Oh no! Bedbugs!?

My spouse and I got itchy bug bites on our legs which I thought were chigger bites. After all, it is summer and we had walked through damp grass. But when the spots spread and then spread again, my husband called the doctor.

It was the nurse who greeted us who said it first: "Bedbugs!"  Oh, no!

I never had a problem with bedbugs before but of course I had heard of them. And we had stayed in a hotel a few weeks before, which the doctor says fits the pattern. He prescribed a cream and said to launder all bedding the next day. We did, and also vacuumed the carpets and furniture and checked the mattress. It was already encased in a allergy-resistant cover which apparently protected it. I rolled a sticky lint-removal gadget back and forth over the cover and found no bugs. I guess they got on us at the hotel but did not have a chance to spread throughout our home.

The itchy bites are fading. Next time we go to a hotel I'll be more careful. I'll keep the luggage off the bed and carpet and check the bedding first thing.

By the way, the hotel was expensive because it faced the ocean. This did not mean it was immune to bedbugs, though, so be cautious when you travel.