24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.
I would be willing to bet that Elizabeth did not want to get her hopes up when she found out she was pregnant. Perhaps, like so many other infertile women, she had many previous pregnancies and subsequent miscarriages. The rollercoaster of hope and disappointment was probably too much to bear. If she didn’t let herself get too excited, then maybe she wouldn’t get too crushed if she lost this baby as well. Remember, she had not seen the angel or heard the message. In fact, her husband came back from his shift at the temple unable to speak. He probably would be on workman’s comp or temporary disability if that happened today. He goes home and he can’t even tell her what happened because he can’t talk. Both of them are frustrated and isolated from each other because he must use clumsy gestures to try to communicate this supernatural event. And then her womanly cycle is interrupted. Five months worth of interruption and flutters and kicks start happening. But she remains in seclusion, hoping against hope. She is showing by this point and she still wants to avoid the public scrutiny. The questioning stares at this old woman walking around. Of course they didn’t have form-fitting clothing and therefore no switch to maternity tops. No ultrasound images to see the small form or hear the heartbeat. All that internal growth was pretty much a mystery to her world. All she knew was that her cycle had stopped, something was growing and she almost dared to let herself believe she was pregnant, and maybe this time, maybe this baby would make it.
The Arnold Journey 