my first child was breech, and when my water broke i didn't have contractions, so I ended up with a csection. 16 months later I had a vbac. It was tough, but I am so glad I did it. I am now 39 weeks with my third, and looking forward to another vbac.
Repeat csections set you up for a lot of complications in subsequent pregnancies (miscarriage, preterm labor, placenta previa, etc), so if you are able, vbac is way better for both you and your babies.
With my vbac, i didn't start having contractions till 42 weeks, and then had two days of prodromal contractions before things really kicked into gear. From there it was 18hrs of actual labor and one hour of pushing. No epidural. I had second degree tears, which were painful and annoying. But i'm still really glad i did it, and absolutely will do it again.
the midwives told me that the farther you got in your first labor, the faster and smoother the vbac labor will be. So, since you got to 8cm, that's a great place to start from.
Make sure you have a provider who truly supports vbac, who won't suddenly change their tune at the end. Check with your local ICAN chapter for who they recommend. Also consider hiring a doula, especially if you think you wabt to go all natural. Congratulations and good luck!