Normal birth or planned C-section after an emergency C-section for the first child

Hi ladies,

I'm a bit torn about a dilemma. My son was born via emergency C-section after 16 hours of contractions and 2 hours of pushing. He was a "star-gazer" with a high occiput position, as they call it. He was two weeks late and weighed 3600 grams. Not a big baby, especially not after 42 weeks. Yet, even during the C-section, they had to use a vacuum extractor to get him out. At the follow-up, the gynecologist said that if the second baby was a "small" girl, a natural birth would likely work.

Now I'm 37 weeks pregnant with the second (again a boy, although I found the gynecologist's statement a bit too easy), and initially chose a natural birth. The gynecologist decided to do a growth ultrasound this week to reassure me and check if the baby wasn't too big, etc. The baby is again just average. But here's the next thing... the baby is again in the star-gazer position. The midwife said this can still change, even during contractions, and he can turn. But she was realistic and mentioned she doesn't know why this position seems to be preferred for both children; it could also be related to my pelvis. Because of this, she gives me a 50/50 chance for either way of giving birth and has scheduled an appointment with the gynecologist for Tuesday because she wants me to be 100% committed to a natural birth.

Are there any ladies who had a natural birth after their first emergency C-section? I also read all sorts of stories about vacuum extractors and forceps, and I'd rather not have that because I don't want them pulling on my baby. Better to have a planned C-section myself. I don't want another traumatic birth, but it feels like failure and like taking the "easy way out" if I go for a planned C-section now...