Heartbeat: Day 22 in the Life of an Unborn Baby

At this point, many mothers know they are pregnant. Usually, the first sign is a missed menstrual cycle, and the next may be a line on a home pregnancy test or one at the doctor’s office. The doctor would call this about five weeks pregnant, as they count from the first day of the last known menstrual cycle (which they presume is around 28 days).

The baby’s growth is rapid this week. Just three weeks after fertilization, the neural tube along the baby’s back is closing. The baby’s brain and spinal cord will develop from this neural tube. The heart and other organs have started to form. It is on day 22 that the baby’s heart begins to beat. Many women get their first ultrasound at this point and are greatly reassured when they hear this “first” sign of life (of course, life had already begun at fertilization). And sadly, many others are brokenhearted when the silence indicates that something has gone wrong in this sin-cursed world. That silence tends to continue as often only the mother and perhaps father know there was ever a baby that didn’t make it to this stage. But God knows. If he is aware of sparrows (Luke 12:6–7), he is aware of every unborn baby, as he directly confirms this (Jeremiah 1:5). And God didn’t make the world this way.

Plate from the Creation Museum’s Fearfully and Wonderfully Made exhibit.

It is often after hearing the heartbeat that couples will announce their pregnancy. And if twins (or higher multiples) are “in the works,” the sonographer might be surprised to hear a symphony of heartbeats by now. After all, whether fraternal or identical, both babies are now well on their way to becoming two unique individuals who will bear the image of God in their own way, even if their DNA is identical.

A developing baby at this stage is now .13 inches (.33 cm) and weighs less than a gram (about the weight of a raisin). Small buds have appeared on the sides that will soon become arms. The baby’s nose, mouth, and ears are just starting to form and take shape, and his or her intestines are beginning to develop.

This tiny baby, about the size of a grain of rice at this point, is being uniquely fashioned (“knitted together” per Psalm 139:13) in the womb. Like all other humans, the baby’s life has value because he or she is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). This baby will not “become” human—this baby is already a human being, known to God during every stage of his or her formation (Psalm 139:15–16).