On Christmas Day, I found out that I was pregnant. It was the best present I could have hoped for. My husband and I have wanted to start a family for years, and we could not wait to share the news with our loved ones.

 But my initial exhilaration quickly turned to anxiety. As a physician, I knew many of the things that could go wrong. I wanted to do everything I could do to have a healthy baby.

 I found an obstetrician and made an appointment for my first prenatal visit. I was so relieved when I saw the baby's heartbeat on the ultrasound. My blood was drawn to check for anemia and thyroid problems. I had the rest of my recommended first trimester tests, including a Pap smear and testing for HIV and sexually-transmitted infections.

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Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen thought she was doing a good job keeping her secret.

But when she recently revealed to her staff that she was expecting a baby in August, one colleague responded: "I figured that out when I saw you turn three different colors in 20 minutes."

Yes, it's true. Even the city's top health official suffers from morning sickness and fatigue.

Wen and her husband, who manages an information technology team at Legg Mason, are expecting their first child, a boy, this summer. 

The energetic commissioner known for her nonstop work ethic said she'll take off at least eight weeks to spend time with her son after he is born. 

As a Republican-led Congress moves to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which aimed to make health insurance available for all American citizens, Wen said she is reminded how fortunate she is to have good benefits.

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The health department is working with seven private sector teams of experts, designers and engineers to confront public health issues impacting the city with technology solutions. The project is backed by city-sponsored microgrants.

Delali Dzirasa said his software company is working on a tool to make sure Baltimore doesn't become the next Flint, Mich.

Fearless Solutions LLC was tapped by the to develop a data dashboard that maps public health information for the city. The health department collects a lot of data each year — on disease tracking, restaurant inspections, lead levels, etc. — but it is fragmented and there was no way to consolidate it and map trends or anomalies across the city.

That is the problem that Fearless took on, developing a dashboard that could bring all of that data together and give clear, concise picture of health trends in Baltimore. Residents and health officials will be able to look at certain health indicators to see which neighborhoods they most affect and how they interact with other health issues in the city, Dzirasa said. The dashboard will also be able to create predictive models based on past health trends, so the department can start planning how to confront new health problems before they come up.

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Health care advocates and Democratic lawmakers in Maryland called a newly released GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act a threat to coverage for more than 400,000 state residents, while top Republicans, including Gov. Larry Hogan, argued that the law must be changed to preserve access to health insurance.

"The governor doesn't want to see anyone losing health care," said Doug Mayer, Hogan's chief spokesman. "But he wants a system that works."

But even Mayer characterized the plan congressional Republicans released Monday evening as "just a first draft" for replacing the health law known as Obamacare.

Even as Democrats attacked the plan Tuesday for threatening coverage and increasing costs, it was rejected by Republican deficit hawks, panned by party moderates and given only lukewarm support from President Donald Trump. Conservative lawmakers and outside groups, bristling at the creation of a government entitlement, dubbed the bill "Obamacare 2.0" or "Obamacare lite."

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