Day 6

Not much time at home on Thursday, thus, not much done.

Bagged some of the previous day's laundry into sets or into put away bags.

I started a search of the couch and found 2 bugs. UGH. so I sprayed them with the alcohol and sprayed more alcohol into the dark depths under the cushions. Hopefully the catchers with fit the couch legs.

Taped up one of the book bins, but then got distracted by something non-bug related that needing doing.

Cancelled the cleaning lady for Friday.

Pushing Through - Day 5

I am determined to get a large chunk of laundry today, if nothing else, I am already able to see holes in my wardrobe planning thus far. I am hoping for 3-4 wash loads and 1-2 dryer only loads. Only 2 wash loads and 1 dryer load got done.

The rest of the plan for tonight is bagging some unwashables that are currently in plastic bins and using the bins for photographs (which are really untreatable and must go into 18 month isolation). - DONE

Then more vacumming and possibly an inspection of the couch (which I have been avoiding). - NOT done

Just decided to get plastic bins to hold file folders today also since that is necessary, files are in my bedroom. That should go fairly quickly tonight and I can get them taped up, any new items to file that come in will go into plastic bags, I guess. - NOT done

update - I did hear from the Association rep. The leadership meets Thursday night and he will talk to me (more likely, I call him) on Friday to see what they decided. I was told that they usually cover exterminations. On one hand, good, saves a huge expense. On the other hand, I really want to be comfortable with the exterminator. SO, I am going to insist that I speak with whomever they choose, if it is not my choice - and if I am not satisfied, I will use my choice instead.

I look around each day and there is till just SO MUCH to do. my place seems to be getting MORE chaotic with all the bags and bins lying about.

It seems the cats, or maybe just one of the cats, has torn at least one of the space bags that are now filling up rooms. Now I need to check each on and tape over any tear I find, also just go buy replacements. I cannot afford bins for everything!

Money spent today:

ClimbUp monitoring devices - $115.90
Plastic file boxes - $25.98
Laundry refill - $20.00

Little Progress - Day 4

Well, as expected, it is hard to keep up the steam through the week. Several factors converged to make today unproductive, it really doesn't warrant going into why.

What I did do:

-dryer treated 2 more large throw pillows from the living room bagged and sealed
-bagged up the craft items that had been under my bed - sealed waiting treatment or 18 months
-organized in my mind a strategy for Wed night when I will have some help again
-online research uncovered some nearby resources for some items I need to treat non-washables as well as isolating furniture (product that will trap bugs trying to get on or get off of furniture, it is not a repellent, so they do not just head elsewhere)

Still no word from the association. I will call several times today, if I still get nothing, I will make some decisions on my own.

another fact:

- bedbugs/eggs cannot be killed by freezing in a normal home freezer

no money spent today.

Tedium - Day 3

At some point I need to write a post about shame and stigma, but not right now.

I'll clean this up a bit later.

Woke up too late to do any laundry, even dryer only loads, but I did pick up the 2 loads that had been in over night and started bagging them. What I didn't get finished I put into a XXL Ziploc for holding.

1st day dealing with all this and work and school. We got off without a hitch, but I am going to have this nagging at the back of my head wondering if I am taking any bugs or eggs with me (worrying about this will eat up a lot of my brain time during the day, but I might have thought up a plan to at least help - more later).

NO email from the association people. I call and wait on hold for a while, but have to get back to work. No email answer from my hope-to-be exterminator either (about treating pets and if he has some products I want). I tell one friend at work and she tells me of a mutual friend who had them, so I will contact that person. At lunch I have to call our sitter. We have regular hours with her each week and I want to let her know the situation before she comes over. big stress, must be a grown-up. Well, turns out, they had them in her house 2 years ago. She gets it, she knows I need help right now, she is ok. YAY! I have decided any guests we have over (and I think she and family will be it) can only go into the kitchen.

After work I get XXL Ziploc on two storage bags that had been under my bed. I had sprayed them down with alcohol when I pulled them out, but as my brain was working today, I realized any eggs on them would just continue to hatch and give me more bugs. ugh. So I spray them down again and get them bagged.

