In Case You Were Wondering...

What it's like to have bedbugs, this is the post for you.  Here's a photo of what our apartment looked like the day that we *finally* unpacked after our long and stressful move.  This is what we call the "BEFORE" picture.

Just two days later, we found out that our place has been infested with bedbugs for 3-6 months.  I made the discovery upon finding a row of five bites on my back.  As the days went on, I found more and more bites (the bites have latent effect and can reveal themselves up to ten days after the bite).  By the time we found out about the bedbugs, we had already slept in our new place for five days.  That was enough time for me to accumulate upwards of 50 bites, and for Mr. Squire to accumulate more than 100 bites.  His were worse--his turned into welts, and he had more than 50 bites from his left shoulder to his left hand alone.  These pictures don't nearly do justice to the angry red welts he had all over his body:

He woke up one morning with his entire body on fire because he's very allergic to the bites.  :(  His bites make me so sad.  We spent the next few days mastering the ice pack and spending lots of time running a very hot/very cold cycle of water against his bites:

That's just the effect on our bodies.  

As far as our home went, everything we had just unpacked and all of our newly built furniture was potentially infested--so we had to undo all of our progress, borrow a couple of bedbug baking bags from friends (by God's mercy, we were able to borrow these on short notice rather than purchasing them), sterilize everything by putting through the dryer for 45-60 minutes or baking at 120 degrees for at least one hour--one bag at a time, then packing everything.

This was a three-day process of dawn-to-midnight baking and packing... here's the beginning:

Gives new meaning to "cooking the books":

Endless baking and packing until all the closets were bare...

And all of our possessions were stacked in garbage bags in the bathroom (top of the mountain reserved for the stuffies!)

All furniture deconstructed...

In the process, we became so paranoid about infecting stuff that we started to keep important documents in the freezer and our clean garbage bags and paper towels in the fridge.

And between preparing for a trial, dealing with a bad-move-turned-bedbug-disaster, AND being 6.5 months pregnant... well, I finished a lot of ice cream and cookies (Levain cookies courtesy of TV).  

And that's where things stand today... our exterminator made his first of three visits yesterday.  We've been staying at Big Brother Squire's place for the week while he and his family are on vacation (we know that it is totally God's providence and timing that they were on vacation this week), then Mr. Squire and I are both traveling on business (he to Denver, me to Richmond) for a few days... and then we will have to find another place to go until August 30.  

That's right--we vacated our Brooklyn apartment on July 28, didn't get to even sleep in our new apartment until July 31, didn't get 95% unpacked until August 3 (this is after we canceled our vacation due to the move snafu), and found out about the bedbugs on August 5.  From August 6-10, we frantically created a plan, baked and bagged all of our stuff, and deconstructed our apartment.  And we don't get to move back in until at LEAST August 30.  Worst move ever?  Maybe not -- but it's got to be up there.  (Especially with the trial and pregnancy on top of it.)

The good thing is... I'm finally--FINALLY--at a point when the heavy lifting is over and I can mentally and spiritually and emotionally rest a bit more.  I'm resigned to everything that has happened, and I am beginning to see God again.  It's still really hard, but I can finally acknowledge and thank God for His mercies along the way, like:

• Big Brother Squire and his family being away, enabling us to stay at his apartment (which is on the third floor) while we were baking and bagging--which was a lot more convenient than staying anywhere else;

• Little Brother Squire and his wife coming to help Mr. Squire move our furniture (at 6.5 months pregnant, I can't lift anything heavy anymore), and our friends Harvey and Stephen being willing to come in from the City and put themselves at risk of bedbugs to help us out (they didn't have to come, but their willingness was very touching);

• Our business trips, which will take us out for a few more days;

• AMAZING weather -- which kept our spirits high and made things a lot easier while we were baking (i.e. it helped that on top of paying exorbitant energy bills for running the dryer and the baking units 24/7, we didn't have to pay for AC on top of that to bring the temperature back down -- plus, I hate humidity and heat, so I was in a much better mood with the incredible, unseasonably cool weather); 

• The prayers of many -- especially my women's group and closest sisters at church... I held off for a long time on asking for their prayers, but when I finally broke down in desperation, I felt the prayers of many upholding us;

• Functioning internet at home, which allowed me to work from home over the weekend while helping with the baking and bagging... otherwise, I would have had to leave Mr. Squire to continue to do everything on his own, and that would have broken my heart even more; and last but most importantly:

• My unbelievably strong and persevering and steel-minded hobey.  Even though he is completely spotted with over 100 fiery spots (I call him my dalmation), he just set his mind to conquering this trial and worked tirelessly and uncomplainingly to get everything done.  He never complained, he never whined (much unlike his wife).  He just put his mind to the task, steeled himself, and kept putting one foot in front of the other.  People often think I'm the strong-willed one, but I am convinced more than ever after seeing Mr. Squire at work over the last several weeks through the very difficult move and especially through the first big hurdle of this bedbug thing that he is really the strong one.  Incredible spiritual, emotional, and mental strength.  I couldn't have made it through without him and his strength that at many times had to be ample enough for both of us.  

18 days to go.  We're going to be okay.  I'm just starting to feel that that is true.