Vaginal delivery after previous episiotomy

Hi all. I'm pregnant with my second baby. My first child was 9.6lbs and I had to receive a 4th degree episiotomy that was horrendously painful and took months to heal...my doctor is strongly recommending that I have a C section with this baby in case of baby being big again and the episiotomy cut re-tearing and causing nerve damage. I really don't want a C section but I also don't want permanent damage to my lady parts 🤷🏼‍♀️ Has anyone gone through this before?