I also spray down the shoes I wore today after going into my room. Spraying shoes I think will become ritual before leaving the house each day. (part of that plan I mentioned)

With my son decompressed from school and watching some shows, I get 2 loads of laundry in and a dryer only load (stuffed animals). I have help tonight and she gets to work bagging the clothes I had left from this morning. Then she boxes up 4 small rubbermaid tubs with books. The books are in the living room and I know the bedroom should be my main focus, but books I've read can go away for 18 months and I'd like a set of that boxed up in case this becomes a long ordeal. **need to still tape those up .

Later I get a large rubbermaid tub filled with shoes and belts and taped all up. I flatten out around 20 shoe boxes and get them into plastic bags to toss out. I also bag up a whole slew of paper goods (tissue paper, paper bags, decorative napkins and plates that I was going to try and get rid of, plus some shopping bags in the hall closet) and toss them all. I have plenty more, this is the decluttering that I need to do. I fill the last small rubbermaid bin I have with small electronics from my bedroom - all things that can go away for 18 months - and tape it up.

While I had help I did my first vacuuming of my bedroom since the discovery. Really this should have happened day 1 or 2, but it didn't. I tried to just focus under the bed and where things that had been under then bed had been sitting once pulled out. After, I put the bag in a ziploc and tossed it, I also removed the part that holds the bag (no electrical elements in that part) as well as the air filter pieces, and poured boiled water over and through them.

I still have a lot to wash, and I am stressing over all my non-washable clothes. I don't really trust my local dry cleaner to do what needs to be done or to understand bed bug specific protocol. I may just bag it up and wait for the PackTite. And then there is all my season clothing that is already in storage, is it affected? That is winter stuff so treating it is going to be a nightmare.

Money spent today:

More ziploc bags - $11.43

Big Push Day - Day 2

It's Sunday and I am saying to myself, "you need to get as much done today as possible because there will be very little you can get done during the week." I also feel that I need to feel ok about leaving the house each day, feel good that I have done everything I can to limit the spreading of any eggs.

I bag up the linens from my bed that had been treated, but were still in the laundry. bag and seal.

I bag up the half of the living room throw pillows that got treated. bag and seal.

I get the next loads ready. I am working on two tracks with the laundry. Track 1 is: Get the clothes we need to wear treated and bagged so the risk of spreading is decreased. Track 2 is: Get everything that can be put away treated so they can get bagged in storage bags and out of the way. I need to do some of both. I focus on the Track 1 goal for my son's clothes. I want him to have all his clothes to choose from just like normal and I want it clean and organized so he can work with a system and I can minimize exposure. I focus on Track 2 with my bedroom since that is the only place we actually know there are bugs at the moment. Also because it is the most cluttered and needs clearing out before the exterminator can come do a treatment.

No word from the Association people. I really don't expect to hear anything until Monday, but I had hoped.

Some things I've learned about Bed Bugs (aside from the Laundry Treatment in previous post):

- They do not spread disease

- They only feed on blood (so no real concern of them infesting food or anything)

- They can hibernate without a feeding for 18 months (thus the treatment for non-washables of sealing them up for 18 months)

- If you have bed bugs and you change where you are sleeping, they will either go into the long hibernation mentioned about or to a nearby new source. It will not eliminate them

- Boric Acid will not kill them

I go to the grocery store and buy 5 boxes of gallon size zipper bags, I also get 2 boxes of the XXL Ziploc bags because I already know that I do not have enough Space bags for the job.

My plan with the gallon sized bags is to put one "outfit" into each, a day's wear. I can put the bags into our normal dressers, and even if they dressers are infested, the clothes will stay clear and will throw away bags after use. Highly wasteful, but I really plan to be as aggressive as I can muster. I think I washed 6 loads today and then dryer treated another 2. It was a lot, but there is still so much more to wash. I have not even started in on any towels or spare sheets. The plan for the outfit bags mostly works (sometimes it takes 2 bags for 1 outfit), and we are at least set for the coming week.

