As I watched the sunset on a warm summer evening in August, I was overcome with gratitude and joy for the stillness of that experience.

For me, watching the sunset is the perfect ending to my normally hectic days.

But this evening was not a normal day for me.

I was 28 weeks pregnant and my ankles were now cankles.

I had just put my 16 month old baby to bed and finished up a stressful day at my 9-5 job as an RN case manager.

And watching the sunset was my few minutes of silence and peace before hitting the evening shift where I would work on my true passion, my baby...my online business.

I entered the house, sat down at my computer and started working when suddenly I felt an itch on my belly.

I looked down over my large watermelon shaped belly and noticed an unwelcome friend...I had been bitten by a tick.

I called my husband in the room to help me remove it and he came to my rescue- Thank you honey!

What would transpire over the next few hours would be the scariest and best thing that has ever happened to me in my life…

That night I was having a lot of nightmares, contractions and dreams that my baby was coming way too early.

The next morning I got up, took my son to school as usual and went back to my 9-5 job. I walked up and down the hospital corridor chatting with patients, doctors and nurses it was business as usual… until all of a sudden I had this overwhelming feeling to sit down.

Had I done too much?

Had I gotten too stressed out today?

I wrapped up a few things in my office, picked up my son from school and headed home. But once settled in at home I knew that I was not my usual self.

Instead of playing with my 16 month old, I was laying on the couch- that was out of character for me.

I began to worry that I might be preterm labor and so I called over one of our neighbors to watch my son and drove myself to the hospital, 1 hour away.

They told me I was not leaving the hospital without my baby being born. I was in total shock.

My daughter was born at 28 weeks gestation and spent 68 days in the NICU.

During that time, I went all in on my business. I was blessed to be able to work from the comfort of the NICU pumping room...there wasn’t a minute I was going to waste.

I managed to not only make ends meet but to turn my side gig into my full time business.

Taking my business to what and where it is today, a profitable business that helps hundreds of people all over the world, would have never been possible had I not gone through this experience.

Going through the tough times and being relentless about what I really want in my life is what transformed my life and gave me the freedom and fulfillment that I get to live today.

To answer the question, how do you rise above?

This journey pretty much sums it up...

Self care, hard work and an enormous amount of gratitude as I believe life is happening FOR us not to us.

And in case you are wondering, my daughter is now a healthy and happy 2 year old (see image below!).

Mariana is a Business Coach + Consultant and founder of the Impact Driven Entrepreneur Podcast she helps impact driven entrepreneurs to create a profitable business through high level marketing & sales strategies in combination with Facebook ads to expand their reach and convert their audience to clients, so they can create change in the world while living the life they desire. She has been featured in various podcasts, blogs and online courses including the Huffington Post, Spark To Launch, Lose The Cape and The Millionaire Insider Extravaganza. Through working with hundreds of business, she has empowered them to earn more so they can live the life that they desire.