they told me my baby was 7-8 pounds at 36 weeks, and i delivered him at 36 weeks and he was only 5pounds.
it's never good to induce early if there is no need because i was afraid that my baby's lungs or anything else wasnt finished growing. he did have to stay in the hospital for a month and had low white blood cells.
so you want a 40 week large baby, anything else is not acceptable.
i had the epidural and i didnt feel a thing other than a few contractions. they had to pull him out with forcepts, and i was split from limb to limb. they stitched me up for two to three hours.