Battery life percentage jumps around

Hi!
My macbook pro is about a year and a half old. I've never had a battery problem until about two weeks ago. I use the percentage display for how much battery life I have left, and when I unplug my computer, the number jumps around a lot. I've been unplugged for about an hour, and it has jumped from 80% to 30%, then up to 70%, and now it's at 50%. Also, the computer tells me I'm running on reserve battery power after at random intervals, even when the icon says I have more than half of my battery left. Sometimes it tells me I'm on reserve after 20 minutes, when my icon says I have 80% left; other times it waits an hour and a half when it says I have 30% left. I've recalibrated it, which didn't help. I'm a student, and generally only use Safari and Microsoft Word, though occasionally I'll play a DVD.
Does anyone have any ideas about how to fix it? I've been a devoted Apple user for years and I've never had any problems like this before!
Thanks!
-Kate

Be aware though that the battery % remaining will fluctuate on any notebook computer. I have a late 2009 MBP and this happens depending on what I do on the computer. I go to a website and the remaining time will drop. If I wait a few minutes and not touch the computer, the remaining time will go back up till I use it again. The remaining time shown will change depending upon how much power the processor is consuming at the moment.
I actually had two late 2009 MBP and this happened on both of them.
But yes, to the OP, the battery is old, and when you replace it, the remaining time will still jump around and it is normal.

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