I go through a few areas of my bedroom and identify enough stuff to toss to fill a small garbage bag. I tie it up, seal it up and then toss it.

I go buy 2 large and 6 small rubbermaid tubs. I decide that I need to start addressing all the stuff in my bedroom that cannot be washed. In my online research I found this thing called PackTite, it was made to treat luggage for bedbugs, but is now being actively used by people to treat many things that cannot be laundered (not everything can be treated in it, I asked them about CDs and DVDs and they said no). I am on a list to be contacted with PackTites become available, they are currently all sold out (I'm pretty sure bedbugs are a growth industry). My thought is to pack the tubs up and then seal them with packing tape until they are airtight. I will try to pack them in two groups: 1) Things to treat when the PackTite comes 2) Things that cannot be treated in the PackTite and need to stay sealed for 18 months.

I'll go over all this with the exterminator. He may say it's a stupid plan.

I pack one of the big ones with purses, bags, and a few hats. I pack one small one with jewelry and various jewelry boxes. I start on a second small one, but I think I need to re-do it, I think it is a mix of things that could be treated and things that can't.

I foresee a lot of things leaving my house in 18 months, or even post treatment. Some clothes are already getting tossed after I wash them. I just had to think, would I miss wearing this for a few months or even the next six months and some items did not pass.

Money spent today:

Laundry refill $30

Zipper bags $22.69

Plastic bins $72.52

Getting to work - Day 1

First things first, I go pull the sheets and mattress pad off my bed and put them immediately into a plastic bag.

It is still not quite 7am, but I put in a call to the exterminator. I figure I will leave a message and move on to something else, but no, he answers and we go over a few things. I email my homeowners association, I need a few things from them: 1) I have bed bugs, that probably means they are in other units and/or the common areas. 2) Do they have a contract with an exterminator that I am obligated to use? 3) I found some documents used by other groups in New York to inform residents and staff, pass them along. 4) They need to conduct examinations of the residents next to me and they need to inform all residents. 5) Pass along the number of my exterminator as someone to contact for guidance.

OK - what next? Everything I have read thus far regarding what to do when you discover bed bugs in your place basically starts with: ACT FAST. BE AGGRESSIVE. STAY DILIGENT.

I decide that what I really need to do is wash things as fast as possible (details on wash regime later), and get the area that I know is affected encased in a plastic wrapper.

Unfortunately, our day is not free. In fact, I have obligations that will keep me out of the house from 10am - about 3pm. All I do before we leave is take stock of what I need to get done, inform people, and take a long hot scrub-filled shower.

LAUNDRY REGIME TO KILL BEDBUGS & EGGS - The articles I read online (a good summary of information is at bedbugger.com here) suggested washing things in hot water and then drying on HOT for an hours (or until bone dry + 20 minutes) whichever is longer.

I've decided everything washable in the house will get this treatment. According to some of what I read, some believe it is only the drying that kills the eggs, so I decided I will just dry the harder to wash items and some items that I am pretty sure would be damaged if washed. These include: throw pillows on bed and couch, some silk items, tennis shoes, and stuffed animals.

Before anything gets washed or encased, I have armed myself with a spray bottle with 90% rubbing alcohol. This will kill live bugs, NOT eggs, but live bugs only. The exterminator suggested have this on hand before dealing with the mattresses so that I could kill any live bugs I see and get maybe a few non-squeezed to death samples. I have cheapo plastic encasers for all the mattresses in the house. The exterminator says not to invest in the expensive ones until I get treatment for the house. First I pull out everything from under my bed and look for evidence on them, find a little, spray spots down in case there are small live bugs there. Then I go to work carefully lifting up my mattress and spraying any live bug I see as well as any spotted area (where they have defecated) in case there are some live ones there. There are only two areas I see and I get 3 more live bugs from them. yuck yuck yuck. I carefully remove the dust ruffle from between the mattress and box springs and get it into the plastic bag with the sheets. I spray down all the seam area around the mattress, in that crease area is a prime place for the bugs and their eggs. Then I prop the mattress up on one end and get up on the box springs and go about getting the plastic cover on and then pull it back down to get it zip on around the end. 1 down. Then that comes off the bed and now I have to figure out how to do the box spring. Thank goodness I only have a full sized bed, I do not think I could have done a queen by myself. The exterminator warned my that there may be places on the bedframe that would tear the plastic, so to be very careful. Actually what seemed to want to tear the plastic on mine was these plastic caps on the bottom corners of the box spring itself. I raised up both ends of the box spring and librally sprayed the alcohol down all edges and slats. Little by little pulling here, easing there, I get the cover on the box spring and zip it up. I already feel a lot better. I see one hole on the top of the plastic wrap on the box spring, so I get some heavy clear tape and seal it up. Mattress back on.

