My wife and I had bed bugs. For the record, we are perfectly clean people. I was just never cognizant of how they were picked up and did not prepare. I still trace it back to a new year's trip to Puerto Rico but maybe it was from a later stay at some hotel. For the record, at hotels, do not store your luggage on the floor or nearby the bed. Don't put anything near the bed. Put everything high in a closet, you do not want a bedbug attaching to your stuff. If you are in a hotel, look for them, under the mattress! Seriously look around your hotel room every time.
The key to crushing them I believe is early detection. I mean, it was 6 months or so after the fact of that Puerto Rico trip until we found them. We prolonged it some. We had a young daughter who woke up in the middle of the night sometimes. Sometimes, the light would go on and we would find a bug. it happened twice, maybe three times until we put two and two together. We simply thought they were some weird bug our dog picked up, who often lays on our bed. He too is a clean dog, but he gets to run around outside a lot. Anyway, they were only found after we laid there for a bit, then they would come out. Basically, they pick up on your presence after a bit. It always seemed to be at night though. They are called bed bugs, likely for a reason. My research at the time said that they stay contained near a bed. I'd say it's an evolutionary thing but, that's when we are vulnerable and this is why I believe it is likely it's an evolutionary thing by them. And they can detect something we give off in our sleep, pretty sure that is what I learned. They are tricky little ************(insert your cuss word of choice here). But, finally, my wife is like "we got bed bugs." FML
So, yes extermination is expensive. I figured I would go the fun route instead. I bought a nice steamer online. It comes with different nozzles and stuff. But I started steaming every square millimeter of my bed and the surrounding area, many times. It was work. Clothes were thrown in the dryer for long periods of time and then tied and put in safe bags and stored downstairs. More things were steamed. More clothes were dried and placed in bags, it was a PITA. Suitcases were steamed, carpet, clothes, etc. I always taped my bedroom door at the bottom when I would leave after going in there and exterminating :). that was the concentrated area so it was the no-go zone for a while. I would tape it heavily, it was paranoia ha. We lived in the spare bedroom of the house. Looking back we could have probably done a little less work. But, I didn't want them back.
The young ones are small and clear too. The big ones are much more visible. But where they love to go is in small crevices. they love to hide in the lip of the mattress. That little lip around the bottom of the mattress, that was the go-to spot. Corners of the bed, just any tight spot they can sneak in, you must exterminate every part to be safe.
Extermination is tedious. I would have called our infestation minor to maybe start getting into intermediate. It's hard to recall how often we were getting bit. I don't feel like it was common enough to where I was worried. If we noticed we chalked it up to a mosquito bite. I do recall having a bite similar to how they feed. they bite in trios basically. Where there is one bite, there is a second, and third in the area, called "breakfast, lunch, and dinner"(A****LES!!!!) :). At this time is when my wife said we had them, that was just further evidence. And then, I killed them all! :)