Ugh!! Lice!

Well, we had a nice Thanksgiving Eve. I got off work early and we ran to the store, rented a few movies and came home to start preparing for the feast. Jack helped daddy and I with pies, fruit salad, and sweet potatoes. It was really nice and fun. We did as much as we could the night before which was really good since when I gave the babies their baths this morning I noticed black things all over Erica's head.

After a bunch of looking and poking and phone calling we decided it was lice. We had hopes that it wasn't because they were black and all accounts I've heard say that the little eggs are white or tan. But when I look at them under a magnifying glass I knew they were bugs and when I looked online I found a picture of an egg and it was identical to what was on her head.

What a nightmare. So here's what we did and what we'll be doing for the next few weeks:

1.) We have tons of laundry and I'm not exaggerating, we have a lot of laundry and it doesn't get done as often as it should and it piles up. So we bagged all of the laundry and took the bags out to the garage. We are working on one bag at a time.

2.) Then we got all of the stuffed animals (Jack's "friends" as he calls them) and put them in the garage in a garbage bag.

3.) We waited until after we ate and it was almost bedtime and then we treated Megan. We found one nit/louse/something buggy. We got her done and put her to bed.

4.) We treated Jack next and found nothing at all. We finished up and sent him to bed.

5.) Then we treated Erica. That poor baby screamed and thrashed about almost the whole time. She did fall asleep briefly but it wasn't long enough. We combed and combed and combed. When I went to rinse out the combing gel I saw a couple more eggs. We never found any adults or "nymphs". I picked out what I could in the tub. I'm pretty sure I missed some. Tomorrow we will do another comb through after DH comes home.

6.) After she was in bed we treated me. DH found no eggs or anything. I hope he didn't miss any.

7.) Then I sprayed the living room and hall floors with lice killer and vacuumed thoroughly. I also sprayed the sofa.

8.) I put a plastic garbage sack (55 gallon, heavy duty) in the hamper and all of the clothes go directly in there and the sack gets closed up to keep them away from anything that has been cleaned.

9.) We will wash the bedding for the babies daily and will continue to comb and check everyone daily.

10.) Tomorrow I will go out and spray down the car with the lice killer stuff.

11.) I'm going to start vacuuming daily for awhile which I should do anyway but I'm always too tired.

I was pretty freaked out at first but then I got a plan and have felt a lot better because I know exactly what I'm going to do. I have always felt bad for people dealing with lice. There is such a stigma about it but I don't think I know anyone whose family hasn't dealt with the issue. I'm hoping this will be our first and last time.

I still can't figure out where Erica got it since no one else has it here or at the babysitter's house. It's not like she goes anywhere else. I just hate that we had to hold our 15 month old down for over two hours to comb through all of her hair. My poor little girl. I'm praying that she isn't too traumatized.

Anyway, I wished I had a step by step guide with ideas for managing the dirty clothes and bedding and keeping them away from the clean stuff. I don't imagine people will read this but in case they do, I thought this might help.

I can't believe we got through the day. Twin babies, a four year old, and lice are not a great combination. I'm praying that this will be the end of it. You could pray for that too, I would like that.