You know, I really don't think that my NEST should include WATERBUGS!!!!

[steph117]

Just need to vent...

We've had a few waterbugs in our apt over the past 2 years - but haven't seen one in MONTHS (thank goodness, because they are horrible, horrible, horrible to me). And here it is, chilly weather in NYC, and not very warm in our apt either, really not "waterbug weather," and I just heard a little rustling noise from nearby, from inside a bag of books for the baby from my mother blessing/shower, and I looked at the bag in horror and watched a freaking enormous waterbug crawl out of the hole in the bottom of the bag, over the top & right back inside. GAAAAAAAH! That was DEFINITELY NOT on our registry

But anyway, NOW I'M FROZEN TO THIS SPOT near the bag, because I'm afraid if I leave the room it will run away & won't be able to be found again, but I'm feeling too chicken to try to catch it, and they're too big to smash, and my hubby won't be home for another hour, so I'm standing "waterbug guard" I guess...

I'm just sitting here thinking, omg, how can I have a homebirth if we have waterbugs in our house? Talk about slowing labor - if I were in labor in our apt & I saw one of those things crawl by I think the baby would just get sucked right back inside me!

AAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!

Ok, vent over. But. Just! GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[birthmommom]

oh god...gross. I am so sorry. we get these sometimes, ugh...


to you.

[Kitten]

What is a waterbug?

[birthmommom]

google it, it looks kinda like a roach...

[the elyse]

i'm dreading the warmer weather because of roaches. *shudder*

have you tried diatomaceous earth?

[steph117]

Gah! It got away! Oh well...we'll catch it eventually (I HOPE).

Kitten, waterbugs are like roaches to the 20th power. Just GIGANTIC roaches. They're ENORMOUS.

Elyse, what do you do with the earth? I was planning to make boric acid/egg yolk "treats" for them tonight.

[lincap]

Oh I am so sorry! We used to live in Miami and the roaches were enough for me! I could barely step on them. ACK. so sorry. Just keep your eye out and keep an empty containter nearby with a brick so you can catch it... and DH can "take care" of it.

[rajahkat]

Eh gads! Those things look scary! And they bite!?! I left FL partly because of the roaches. I swear, there is nothing I HATE more than roaches. I keep a remarkably clean house, but because I refused to spray (no scary chemicals for me, thanks) I couldn't keep them out of my house. Eeks. So I moved to the mountains.

~Kat

[SamuraiMom]

Eeeeeeuw, that thing is gross!!!!! Oh you poor thing, I wouldn't be able to sleep. I didn't know there was anything worse than a roach!

[the elyse]

it's ground up bone (fish...i think?) and when they eat the powder it dehydrates them and they shrivel and die. it makes me smile just thinking about it.

[camille76]

i also think waterbugs are GROSS!!! there was one in the pool once and it was actually swimming aggressively towards me, even changing direction as i changed! CREEPY!!

anyway, i wish i had been on sooner so i could tell you to get a bowl and trap it! that way you'll know where it is and your husband can finish the job when he gets home. that's what i usually do! just put the bowl upside down, trapping the bug. and maybe put something heavy on top to keep it in place.

or... if you get brave, slide a piece of cardboard or something flat and stiff under the bowl and try to take it out and dump it.

[camille76]

btw, here's a picture of a waterbug. enjoy!

click to see

[newmommy27]

I literally just gagged looking at that picture.....I would so be staying in a hotel if one of those was spotted at my house...

On a side note the day we came home from the hospital with my son my in laws (who had lovingly taken care of our dog while we were at the hospital) brought her back with fleas....4 days postpartum and I FREAKED OUT....

started crying made a huge scene...made my husband take her that very moment to the groomer...

it was pretty bad...My crazy pregnancy/postpartum hormones and bugs don't mix

[steph117]

rajahkat...They BITE??? WHAT?????? Oh my gosh, I'd never heard that, that makes them like a million times worse. GAH! We don't spray, either, but I have this recipe for these little roach treats - these little balls you make with bacon grease, egg, boric acid etc, stick 'em around the house & that's supposed to work.

Camille... your pool story gave me the shudders, ACK!! & as for the photo...I did NOT click on the link, but I'm sure everyone who did feels very grateful to you I WOULD have trapped it under a bowl...except I was too freaked out to rustle the bag again, have it run out & possibly miss it. & of course, when DH came home, it turns out it had sneaked out of the bag while I was standing guard. So it's loose in our apt somewhere.

Originally Posted by the elyse

it's ground up bone (fish...i think?) and when they eat the powder it dehydrates them and they shrivel and die. it makes me smile just thinking about it.

...This totally cracked me up Elyse. And reminded me of one of my books...(I am a writer/illustrator), and this one was inspired by my stint living above a restaurant for two years (may I just suggest...don't EVER live above a restaurant!). We were absolutely INFESTED with roaches (the little kind...which I actually think, in their greater numbers, are worse than these mega-guys, though both seem pretty awful). Anyway, it's an epic love story poem about two very fastidious, well-dressed roaches who are very different from their brethren & despair of ever meeting a kindred spirit - but they meet, marry, have a small family of very clean, non-typical and well-dressed roach babies, move into a farmhouse, and live happily...until they are quite abruptly poisoned & flushed down the toilet by the farmer's wife at the end of the story. It's so unexpected an ending after the way it's been set up...I will probably mass-publish it one day because I think a lot of people can relate!

newmommy...glad you have such an understanding hubby!

Hmm...we should probably let this thread go away...I suspect that a LOT of pregnant women DON'T WANT TO BE THINKING ABOUT ENORMOUS COCKROACHES! (insert "shuddering" emoticon here)

[Kitten]

OMG. I looked at the picture. VOMIT. I'd never heard of such a thing and hope to NEVER EVER see one in person.

[trizzle]

I know they exist the world over Steph, but sometimes I think those buggers have a special propensity for Brooklyn (I'm here too, and downright phobic about them-- mice, spiders...I can hack it. Roach types? NOT an option). So sorry you have to deal with this. Want me to lend you my kitty? She is a phenomenal roach hunter. She waits for them like a hawk and then "exterminates". Years back before I moved in with now DH, she would kill them for us and then bring them to my friend/roommate as a gift. I thought the killing part was gift a plenty, thank you...
Of course, the boric acid plan might be more expedient, but we're both here and willing to help if you need us.

[rajahkat]

Yeah, at the suggestion of birthmommom, I googled "waterbug" and it says they bite and it HURTS. I woke up once to have a roach chewing on my toel

shudder EW EW EW!

[ssharon]

We had a waterbug infestation when I was pregnant with this last baby. I couldn't stand it. I couldn't sleep because everytime you turned on the lights they scurried to hide. And it just freaked me out that they were hiding in the dark like that. I finally broke down and had to hire a pest service. That did the trick and I was able to get some sleep.

[the elyse]

you know you're a mom when you'll eagerly look at someone's mucous plug but can't bring yourself to look at a picture of a roach.

[trizzle]

laughup