicals dry in our home. Please pray for our success.
-Warrior

Ugh Again

This morning I woke up and found little streaks of red on my fitted sheet. I also found some sort of caked red substance on the back of my bare shin. Sigh. The worst part is not really knowing for sure whether it is due to a bed bug or not. But what else could it be. You have to assume it is and react. The good news is that I dont have any bites so that must mean they are bitting my husband. I hope it doesnt mean I am becomming immune and wont notice the bites. I want the warning system that comes with reacting to bites. Anyway, I will again inspect my bed this evening to make sure the frame is bed bug free. My bedding is already in the washer and I will put them in the dryer on 100 minutes to make sure any bug beds present will die.

I'm hopeful that this will help my mental state

Long story short. I have bed bugs. Sigh. People don't understand the havoc bug begs have on the lives of people infested by them.

I am no longer sure where I got them. Had a romantic weekend away at a hotel and I thought I got them there. Called them and they denied having any problems with bed bugs. Then I asked my rental office if my neighbors may have them. They wouldn't divulge that information. Ugh, right?

So I am hoping that my neighbors dont have them and that I do not spread them as I would never forgive myself for causing someone else the emotional and mental turmoil that these bugs have caused me.

So far, trying to get rid of these things have cost me about $700. The exterminatior (now called PCO - Pest Control Operators) charge $208 for first treatment and will charge me $125 for a follow up spray. I hear I got off easy as some PCOs charge much more. I also bought a new box spring, countless mattress covers, pesticides, caulking equipment, dozes of XXL ziplock bags, and other storage things. It actually may be a little over $700. If you count the things I threw away, then it is much more than $700 but I try not to dwell on that.

Anyway, PCO came and treated three weeks ago and we are still seeing bugs (not many because they are really good at hiding but I saw one while working on laptop on my couch and we saw one on our ceiling). Still getting bites. The PCOs are coming again on Tuesday. It is recommened by some health departments that you get treated at least twice. I am probably going to get treated three times though I worry about the chemicals since I have a five year old and five month old. We stay away for extra long time to ensure that all the chemicals have dried before we come home.

Anyway, my mother is temporarily staying with us to help with daycare. She and my hubby have not exactly taken this thing seriously. Bedbugs, due to years of evolution, are extremely hard to get rid. It requires a lot of hard work and diligence. And time. I am hypervigilant. They are treating me like I have gone bongers. I did the research, I know how bad it could get if we dont take the actions that I am taking. Mom and hubby think that they are gone. They think I am getting a little carried away with all my caulking and spraying and applying powder to kill them. Most of all, they are not really helping! Ugh, right?

Anyway, as of last night, I saw a blod spot on one of our pillows. Dead give away that a bug is present. This morning, I saw what I think is half the body of a bed bug on my other pillow. So, they are not gone. My Mom sleeps in our finished basement. I found a casting of bed bug of skin (Ewww!!). So we have reason to believe they are down in the basement. I also think I saw one on my couch, so they are on the first floor, and we know they are in our bedroom. My Mom and hubby do not react to the bites. I do. They are very similar to misquito bites.

The thought of bugs crawling on me in my sleep is just tooooo much. Writing on forums and blogging has a calming effect on me. That and prayer helps me cope. I also want something to remember this trying time in my life. I know I can beat this. I plan on documenting my efforts in hopes of one day helping someone else dealing with this problem.

I isolated all the beds,
I got a professional PCO treating us (second treatment is this week),
I am applying DE powder to all the corners and baseboard and any other crevice they may hide in,
I am applying a DE solution to all the carpets,
I washed and bagged all our clothing and put them in ziplocked bags,
I eliminated almost all the clutter in my room, not ever a picture is hanging. Just my TV, hubby's weight bench and weights, a bible on my dresser, a night stand, and another set of drawers.

One of the worst things about being infested is not being sure when they are really gone. It has been proven that they will go dormant if their food supply is taken away and will stay dormant for 18 months before dying. That means you basically have to wait until you are not bitten for 18 months before you can officially say you are in the clear. I am telling you, every itch I feel torments me. Every sensation on my skin feels like a bug is crawling on me. I can't sleep very well due to waking every couple of hours to make sure there are no bugs on me or my babies. Ugh, right?

Anyway, I am soon off to Target (one of numerous trips to the store to buy things to eradicate these bugs) to buy more covers for our beds, and ziplock bags, and whatever else I see that may help us win this war that much sooner.

Toodles for now. Please pray for my success.