We bought a mattress cover immediately anyway.

Throughout-June 2011:
Bites would occasionally appear on my partner's arms and legs, and neck; again, I was sleeping in the same bed and had no bites whatsoever. Continued daily inspection & cleaning of the bed/sleeping area/bedroom reveals no sign of the bugs themselves or droppings. Everything I read about bedbugs on internet says a problem exists when you 1) have bites & 2) find the bugs. We find nothing.

Monday night 7/4/2011:
We find the first adult bug on my partners hand during a time we are both awake and active - disgusting. Immediately I save the bug in a jar for evidence. We again inspect a small table near the bed; this time flipping it over and sure enough, on the underside of the table on the side closest to where my partner sleeps: bedbug droppings - horrible! I collect the droppings on a piece of clear packing tape and put it in my evidence jar. We panic a bit because its finally true, but also a bit relieved to know what we are dealing with finally. We mummified the table carefully with packing tape, seal it in a heavy-duty giant garbage bag, seal the bag itself with tape and dispose of it.

Tuesday morning 7/5/11:
We report what we found to the building management. Management is extremely helpful and caring; they immediately call exterminator to set up an appointment with us.

Thursday 7/7/11:
Exterminator confirmed our problem today. We will prepare for treatment. Exterminator also said his next appointment was for the apt. next door-- for a 2nd treatment; I had a theory that the new neighbors traveled the bugs in...