What A great QUESTION! And thanks to all those who sent advice, I checked out zafu.com, really great. I have been asking the same question but never on here.
After my twins were born I had serious done-lap over the top of my jeans and the low rise fashion is EVIL and Target, where I usually buy my jeans only had low rise although I have noticed now that they are starting to carry Levi's in "just below the waist" styles but I also did not want boot cut and I have a long torso and shorter legs so I needed to be able to have a choice of lengths as well. So I checked the Gap and found what I needed: just below the waist and short length and I love them although for some reason had to go up a size (I am usually an 8 but had to buy 10's :( ) but I like them. I am going to check out Lucky and splurge on some more expensive jeans but you should try GAP again, just look for a higher rise. I have also checked Old Navy, Aero, Levi outlet, Guess and The Limited and none of them had a mid-rise jean so don't waste your time at those places either.
You are so right, the jean market is most definitly not geared to post-baby women and its an outrage, especially Target b.c we all know who the main shoppers are at Target...women with small kids.