I splurged tonight and bought a pet slot, then grabbed the items needed for a Steamwork Swampie. Its in production now, but is there any way to speed up the process? Or do I have to wait 3 days no matter what? And do we have any reason why it takes so long?

You have to wait. It's by design. The other option is to use a Miracle Potion to change a pet's color into steamwork immediately, but you won't get the gear gender unless you create a steamwork pet from scratch. This only way to get the gear gender is worth the wait IMO.