Shorts are a necessity for a warm weather maternity wardrobe. They don't call it a bun in the oven for no reason--you will be warm.

Dividends makes a cotton twill short in basic colors (chino, navy, khaki, and black) with a half circle cotton/spandex knit maternity panel. Like the chino pants, the maternity panel is a U shape and is off-white for all colors. A long shirt is a necessity for these shorts. The U shape is cut so that it provides knit to cover the expanding belly with elastic at the top.

JCPenney says that they take into account your expansion and to buy your usual size, but that may be difficult with this style. These shorts come in S to 4X (there is no petite vs. talls so expect them to be a bit long if you are petite and a bit short if you are tall). The maternity panel only stretches so far, which may make these shorts fairly uncomfortable in later months. The panel may also hit a bit high if you carry your baby low.

These shorts are styled in a tailored shape with darts at the back waist, but then they added the pockets. Maternity pants are notorious for not including pockets. As a pregnant mommy, I really miss having a place to put a spare kleenex, but cargo styling won't fix that problem. A buttoned pocket at midthigh is difficult to reach and use and draws unnecessary attention to an area of my body that I don't exactly advertise.

So, given my options for shorts while I am pregnant, yes I do have some of these, but I sure wish I didn't have to.

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