tinaballina wrote:how did you know you had them?
That's a story in and of itself.
We saw little Joyce had what appeared to be bites all over her. They didn't seem to be bothering her, but we were concerned. The doctor said, "baby eczema". So we bought skin cream.
Then the bites started showing up on Michiko. They were driving her
crazy. This ain't no baby eczema! She went to see a doctor. "Insect bites" was the diagnosis. But what? The doctor wasn't able to say.
Michiko then went on an internet hunt. She suspected bed bugs. I tore apart the bed, and there they were. Yuck!
The problem with this whole story is that it took us a month from the time the bites started showing on Jocye until we figured out what was happening. The bed bugs are now well established.
Michiko won't even spend the night in the apartment anymore. We're going to be staying at my mother's -- and we'll strip down into fresh clothes the minute we get there and all our clothes will go straight into the washing machine.
In the mean time, I have to finish moving our stuff out of our unit, and we have to figure out how to de-bug everything we move out -- otherwise the bugs will be back the minute we move things back in.
For those that travel, take precautions. Your luggage is normally how you bring home bed bugs. Don't set luggage down on beds. Some even recommend putting your clothes straight in the washer after travel. Bed bug precautions are worth reading up on. Its a HUGE hassle to get rid of them once they get in. Every item laundered. You have to move out so they can spray. Everything you move out has to some how be treated. And even then there's no guarantee. Bed bugs hide deep in cracks and it's hard to get the spray to them. And bed bugs are very pesticide resistant. And of course how special to have pesticides in one's home.
HJ