Good night, sleep tight ...

So, we discovered this week (Tuesday night, actually) that our house had been infested with bedbugs.  Actually, Vic saw a small, reddish-brown bug crawling across the newspaper that was lying on our bed.  He killed it and we both looked at it, with no idea what kind of bug it was.  We scooped it into a plastic baggie and went downstairs to look it up on Google.  (What would we do without Google?)  That's how we discovered it was a bedbug.  We had no idea what to do or how one even gets bedbugs.  Truthfully, I thought bedbugs were the stuff of legend nowadays, not existing outside of the childish singsong, "Good night.  Sleep tight.  Don't let the bedbugs bite."  The info on the Web was grim - bedbug eradication requires professional extermination.  Raid won't do it.

Wednesday morning I was at work, frantically calling all the exterminators in our area.  Thankfully, Terminix was able to send out an inspector that day.  I showed him the specimen we'd so nicely preserved in plastic and he confirmed that it was, indeed, a bedbug.  I arranged for an exterminator to come the next morning.  Thursday, Vic and I both took off work to help in the process.  It took all day, y'all.  The exterminator got there shortly before 9 AM and didn't leave 'til 3 PM.  We had to move everything away from the walls, as every carpeted room had to be treated.  That means every room in our house, minus the kitchen and bathrooms.  I've never heard of a better reason for getting hardwood floors.  We had to get rid of our mattress and box spring.  Thankfully, Sarai's mattress was fine, as she still has the plastic baby mattress.  All drawers had to be pulled out and treated.  All clothes have to be washed and dried or drycleaned.  All carpets have to be vacuumed and then the vacuum has to be thrown out, since we have the bagless variety because the little bastards can crawl back out of the vacuum if the vacuum isn't discarded.  All linens had to be gotten rid of.  It cost $350 which is well worth it, believe me.  I would pay much more for my piece of mind.

The exterminators will have to come back in two weeks for a follow-up and then will be back every three months for a year, to make sure nothing else tries to invade.  I have to give a huge thumbs up to Terminix, particularly our exterminator, Gaylen.  The customer service was awesome and he was really good at answering all our questions and talking us through the process.  On the bright side, this was a blessing in disguise - our house has never been so organized, not even when we were newly moved in.  We are going to be the cleanest people on the planet in future, do you hear me?  Even though we know that bedbug infestation has nothing to do with cleanliness level, it just gives me the heebie-jeebies to think that they were in there, sucking our blood and living in our mattress.  The nasty little BASTARDS!

By the way, apparently, the bedbug thing is an epidemic.  If you don't believe me, read today's Sun (www.sunspot.net) - there's a whole article about the little buggers.  You get them when you travel - they often come home in your clothes or luggage.  We have no idea if we picked them up during our trip to NYC, our recent cruise, or if Vic brought them home on his clothes, since he works part time in a hotel.  He's quitting.

Comments

[Velvet]

Aah, so you found the article and know that there's an epidemic. Four or five years ago, my friend had foreign guests in her house and they left bedbugs behind. EXCEPT in 2002, no one knew what bedbugs were, and it took forever to get rid of them. Shoot, I think the owner of the whole operation had to come see for himself. Anyway, yes, they probably came from the hotel. Hate to say it, but foreigners don't embrace the clean like we do here in the states.

[sparkles anon]

You probably got them in NYC; they've had an epidemic in hotels there. It doesn't matter whether it's the Ritz or the diviest hourly-rate motel -- they're everywhere.

[Kristen]

Oh no! I am so sorry to hear that. I'd been aware of the epidemic for a while and was always so nervous that they'd get into my house, because for about 2 years I was practically living in hotels in various cities, 5 days a week, for work.

Hope everything turns out ok and the little buggers realize they're not welcome in your house!

[PhillyPhile]

I am glad that you saw the article. As soon as I started reading your post, I was thinking, hmm I just read about bedbugs in the Baltimore Sun. I hope you don’t have as much of a problem as the folk in the article.

[Toya]

Thankfully, the bedbugs seem to have been isolated - they were just in our bedroom. The rest of the house showed no signs of them. Thank GOD!

[Mel]

Thank God, indeed! I was just about to ask you about the couches in the basement!!! LOL ;)