Arhhh! Went to Bed Bath & Beyond this week and now I've got the willies. There were bed bug related products all over the store; sprays and mattress encasements and who knows what else. Then last night there was a beetle on my pillow when I went to bed. I panicked and crushed it in a tissue and flushed it. It was black, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't a bed bug, but maybe I'm wrong! Sure every internet description and picture shows as brown, but what if there is an Illinois sub-species that is black? And a slightly different shape? I should have captured and kept it. I had dreams of infestation all night. Shudder Shudder.
I think I have to go on a bed bug hunt tonight. It was really hard to crush in the tissue. Nothing I read talked about how crunchy they are. Maybe it was a tick? Gah! Sometimes it's hard to be a grown up.
Update September 16: It must have been a random beetle. I found no evidence of bed bugs anywhere. What a relief!