Coming from someone who has not yet had a vaginal delivery, I think I would choose:

vacuum, then forceps, then cs.

If I was THAT close to birthing my bub and avoiding major abdominal surgery I would definately want to avoid the cs unless it was really necessary.

I don't know why, but to me, the vacuum seems less traumatic for baby as opposed to forceps. Oh, and a point that I think Hoobley mentioned - they use forceps a lot with caesareans too to get the head out of the incision. My poor bubba girl was yanked out with forceps (caesarean) and had a big mark on her cheek from them to prove it.