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Ocean13 said:
I can hope your brother isn't trying to do anything intentionally to hurt you. He's dealing with his emotions and feels very protective.

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Hi Ocean:
That's exactly it - he's being very protective and is having a hard time with his emotions. I do not believe it is intentional in the least - none of it appears to be out of malice but rather out of grief.

I did talk to my stepmom and she understands what's going on but she's overwhelmed with her own stress right now and I could never ask her to get involved. I think she's relieved when my brother visits and takes over my dad's care - she needs and very much deserves the break.

My decision to stop flying there is solely based on my pregnancy. The last flight I had, last Monday, required me to get up at 3:30am east coast time, wait in line two hours to get through baggage/check-in and then security, and still I had to run to catch my flight before the doors closed. My back, stomach, and legs ached over the next 9 hours and I had a sudden blood-pressure drop (that happens to me even when I'm not pregnant) but fortunately I caught it before I fainted which is what usually happens. When I arrived home, I had to go straight to work for the next 6 hours, and I found myself stressing out because the baby didn't start kicking for 4 hours. I worry a lot about what my stress might do to her, and with the blood pressure problem, what that might do to her blood supply. I will never forgive myself if anything happens to her because I'm trying to spend every last weekend with my dad.

When it's all over and my brother has had some time to recover, I will have a heart-to-heart discussion with him. I do want to remain close to him. He is my little brother, and if I didn't love him tremendously, his behavior wouldn't hurt at all.

Thanks again for your support