First: do it in the loop, you have better chance to be good equiped on a loop that a normal run
Second: try to get the next babys and items:
Babys:
Spike baby
Cube of meat
Imp baby
Offensive baby, for preference abel
Items:
Sanguine bond
Isaac fork
The gift
If you are lucky, the gift can give you the imp baby, that cost no hearths, use the Isaac fork for get hearths via killing enemies whit the spikes (thats why sanguine bond, as meat cube only cost 50 hearths, and the normal spikes 125), and use Abel for cover 2 lines whit one