WFAA8's Slater and Gables: tweetin' and bloggin' about their impending deliveries

WFAA8 anchors Shelly Slater and Shon Gables are expecting soon.
By ED BARK
Already short-staffed on the anchor front, WFAA8 will have to re-juggle again later this summer, when Shelly Slater and Shon Gables respectively are due to become mothers for the first and third times.

Slater, who co-anchors the Dallas-based station's 5 p.m. weekday newscasts and also fills in regularly on other editions, is having a boy with her husband, Clay. She's due in mid-August.

Gables, who anchors WFAA8's weekend early morning newscasts and reports on weekdays, is expecting a girl with her husband, Anthony. She has two sons from two previous marriages, and is due in late August or early September.

Both have been tweeting and/or blogging about their pregnancies, with Gables providing weekly updates on soulsummer.com. Her latest post, dated July 6th, is headlined "Pregnant and Perturbed."

"The baby is pinching some kind of nerve," she relates. "Her favorite targets the bah-dunk-a-dunk . . . (in) other words, my tail end, aka buttock. By the time I get off work, I feel like I've run a half-marathon. No rest for the weary!"

Gables also has solicited baby names via her blog while earlier posting pictures of her sonograms.

Slater, not quite so sharing, tweeted on July 8th: "I'm waiting on a lot of rain today (yes!) and longing for a nap! With 5 weeks left until I'm due, I am feeling drained!"

So how will WFAA8 juggle anchor spots during their maternity leaves? News director Michael Valentine, in an automated email response, said he'll be out of the office until late next week and won't have access to email.

Best guesses: Gloria Campos is accustomed to sliding over to the 5 p.m. newscasts while still co-anchoring the 6 and 10 p.m. editions. And Debbie Denmon, who had the weekend early morning shift before Gables' arrival, possibly could resume those duties while newcomer Casey Norton handles the evening/late night anchoring load.