Aww Kirsty - us pregnant chicks have a hard enough time sleeping anyway hey! Remember that nightmares/vivid dreams can be a pregnancy symptom, my pregnancy dreams are like nothing else!
Here are the Nelle tips of the day:

-Arm yourself with knowledge! Read other people's birth experiences (the positive ones - AVOID any scary ones, they won't help), read the BellyBelly articles on birth, keep asking questions about what to expect. Knowledge that helped me, was to know that a contraction felt like a wave, you can feel it coming, it builds up, peaks, washes over you and away. That really really helped me to expect that for some reason!

- Will your partner be able to come home when you go into labour? I laboured for awhile by myself, and it wasn't too bad. I just tried to nap between contractions. Make sure, like others have said, that his phone is always charged and is on notice to come as soon as you call.

- Be prepared - have a labour bag packed with ANYTHING you think you might need - cordial, lollies, hair clips, music, back massagers, magazines (for after, hehe, you might not feel like light reading while pushing! ), essential oils, heat packs...whatever you think you might want!

- I found it helpful to tell myself that labour doesn't last forever. No-one's been in labour forever. So, labour will start, and then after awhile (I told myself 12 hours, which could have been a fib, but I ended up having an 11 hour labour!) it will end. And you will have a baby - and then you might even say (like I did, and many other women do) yeah, I could do that again, easy.

- I also found it helpful not to think too much about it - you can know in your head what to expect, but you can't know what it'll actually feel like, so don't worry about it - deal with it when it happens. You will have everything you need, all your stuff, all your natural hormones will kick in and take over to help you (to the point where I didn't even consider asking for drugs!!) - your body knows what to do, and in most cases, does it quite well!

Another thing is - you're 26 weeks right - not to bring the mood down, but when I was almost 40 weeks, I wouldn't have flinched if you'd offered to do a DIY caesarian section for me - I just wanted it out!! You will feel like the mothership, where all the crew are beached whales wearing army boots, tired, hot, bothered - and then you will feel those first niggles and go 'ooer...but YAY, I am evicting this creature and will get to meet it!!' For many people, it's scary and exciting all at once - it's a relief to know you'll be ending the pregnant stage and starting the mum stage. Finally!

Keep asking questions and talking about your fears, that's really healthy, and there's heaps of us to reassure you!