I enjoyed reading your post. Your emotion came though in your writing and I can feel how anxious you both must be. Change is frightening but inevitable. And one of the top 3 most stressing things along with death and marriage. You have a lot going on right now, which probably explains the nightmares.
Great quote to end the post. It's a song, right? It's on the tip of my tongue, but can't quite remember the artist.

With everything you're going through it's natural that you are having nightmares.

I would be having a mental breakdown! What I mean to say is that you are handling everything really well.

Keep your chin up, sweetie. It will get better and easier soon.

As someone with a sleep disorder(night terrors are like the worst nightmares ever AND you think you are awake. fun!) the only things that have worked for me have been sleeping pills which is more for actually just getting some sleep rather than getting rid of the terrors, BUT what has really helped is exercise. Try going for a short fast walk or run in the evening. It will release stress which obviously is the cause for the nightmares.
The herbs I use for pain also help.

Clarity: "Has anyone else suffered through repeated nightmares? Any advice on how to curb it?"

Welfl: I was going to say exactly what Alice said. A fair amount of exercise will help with the nightmares and will also improve your sleep in general. It really works for me. You will also feel better when you wake up in the morning. Specifically, do some sit ups every night just before you go to bed. You can gradually increase the number of sit ups every few days. Pretty soon, they become automatic.

There are other ways to improve your health too. I'll leave it up to you to determine what ways those might be.

This last suggestion may sound very strange and "new age-ish" (or dull and unrealistic), but it really works, depending on ones willingness to try. For instance, I mentioned it to Kathleen, and she just made fun of me in her own special way :-). Nonetheless, it worked wonders for me in college, when my mind was racing uncontrollably every night due to an extremely heavy class load and study schedule. It worked so well that I have been able to fall asleep with ease on my own (in other words, without using the technique) ever since college, and I sleep extremely well all night long. I had never had an easy time falling asleep before I tried this technique, which I adopted from a hypnosis technique (note: as far as hypnosis goes, it never worked, but as far as sleeping goes, it's perfect).

What You Need: 1.) An open mind/willingness to try. 2.) A very non-fidgety husband ;-). 3.) Even better, a husband who is willing to try it with you. 4.) A long, soothing, soft instrumental song (25 or 30 minutes). The more instruments played in the song, the better. I don't recommend actual, mainstream "New Age" music, most of which is pure crap (although Deuter, a German musician, is often excellent). Of course, the music you choose must be something you really like and which has little or no negative or dissonant sections in it.

The Rules: Actively (note the emphasis on "actively") listen to the music when you go to bed. By "active," I mean you must concentrate on the "details" of the music, the way you concentrate on the details in your work when you are painting or drawing.

The Specifics: Lie on your back in bed with your eyes closed, arms at sides, legs straight, and imagine the music slowly entwining itself around you. It starts at your toes and moves very slowly to the top of your head (visualize the music as a cross between a gentle mist and a white light, with each instrument being a different "strand" of that mist/light). As the music touches each part of your body, that part of your body relaxes. You must consciously make that part of your body relax as you imagine the music touching it.

That's it. Once you get used to it, you should start to fall asleep before the music is even half way up your body, as I did; and your sleep should be quite peaceful all night, as mine was. If you have a skeptical attitude, it may require some practice before it starts to work. If you have an open mind, it may start working immediately.

That was another long one, wasn't it? If that's how I am when I write, just imagine how I am when I talk. ;-)

Try to think about positive things before going to bed. I find that if I think about stressful problems before drifting off to sleep I ALWAYS have nightmares.

Meditation helps. I don't know if you're into New Age things but it's something to consider.

I have had horrible nightmares ever since I was a little girl. My mother used to worry so much because I'd be screaming and crying all curled up in the corner of my bedroom and when she would come to check on me, I would still be asleep. They aren't quite that bad anymore but I still have them on a regular basis. If you come up with a cure that works, let me know! There have been nights where I stayed awake all night long just to avoid dreaming. ♥

I used to have nightmares all the time. And they were stress related. Once I learned how to handle my stress, they went away (well, not entirely, but better). But, my sister used to have really bad nightmares and they discovered she was eating ice-cream right before bed, and there's something in ice-cream that causes them (although that's american ice-cream, I know German ice-cream is made differently: it actually tastes good).

You can tell I'm just getting caught up here... I've had several occasions in my life where I've had nightmares every night. On the surface, they seemed to be about different things but when I looked at them more closely, they were related (at one time it was all about feeling unsafe and violated following a date-rape). The thing that helped me the most was talking about what the underlying worries were and also writing down my dreams as best as I could remember them. Expressing my emotions in real life made it so I didn't need to express them as much in my sub-concious life.

although all these may be true, i know that it is also true that being too warm at night can cause nightmares. simple solution, if you were looking for one.

as a woman with PTSD, i suffer from very frequent nightmares. try relaxing before bed. creating a routine and sticking to it is crucial for lessening them. As well as relaxing with a spot of herbal tea, a warm bath and/or some yoga. I really recommend the yoga:)
*Hugs*