- Joined
- Sep 16, 2003
- Messages
- 171
In January we found out that we were pregnant with our first child, soon after we found out that it was going to be a boy! And we will name him Justin David, Baxter.
I wanted to do something special for him, I wanted to make him a knife with my heart and soul placed into it.
Many of you are already familiar with some of the special knives I have made in the past, A knife for a man with no hands, a surgeons scalpel, an apothecary knife, and many others. I decided to make a knife that would be used to separate him from his mother at birth, a knife to cut his umbilical cord.
This was a project all in itself. Here in Alabama the hospitals and Doctors have seemingly never had a request like this before. At first I was denied by both her Doctor and the Hospital where she planned to give birth. Not until I explained that I was a full time Bladesmith and showed them a copy of the August issue of Blade Magazine with the article about the knife I made for a man with no hands did they consider my request. They wanted to see the knife, sterilize the knife, and wanted a secondary insurance policy. I could handle all this and went to work!
Watching my son being born was the most wonderful thing I have ever seen or felt in my heart. When he came out screaming I knew he was our son lol. His pink skin glowed against the blue surgical towels, he was ours. The doctor placed him on his mothers belly and said "Hey dad, you going to cut this cord". With tears in my eyes I reached for the knife I had made for him, placed the edge against the cord, and in one quick stroke my family grew by one.
I have known since going full-time as a Bladesmith that it would be hard to make ends meet from time to time and I have from time to time lost focus on things that are important to me and my wife Stephanie, but Justin will never loose focus on where he is heading in life and where he came from.
There was a caption in the article which said that I may never make a knife as special as the no hands knife, I think I did with this one.
Justin David Baxter was born one month early on September 10th at 1:48 am He was 5lbs 0 oz and 18" long.
The picture shows the knife, his wrist band, and his umbilical cord which fell off a few days ago. I will make a shadow box and display the items until Justin is old enough to keep them for himself. The smear on the blade is blood stains from the cord, I will never clean it.
Thank you for sharing this special part of my life with us.
Dale baxter
Dale baxter Custom Knives
I wanted to do something special for him, I wanted to make him a knife with my heart and soul placed into it.
Many of you are already familiar with some of the special knives I have made in the past, A knife for a man with no hands, a surgeons scalpel, an apothecary knife, and many others. I decided to make a knife that would be used to separate him from his mother at birth, a knife to cut his umbilical cord.
This was a project all in itself. Here in Alabama the hospitals and Doctors have seemingly never had a request like this before. At first I was denied by both her Doctor and the Hospital where she planned to give birth. Not until I explained that I was a full time Bladesmith and showed them a copy of the August issue of Blade Magazine with the article about the knife I made for a man with no hands did they consider my request. They wanted to see the knife, sterilize the knife, and wanted a secondary insurance policy. I could handle all this and went to work!
Watching my son being born was the most wonderful thing I have ever seen or felt in my heart. When he came out screaming I knew he was our son lol. His pink skin glowed against the blue surgical towels, he was ours. The doctor placed him on his mothers belly and said "Hey dad, you going to cut this cord". With tears in my eyes I reached for the knife I had made for him, placed the edge against the cord, and in one quick stroke my family grew by one.
I have known since going full-time as a Bladesmith that it would be hard to make ends meet from time to time and I have from time to time lost focus on things that are important to me and my wife Stephanie, but Justin will never loose focus on where he is heading in life and where he came from.
There was a caption in the article which said that I may never make a knife as special as the no hands knife, I think I did with this one.
Justin David Baxter was born one month early on September 10th at 1:48 am He was 5lbs 0 oz and 18" long.
The picture shows the knife, his wrist band, and his umbilical cord which fell off a few days ago. I will make a shadow box and display the items until Justin is old enough to keep them for himself. The smear on the blade is blood stains from the cord, I will never clean it.
Thank you for sharing this special part of my life with us.
Dale baxter
Dale baxter Custom Knives
