abortion?

Question
I've been seperating my male and female 12-week old rats every 4 days when she goes into heat until they both get fixed in 2.5 weeks. It's worked great for the 6 weeks i've had them.

But tonight, i was too late, and i saw them mating! I was going to wait 4 days to see if she comes in heat again, and if she doesn't, try to get an earlier date to the vet to get her spayed/aborted, which i don't think they will be able to fit me in.

But i just thought i'd ask if there is anything i can do now to abort a possible pregnancy. If not, she is just 12 weeks old, is that too young and risky to get her spayed? I am worried about the humaness of getting her aborted, but is there an age where aborting the fetusses would be especially inhumane to them. In 17 days, when her spay was booked for, would that be too late for aborting the babies?

The male(father)doesn't seem to have the best health and temperament, and i have alot of rats as it is, and i hate trying to find a good home for baby rats so i know i'd end up keeping them all and then my other rats would suffer. AND i'm going on vacation for 10 days right after they would be born.

I hope so much she isn't pregnant. I didn't know if there was anything i could've safely done tonight for her.

What should i do? I guess first of all wait the 4 days to see if she really is pregnant, or goes into heat again?

Joleen

Answer
It would be too dangeruos to spay her this young  AND pregnant.  Also, gestation is 21 days. If she is spayed at 17 days, this pups are nearly fully  developed, being prepared to be born in just a few short days.  
I am unsure of your current vets credentials, but just for the record and for other readers that may not be aware of this:
Spaying is only recommended by a very qualified Vet, for starters, not just a general DVM that will spay a young rat and send her home in a few hours. She needs to be spayed in a highly  skilled exotic clinic that has the facilities to keep her over night with 24 hr nursing staff on hand. She should spend at least 24 hrs at the clinic after her spay. Spaying is recommended between 3 and 5 months old with 5 months being the more ideal age.  Spaying a pup that is so young and also pregnant is considered very high risk not to mention it will be almost a live birth. I do not recommend it.  Its not so much as it being inhumane (I believe it is though) but the question is more about the Vets ethics and if he or she is comfortable aborting rat pups that are nearly ready for birth.  

I would not risk it. Its actually safer to allow her to have the pups.

As for letting intact rats together, this is a good lesson for other readers to see that this is just as risky as it is for humans to practice this type of birth control....it just doesnt work. Rats go into heat every 4 to 5 days but sometimes they can fool you and go in heat a bit early, even an hour makes a big difference.  If she is pregnant, you can keep some pups (she will have a small litter, they usually do at this young age) and you can have a male or two for the existing male you have and also keep a female or two for your existing girl and spay her once she has fully recovered from giving birth.