Bedbugs? What do you think?

Hi!

I know I probably shouldn't jump to conclusions before I actually find hard evidence, but I've been obsessing over bedbugs for years (once had a mild flea infestation 8 years ago in my family home) and I can't function properly. So treat this post like a vent...

I went to a party on April 11th (an apartment I've been to many times before, the difference was that there were more people invited), our friends gave me and my girlfriend a lift home (they have a dog, but she's regularly treated for fleas)... and on the 13th I started getting bites basically all over my body: torso, butt, knees (especially one particular leg and only side of the knee), thighs, neck. They were all random and single, a lot of them. First thought: bed bugs. Second (much later): some kind of hives. I'll keep calling them bites.

I kept getting them for the next few days, and I mean at least 3-5 bites marks daily (they would randomly start itching during the day, which I read is not unusual for bedbug bites, even if you got bit at night), then one day it stopped for a whole week.

I think now I'm either tripping or there's SOMETHING in the house biting me, because I get a random bite here and there (but there's no rule to it – it can be on my hand, on my back or on my knee). It doesn't happen daily. There are also other people in the apartment, so I was thinking that they're getting bit instead, but we're all rather prone to skin irregularities and every other insect biting us causes great itching, big welts and the outcome is in general rather difficult to miss.

I checked the beds, my entire room, my dog's beds. Nothing for now, but I'll keep looking, because I'm literally going crazy.

The last few months were the craziest in my life, so I thought that maybe my skin is acting out because of stress (it wouldn't be too weird), especially since my roommates failed to notice any bugs... but I still can't help wondering if there's an infestation starting to boiling over somewhere and we're just not seeing it.

But then wouldn't I be getting bit more often? Since it's been going on for two months now?

I've been also wondering if it's possible that the bedbugs, if it's them, are migrating between apartments, without staying in ours in a growing population?

Thanks!

*We also have a dog, but she's always treated on time.

*There are birds visiting us quite often, but they only sit on the ledge, and tbh I've never had anything bite me because of birds. At least I think so.

*I found SOME KIND OF A BUG in our bathroom, but it was too small for me to take a picture. It was on a toilet paper roll and was very light in color. Didn't see any more of them after killing that one. Our ventilation system connects us with other apartments and the roof, which could technically bring us back to the birds.