Posted by Andrea on July 06, 2005 at 18:55:44:
Last year we had a starling nest in the attic above our bedroom. I was pregnant at the time and didn't have the heart to remove it. The birds came back this spring. During that time I woke up one morning with some type of itchy welts/ bug bites all over my legs. At first I thought it was just a fluke, maybe a spider got in our bed--whatever.
When it happened a second time I got nervous and looked online and started reading about bed bugs. I immediately washed all our sheets in hot water with bleach. I also vaccuumed our bedroom and had my husband vaccuum the matters, lifting it up and vaccuuming the box spring, etc. This seemed to help and I thought the problem was gone. I also called an exterminator and had the birds nest removed. He said he couldn't reach the nest, but got the birds out and then doused it with something that he said would kill anything in there.
Unfortunately, I am still battling the problem, but I don't know what it is. I keep a very clean house and vaccuum regulary, change sheets weekly, etc. Every few weeks though I wake up with bug bites all over my legs. Last night I was laying in bed when I noticed a bug bite. I got up and check in the bathroom and they were once again all up and down my leg and they were fresh! I immediately turned on the lights and checked the bed, but didn't see anything at all. Finally I did notice a little black speck. I put it in a paper towel, but it's so small I couldn't tell what it was, though I suspect some kind of bug.
My husband has never been bit, neither have my two kids (thank heavens!) This has happened about four/five times now. I regularly wash our sheets with bleach, and I also regularly vaccuum our mattress, though not the underneath or box spring. I'm scared we have beg bugs, but feel crazy because I don't SEE anything. Clearly something is biting me though. Does anyone have any thoughts? I've been reading about bird mites, and I'm wondering if that's it. Where do they live though? Should we get rid of our mattress? Also our floors are carpeted. This is making me very nervous as I have a 9 month old baby who sleeps with me regularly. Sorry this post is so long. Any advice would be appreciated....