Next up is laundry for the comforter, sheets, mattress pad, and dust ruffle. All the items that I know have had live bugs on them. I kept the items sealed up in the plastic bags until I am at the machines and the doors are open. I dump the stuff in as fast as possible close it up and get that hot water flowing. Then I toss the plastic space bags I used for transport into the garbage.

When it was time to move them to the dryer, I bring down all the throw pillows from my bed and I put them in for an hour in the dryer on high also. Things end up being in the dryers overnight.

I make my now plastic wrapped bed in light colored sheets so that I will be able to watch carefully for evidence.

My son's bed has no live bugs (that I find) and no evidence in the form of spots. Still he gets a new plastic wrap for his bed and everything in his room will be treated.

Money spent today:

2 bottles 90% rubbing alcohol - $9.00

spray bottles - $5.41 (for 3)

4 vinyl mattress zipper close covers - $62.65

Space Bags - $83.66

rubber gloves - $6.50

The Realization

Early Saturday morning my son came into my room and woke me up. He'd wet his bed, needed to go to the bathroom and needed me to be there in the scary dark. All cleaned up and ready for more sleep he heads with me to my bed (as his is wet and the plastic mattress pad got torn, so now the mattress has a wet spot too). It's a warm and humid summer night, the A/C is on, but I keep it at 77/78, so there is no need for the down comforter that is still on my bed. It is piled in a mess off to one side and as my son slides into bed I flop the comforter over some to get it more at the end of the bed and out of the way. That is when I see them, two black bugs about the size of lentils. Instinctively I swat at them and I catch one. There is a blood stain now on my comforter. hmm my tired brain says, small bug in my bed that is full of blood, I know what that is. ugh gross yuck, oh no, please no, really no no no.

My son is quickly back to sleep, but not so for me. I am up and on the internet. Google "Bed Bugs". I read for maybe 15 minutes, realize that I need to get a sample of the bugs to make sure that is what it is (otherwise, the sites tell me, I will need an exterminator to do a full inspection). I also need to contain them to as quickly as possible stop the spreading. So back to the bedroom, this time with some clear tape in hand and a large Space Bag. Luckily I had some unused ones in the front closet. I go to the comforter and slowly, carefully open up a folded area in the dark, nothing in the first one, but the second one reveals another 2 lentil sized bugs and what seems to be smaller ones, or maybe they are eggs. ugh gross gag. I grab a tissue and squeeze it down as hard as possible over the area, then I transfer the two large ones to the clear tape and fold that over on them squeezing again as hard as I can just in case they are still alive. Then I fold that area back down and the rest of the comforter around it and smoosh it as slowly as I can muster into the space bag and then zip that mother shut. Then, to be perfectly honest, I do a small heeby jeeby dance.

There is still no chance that I am going to sleep, so I go back to the internet. I find bedbugger.com and I read, and read, and read some more. I Google "Bed Bug Exterminators New York City" and several variations thereof. I find an exterminator highly recommended by people in more that one website. Bookmark that. I find advice about the tons of work I will need to be doing to contain and avoid the spreading.

When my son wakes up, early, but no longer dark outside, I am still online reading and bookmarking and making mental lists. I get him settled in for Saturday morning cartoons and my first day on my Bed Bug Journey begins.